Pinned Vorticity in Rotating Superfluids, with Application to Neutron Stars

Abstract

The dynamic consequences of the existence of pinned vorticity in a rotating superfluid are studied by means of a simple model: the behavior of a rotating cylinder which contains a uniform region of either weakly or strongly pinned vorticity and which is being spun up or spun down by an external torque. It is shown that in the case of strong pinning, spin down can lead to periodic jumps (glitches) in the rotation frequency of the cylinder, followed by quasi-oscillatory relaxation, while in the case of weak pinning no glitches occur unless the cylinder is shaken so violently that vortices unpin. We conclude that the giant glitches and post-glitch behavior observed in the Vela pulsar may be explained by the sudden release of some 10% of the strongly pinned vortices in the neutron crust every few years as a result of pulsar spin down. We further suggest that the post-glitch behavior observed in the Crab pulsar can be explained if the macroglitches represent vorticity jumps induced by small starquakes in the weakly pinned vortex region expected in the crust of a young neutron star, and that the differences in “glitch” behavior of the Crab, Vela, and older pulsars may be explained on evolutionary grounds.