Rapid spin changes around a magnetar fast radio burst

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hu, Chin-Ping; Narita, Takuto; Enoto, Teruaki; Younes, George; Wadiasingh, Zorawar; Baring, Matthew G.; Ho, Wynn C. G.; Guillot, Sebastien; Ray, Paul S.; Guver, Tolga; Rajwade, Kaustubh; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Kouveliotou, Chryssa; Harding, Alice K.; Gendreau, Keith C.
• 署名单位: National Changhua University of Education; Kyoto University; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Rice University; Haverford College; Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); United States Department of Defense; United States Navy; United States Naval Research Laboratory; Istanbul University; Istanbul University; George Washington University; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Los Alamos National Laboratory
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-4543
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-07012-5
• 发表日期: 2024-02-15
• 关键词: x-ray-emission; glitches; pulsar

摘要

Magnetars are neutron stars with extremely high magnetic fields (greater than or similar to 1014 gauss) that exhibit various X-ray phenomena such as sporadic subsecond bursts, long-term persistent flux enhancements and variable rotation-period derivative1,2. In 2020, a fast radio burst (FRB), akin to cosmological millisecond-duration radio bursts, was detected from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154 (refs. 3-5), confirming the long-suspected association between some FRBs and magnetars. However, the mechanism for FRB generation in magnetars remains unclear. Here we report the X-ray observation of two glitches in SGR 1935+2154 within a time interval of approximately nine hours, bracketing an FRB that occurred on 14 October 20226,7. Each glitch involved a significant increase in the magnetar's spin frequency, being among the largest abrupt changes in neutron-star rotation8-10 observed so far. Between the glitches, the magnetar exhibited a rapid spin-down phase, accompanied by an increase and subsequent decline in its persistent X-ray emission and burst rate. We postulate that a strong, ephemeral, magnetospheric wind11 provides the torque that rapidly slows the star's rotation. The trigger for the first glitch couples the star's crust to its magnetosphere, enhances the various X-ray signals and spawns the wind that alters magnetospheric conditions that might produce the FRB. X-ray observations of two large glitches bracketing a fast radio burst in the active Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154 reveal a connection between rapid spin change and radiative behaviours of the magnetar.