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Correlation between the X-ray Spectra of Young Pulsars and their Wind Nebulae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

E. V. Gotthelf
E. V. Gotthelf*
Affiliation:
Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA

Abstract

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A significant correlation is discovered between the X-ray spectra of young pulsars (PSRs) and that of their associated wind nebulae (PWNe). For a sample of nine bright Crab-like pulsar systems observed with the Chandra X-ray observatory, we report a linear relationship between the photon indices for the PWNe and those of the phase-averaged pulsar emission, where ΓPWN = 0.72 ± 0.13 × ΓPSR + 0.86 ± 0.20. Furthermore, we find that the spectral slopes of younger, more energetic, pulsars tend to be steeper. These results confirm a consistent pulsar emission mechanism and provide important new observational constraints on the current theory of shock acceleration models for pulsar wind emission.

Type
Part 5 Pulsars and Other Neutron Stars
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 214: High Energy Processes and Phenomena in Astrophysics , 2003 , pp. 163 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2003 

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