Vicky kicked off the fourth and final day of the workshop by reviewing the observational properties of anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs). AXPs form a class of highly magnetized neutron stars, denoted as magnetars, together with soft gamma repeaters (SGRs).
Vicky showed the results of phase-coherent timing studies of 5 AXPs (SGRs are too faint to detect with RXTE when not bursting or flaring) using a long-term monitoring program with the RXTE satellite.
The AXPs appear to display many glitches; sudden spin-up events that may be explained by a faster rotating crustal superfluid suddenly transferring angular momentum to the crust. Glitch studies can possibly help to constrain the superfluid properties of neutron stars. The AXP glitches are rather peculiar compared to those observed from rotation powered pulsars and sometimes result in a net spin-down rather than an increase in the spin period.
Check out the online magnetar catalog if you are looking for information on one of the AXPs or SGRs.
No comments:
Post a Comment