X-ray and γ-ray emission from the PSR B1259-63/Be star system

Abstract

PSR B1259-63 is a radio pulsar orbiting a Be star in a highly eccentric orbit. Soft and hard X-rays are observed from this unique system. We apply the shock powered emission model to this system. The collision of the pulsar and Be star winds forms a shock, which accelerates electrons and positrons to the relativistic energies. We derive the energy distribution of relativistic electrons and positrons as a function of the distance from the shock in the pulsar nebula. We calculate the X-rays and γ-rays emitted from the relativistic electrons and positrons in the nebula at various orbital phases, taking into account the Klein–Nishina effect fully. The shock powered emission model can explain the observed X-ray properties approximately. We obtain from the comparison with observations that a fraction of ∼0.1 of the pulsar spin-down luminosity should be transformed into the final energy of relativistic electrons and positrons. We find that the magnetization parameter of the pulsar wind, the ratio of the Poynting flux to the kinetic energy flux, is ∼0.1 and may decrease with distance from the pulsar. We predict the flux of 10 MeV–100 GeV γ-rays which may be nearly equal to the detection threshold in the future projects.