X-rays from Radio Millisecond Pulsars: Comptonized Thermal Radiation

Details X-rays from Radio Millisecond Pulsars: Comptonized Thermal Radiation X-rays from Radio Millisecond Pulsars: Comptonized Thermal Radiation

2006-05-10

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0605273v1

Astrophys.J.648:L55-L58,2006

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

4 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

Scientific paper

10.1086/507827

X-ray emission from many rotation-powered millisecond pulsars (MSPs) is observed to be of predominantly thermal nature. In PSR J0437--4715, the nearest MSP known, an additional faint power-law tail is observed above 2.5 keV, commonly attributed to non-thermal magnetospheric radiation. We propose that the hard emission in this and other similar MSPs is instead due to weak Comptonization of the thermal (blackbody or hydrogen atmosphere) polar cap emission by energetic electrons/positrons of small optical depth in the pulsar magnetosphere. This spectral model implies that all soft X-rays are of purely thermal origin, which has profound implications in the study of neutron star structure and fundamental pulsar physics.

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