Electron-positron heating and the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR 1957 + 20

Details Electron-positron heating and the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR 1957 + 20 Electron-positron heating and the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR 1957 + 20

Jul 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990apj...357..208k&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 357, July 1, 1990, p. 208-215.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

10

Eclipsing Binary Stars, Electron-Positron Pairs, Pulsars, Pulse Duration, Stellar Mass Ejection, Particle Interactions, Relativistic Particles, Roche Limit, Wave Scattering

Scientific paper

The companion in the eclipsing millisecond PSR 1957 + 20 appears to be strongly heated by the pulsar and may also be rapidly losing mass due to that heating. A new mechanism is presented by which the heating may be accomplished: diffusion of mildly relativistic electron-positron pairs from the pulsar's relativistic wind through a thermal wind issuing from the companion. Wave-particle scattering regulates the depth at which the pairs deposit their energy; requirements of self-consistency place bounds on the wave spectrum and pair distribution function. If the pairs carry over about 10 percent of the pulsar spin-down luminosity, and the companion's heavy element abundance is subsolar, the heating rate can be adequate to drive a wind with sufficient momentum flux to explain the eclipse geometry. Annihilation photons then heat the companion beneath its photosphere and supply a significant part of the power for the optical luminosity. This model also suggests that the eclipse duration decreases sharply above a critical photon frequency.

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