The evolution of magnetic field and spin‐down of young pulsars

Abstract

AbstractHere, we summarize our recent work on the evolution of magnetic field and spin‐down of young pulsars including high‐B pulsars and magnetars. Our work includes the following three parts: (a) Based on the estimated ages of their potentially associated supernova remnants (SNRs), we estimate the values of the mean braking indices of eight magnetars with SNRs and find that five magnetars have smaller mean braking indices of 1 < n < 3, and we interpret them within a combination of magnetodipole radiation and wind‐aided braking. (b) The low braking index of n = 0.9(2) for PSR J1734‐3333 could undergo a supercritical accretion soon after its formation in a supernova explosion. The buried multipole magnetic fields will merge into a dipole magnetic field. Retaining the current field growth index ϵ = 1.34, this pulsar will become a magnetar with dBp∼6.2(2) × 1014 G and dBp∼1.06(4) × 1015 G after 50 kyrs and 100 kys, respectively. (c) By introducing a mean rotation energy conversion coefficient and combining the pulsar's high‐energy and timing observations with a reliable nuclear equation of state, we estimate the initial spin period, initial dipole magnetic field, and true age of PSR J1640‐4631. For this source, its measured high braking index n = 3.15(3) is attributed to a long‐term dipole magnetic field decay, and its soft X‐ray emission is attributed to anisotropic heating.