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Magnetar

About: Magnetar is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2905 publications have been published within this topic receiving 106806 citations.


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TL;DR: In this article, the pulsating tail of the 27th December 2004 giant flare of SGR 1806-20 was detected in a 50s interval starting 170s after the onset of the giant flare.
Abstract: We have discovered rapid Quasi Periodic Oscillations (QPOs) in RXTE/PCA measurements of the pulsating tail of the 27th December 2004 giant flare of SGR 1806-20. QPOs at about 92.5Hz are detected in a 50s interval starting 170s after the onset of the giant flare. These QPOs appear to be associated with increased emission by a relatively hard unpulsed component and are seen only over phases of the 7.56s spin period pulsations away from the main peak. QPOs at about 18 and 30Hz are also detected, 200-300s after the onset of the giant flare. This is the first time that QPOs are unambiguously detected in the flux of a Soft Gamma-ray Repeater, or any other magnetar candidate. We interpret the highest QPOs in terms of the coupling of toroidal seismic modes with Alfven waves propagating along magnetospheric field lines. The lowest frequency QPO might instead provide indirect evidence on the strength of the internal magnetic field of the neutron star.

279 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the role of pair-enriched bubbles produced by young magnetars, rapidly-rotating neutron stars, and magnetized white dwarfs in the escape of high-energy gamma-rays and radio waves was studied.
Abstract: Tenuous wind bubbles, which are formed by the spin-down activity of central compact remnants, are relevant in some models of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and super-luminous supernovae. We study their high-energy signatures, focusing on the role of pair-enriched bubbles produced by young magnetars, rapidly-rotating neutron stars, and magnetized white dwarfs. (i) First, we study the nebular properties and the conditions allowing for escape of high-energy gamma-rays and radio waves, showing that their escape is possible for nebulae with ages of >10-100 yr. In the rapidly-rotating neutron star scenario, we find that radio emission from the quasi-steady nebula itself may be bright enough to be detected especially at sub-mm frequencies, which is relevant as a possible counterpart of pulsar-driven SNe and FRBs. (ii) Second, we consider the fate of bursting emission in the nebulae. We suggest that an impulsive burst may lead to a highly relativistic flow, which would interact with the nebula. If the shocked nebula is still relativistic, pre-existing non-thermal particles in the nebula can be significantly boosted by the forward shock, leading to short-duration (maybe millisecond or longer) high-energy gamma-ray flashes. Possible dissipation at the reverse shock may also lead to gamma-ray emission. (iii) After such flares, interactions with the baryonic ejecta may lead to afterglow emission with a duration of days to weeks. In the magnetar scenario, this burst-in-bubble model leads to the expectation that nearby (<10-100 Mpc) high-energy gamma-ray flashes may be detected by HAWC and CTA, and the subsequent afterglow emission may be seen by radio telescopes such as VLA. (iv) Finally, we discuss several implications specific to FRBs, including constraints on the emission regions and limits on soft gamma-ray counterparts.

279 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The persistent radio counterpart of FRB 121102 is estimated to have $N\sim 10^{52}$ particles, energy $E_N''sim 10''48}$ erg, and size $R''s 10^{17}$ cm as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The persistent radio counterpart of FRB 121102 is estimated to have $N\sim 10^{52}$ particles, energy $E_N\sim 10^{48}$ erg, and size $R\sim 10^{17}$ cm. The source can be a nebula inflated and heated by an intermittent outflow from a magnetar --- a neutron star powered by its magnetic (rather than rotational) energy. The object is young and frequently liberating energy in magnetic flares driven by accelerated ambipolar diffusion in the neutron star core, feeding the nebula and producing bright millisecond bursts. The particle number in the nebula is consistent with ion ejecta from giant flares. The nebula may also contain the freeze-out of electron-positron pairs $N_\pm\sim 10^{51}$ created months after the neutron star birth; the same mechanism offers an explanation for $N_\pm$ in the Crab nebula. The persistent source around FRB 121102 is likely heated by magnetic dissipation and internal waves excited by the magnetar ejecta. The volumetric heating by waves explains the nebula's enormous efficiency in producing radio emission. The repeating radio bursts are suggested to occur much closer to the magnetar, whose flaring magnetosphere drives ultrarelativistic internal shocks into the magnetar wind. The shocks are mediated by Larmor rotation that forms a GHz maser with the observed ms duration. Furthermore, the flare ejecta can become charge-starved and then convert to electromagnetic waves.

277 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the possible source of a highly dispersed radio transient discovered in the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey (PMPS) and discuss the consistency of these two scenarios, plus several other possible solutions, as potential explanations to the origin of the pulse.
Abstract: We discuss the possible source of a highly dispersed radio transient discovered in the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey (PMPS). The pulse has a dispersion measure of 746 cm-3 pc, a peak flux density of 400 mJy for the observed pulse width of 7.8 ms and a flat spectrum across a 288-MHz band centred on 1374 MHz. The flat spectrum suggests that the pulse did not originate from a pulsar, but is consistent with radio-emitting magnetar spectra. The non-detection of subsequent bursts constrains any possible pulsar period to ???1 s, and the pulse energy distribution to being much flatter than typical giant pulse emitting pulsars. The burst is also consistent with the radio signal theorized from an annihilating mini black hole. Extrapolating the PMPS detection rate provides a limit of ? on the density of these objects. We investigate the consistency of these two scenarios, plus several other possible solutions, as potential explanations to the origin of the pulse, as well as for another transient with similar properties: the Lorimer burst.

277 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A major outburst from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 2259+586 was reported in this article, in which over 80 Xray bursts were detected in 4 hours using the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer.
Abstract: We report a major outburst from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 2259+586, in which over 80 X-ray bursts were detected in 4 hr using the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. The bursts range in duration from 2 ms to 3 s and have fluences in the 2-10 keV band that range from 3 × 10-11 to 5 × 10-9 ergs cm-2. We simultaneously observed increases of the pulsed and persistent X-ray emission by over an order of magnitude relative to quiescent levels. Both decayed significantly during the course of our 14 ks observation. Correlated spectral hardening was also observed, with the spectrum softening during the observation. In addition, we observed a pulse profile change, in which the amplitudes of the two peaks in the pulse profile were swapped. The profile relaxed back to its pre-outburst morphology after ~6 days. The pulsar also underwent a sudden spin-up (Δν/ν = 4 × 10-6), followed by a large (factor of ~2) increase in spin-down rate that persisted for more than 18 days. We also observed, using the Gemini North telescope, an infrared enhancement, in which the Ks (2.15 μm) flux increased, relative to that measured in a observation made in 2000, by a factor of ~3, 3 days post-outburst. The IR counterpart then faded by a factor of ~2 1 week later. In addition, we report an upper limit of 50 μJy on radio emission at 1.4 GHz 2 days post-outburst. The X-ray properties of this outburst are like those seen only in soft gamma repeaters. This conclusively unifies anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma repeaters, as predicted uniquely by the magnetar model.

275 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20241
2023137
2022292
2021189
2020257
2019142