A NICER View of PSR J0030+0451: Evidence for a Global-scale Multipolar Magnetic Field
Name
Bilous_2019_ApJL_887_L23.pdf
Description
Published version
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876.72 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
ef939689b79fc92002906db810675d24
Author(s)
Chakrabarty, Deepto
Date Issued
December 2019
Journal
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Citation
Bilous, A. V. et al. “A NICER View of PSR J0030+0451: Evidence for a Global-scale Multipolar Magnetic Field” Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 887, no. 1, 2019, L23 © 2019 The Author(s)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Recent modeling of Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer observations of thermal X-ray pulsations from the surface of the isolated millisecond pulsar PSR J0030+0451 suggests that the hot emitting regions on the pulsar's surface are far from antipodal, which is at odds with the classical assumption that the magnetic field in the pulsar magnetosphere is predominantly that of a centered dipole. Here, we review these results and examine previous attempts to constrain the magnetospheric configuration of PSR J0030+0451. To the best of our knowledge, there is in fact no direct observational evidence that PSR J0030+0451's magnetic field is a centered dipole. Developing models of physically motivated, non-canonical magnetic field configurations and the currents that they can support poses a challenging task. However, such models may have profound implications for many aspects of pulsar research, including pulsar braking, estimates of birth velocities, and interpretations of multi-wavelength magnetospheric emission.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab53e7
