Related papers: Two types of glitches in a solid quark star model
We report on a timing analysis of archival observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1RXSJ170849.0-400910 made with the RXTE Proportional Counter Array. We detect a new large glitch (Delta nu / nu ~ 3 x 10^-6) which occurred between 2001…
Soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are slowly rotating, isolated neutron stars that sporadically undergo episodes of long-term flux enhancement (outbursts) generally accompanied by the emission of short…
According to the hypothesis that strange quark matter may be the true ground state of matter at extremely high densities, strange quark stars should be stable and could exist in the Universe. It is possible that pulsars may actually be…
Glitches -- sudden increases in spin rate -- are observed in many pulsars. One mechanism advanced to explain glitches in the youngest pulsars is that they are caused by a starquake, a sudden rearrangement of the crust of the neutron star.…
The Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) are a class of pulsars understood as neutron stars (NSs) with super strong surface magnetic fields, namely $B\gtrsim10^{14}$ G, and for that reason are known as…
Strange Nuggets are believed to be among the relics of the early universe. They appear as dark matter due to their low charge-to-mass ratio. Their distribution is believed to be the same as that of dark matter. As such, they could be…
Pulsars are rotating neutron stars, sweeping the emission regions from the magnetic poles across our line of sight. Isolated neutron stars lose angular momentum through dipole radiation and (possibly) particle winds, hence they slow down…
We report on long-term monitoring of anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). Using phase-coherent timing, we find a wide variety of behaviors among the sources, ranging from high stability (in 1E…
Unexpected sign, significant magnitude and time-variation of frequency second derivative exist not only in singular radio pulsars but also in Soft Gamma repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs). This paper shows that the these…
We propose a model to account for the bursts from soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) in which quantum electrodynamics (QED) plays a vital role. In our theory, that we term ``fast-mode breakdown,''…
We show that young pulsars with normal magnetic fields, which are born as fast rotating neutron stars (NSs) in Type II/Ib supernova explosions, can slow down quickly by relativistic particles emission along their magnetic axis. When they…
Two giant flares were observed on 5 March 1979 and 27 August 1998 from the soft gamma-ray repeaters SGR 0526-66 and SGR 1900+14, respectively. The striking similarity between these remarkable bursts strongly implies a common nature. We show…
There is evidence that soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) are neutron stars which experience frequent starquakes, possibly driven by an evolving, ultra-strong magnetic field. The empirical power-law distribution of SGR burst energies, analogous to…
Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are thought to be magnetars: neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields. These rare objects are characterized by repeated and sometimes spectacular gamma-ray bursts. The…
The concept of a "magnetar" was proposed mainly because of two factors. First, the X-ray luminosity of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters (SGRs) is larger than the rotational energy loss rate, and second, the…
We report a glitch-like pulse frequency deviation from the simple spin-down law in an anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 4U 0142+61 detected by ASCA observations. We also found a significant pulse profile change after the putative glitch. The…
Although pulsars are one of the most stable clocks in the universe, many of them are observed to 'glitch', i.e. to suddenly increase their spin frequency (\nu) with fractional increases that range from \Delta\nu/\nu \approx 10^{-11} to…
Pulsars are rotating neutron stars that emit periodic electromagnetic radiation. While pulsars generally slow down as they lose energy, some also experience glitches: spontaneous increases of their rotational frequency. According to several…
Among known neutron stars, the Vela pulsar is one of the best targets for gravitational-wave searches. It is also one of the most prolific in terms of glitches, sudden frequency changes in a pulsar's rotation. Such glitches could cause a…
Strange quark matter (SQM) may be the true ground state of hadronic matter, indicating that the observed pulsars may actually be strange stars, but not neutron stars. According to this SQM hypothesis, the existence of a hydrostatically…