The largest Crab glitch and the vortex creep model

Abstract

Abstract The Crab pulsar displayed its largest glitch on 2017 November. An extended initial spin-up phase of this largest glitch was resolved, for the first time with high cadence of observations both in radio and X-rays on a time-scale of 2 d. A combination of crustquake and vortex unpinning models is invoked to account for the extended spin-up, magnitude, and post-glitch relaxation characteristics of this glitch. We evaluate the extended spin-up followed by the familiar spin-down as due to the creep response to the initial induced inward motion of some vortex lines pinned to broken crustal plates moving inward towards the rotation axis, together with the common and familiar post-glitch creep response to the sudden outward motion of vortices unpinned at the glitch. Our analysis confirms that the number of unpinned vortices participating in glitches are similar in all Crab glitches, and within an order of magnitude in all glitches from all pulsars. This typical number of unpinned vortices is related to the broken plate size in quakes as triggers for vortex unpinning avalanches. The physical determinant of this universal broken plate size is in turn the critical strain angle in the neutron star crust. Occurrence of this largest Crab glitch after a relatively long inactive period is consistent with accumulation of the pinned vorticity to be tapped.