Pulsar Glitches Research Articles

An updated glitch rate law inferred from radio pulsars

ABSTRACT Radio pulsar glitches probe far-from-equilibrium processes involving stress accumulation and relaxation in neutron star interiors. Previous studies of glitch rates have focused on individual pulsars with as many recorded glitches as possible. In this work, we analyse glitch rates using all available data including objects that have glitched never or once. We assume the glitch rate follows a homogeneous Poisson process, and therefore exclude pulsars that exhibit quasiperiodic glitching behaviour. Calculating relevant Bayes factors shows that a model in which the glitch rate λ scales as a power of the characteristic age τ is preferred over models that depend arbitrarily on powers of the spin frequency ν and/or its time derivative $\dot{\nu }$. For λ = A(τ/τref)−γ, where τref = 1 yr is a reference time, the posterior distributions are unimodal with $A=0.0066_{-0.002}^{+0.003}\ \rm {yr}^{-1}$ and $\gamma =0.27_{-0.03}^{+0.03}$. Importantly, the data exclude with 99 per cent confidence the possibility γ = 1 canvassed in the literature. When objects with zero-recorded glitches are included, the age-based rate law is still preferred and the posteriors change to give $A=0.0099_{-0.003}^{+0.004}\ \rm {yr}^{-1}$ and $\gamma =0.31_{-0.03}^{+0.03}$. The updated estimates still support increased glitch activity for younger pulsars, while demonstrating that the large number of objects with zero glitches contain important statistical information about the rate, provided that they are part of the same population as opposed to a disjoint population which never glitches for some unknown physical reason.

Rotating self-gravitating Bose-Einstein condensates with a crust: A model for pulsar glitches

We develop a minimal self-gravitating model for pulsar glitches by introducing a solid-crust potential in the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii-Poisson equation, which we have used earlier to study gravitationally bound Bose-Einstein condensates, i.e., bosonic stars. In the absence of the crust potential, we show that, if we rotate such a bosonic star, it is threaded by vortices. We then show, via extensive direct numerical simulations, that the interaction of these vortices with the crust potential yields (a) stick-slip dynamics and (b) dynamical glitches. We demonstrate that, if enough momentum is transferred to the crust from the bosonic star, then the vortices are expelled from the star, and the crust's angular momentum ${J}_{c}$ exhibits features that may be interpreted as glitches. From the time series of ${J}_{c}$, we compute the cumulative probability distribution functions (CPDFs) of event sizes, event durations, and waiting times, which are consistent with the previous work. We show that these CPDFs have signatures of self-organized criticality, which are similar to those seen in observations of pulsar glitches and are consistent with previous work.

All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the third Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run

This paper presents the results of a search for generic short-duration gravitational-wave transients in data from the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. Transients with durations of milliseconds to a few seconds in the 24–4096 Hz frequency band are targeted by the search, with no assumptions made regarding the incoming signal direction, polarization, or morphology. Gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences that have been identified by other targeted analyses are detected, but no statistically significant evidence for other gravitational wave bursts is found. Sensitivities to a variety of signals are presented. These include updated upper limits on the source rate density as a function of the characteristic frequency of the signal, which are roughly an order of magnitude better than previous upper limits. This search is sensitive to sources radiating as little as ∼10−10 M⊙c2 in gravitational waves at ∼70 Hz from a distance of 10 kpc, with 50% detection efficiency at a false alarm rate of one per century. The sensitivity of this search to two plausible astrophysical sources is estimated: neutron star f modes, which may be excited by pulsar glitches, as well as selected core-collapse supernova models.1 MoreReceived 8 July 2021Accepted 12 October 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.122004© 2021 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasGravitational wave sourcesGravitational wavesGravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Search for long-duration transient gravitational waves from glitching pulsars during LIGO—Virgo third observing run

Pulsars are spinning neutron stars which emit an electromagnetic beam. We expect pulsars to slowly decrease their rotational frequency. However, sudden increases of the rotational frequency have been observed from different pulsars. These events are called “glitches” and they are followed by a relaxation phase with timescales from days to months. Gravitational wave (GW) emission may follow these peculiar events. We give an overview of an analysis of GW data from the Advanced LIGO and Virgo third observing run (O3) searching for transient GW signals lasting hours to months after glitches in known pulsars. The search method consists of placing a template grid in frequency–spindown space with fixed grid spacings. Then, for each point we compute the transient F-statistic which is maximized over a set of transient parameters like the duration and start time of the potential signals. A threshold on the detection statistic is then set, and we search for peaks over the parameter space for each candidate.

Revisiting the Post-glitch Relaxation of the 2000 Vela Glitch with the Neutron Star Equation of States in the Brueckner and Relativistic Brueckner Theories

Abstract We revisit the short-term post-glitch relaxation of the Vela 2000 glitch in the simple two-component model of the pulsar glitch by making use of the latest realistic equations of states from the microscopic Brueckner and the relativistic Brueckner theories for neutron stars, which can reconcile with the available astrophysical constraints. We show that to fit both the glitch size and the post-glitch jumps in frequency derivatives approximately 1 minute after the glitch, the mass of the Vela pulsar is necessarily small, and there may be demands for a stiff equation of state (which results in a typical stellar radius larger than ∼12.5 km) and a strong suppression of the pairing gap in the nuclear medium. We discuss the implications of this result on the understanding of pulsar glitches.

The Jodrell bank glitch catalogue: 106 new rotational glitches in 70 pulsars

ABSTRACT Pulsar glitches are rapid spin-up events that occur in the rotation of neutron stars, providing a valuable probe into the physics of the interiors of these objects. Long-term monitoring of a large number of pulsars facilitates the detection of glitches and the robust measurements of their parameters. The Jodrell Bank pulsar timing programme regularly monitors more than 800 radio pulsars and has accrued, in some cases, over 50 yr of timing history on individual objects. In this paper, we present 106 new glitches in 70 radio pulsars as observed up to the end of 2018. For 70 per cent of these pulsars, the event we report is its only known glitch. For each new glitch, we provide measurements of its epoch, amplitude, and any detected changes to the spin-down rate of the star. Combining these new glitches with those listed in the Jodrell Bank glitch catalogue, we analyse a total sample of 543 glitches in 178 pulsars. We model the distribution of glitch amplitudes and spin-down rate changes using a mixture of two Gaussian components. We corroborate the known dependence of glitch rate and activity on pulsar spin-down rates and characteristic ages, and show that younger pulsars tend to exhibit larger glitches. Pulsars with spin-down rates between 10−14 and 10−10.5 Hz s−1 show a mean reversal of 1.8 per cent of their spin-down as a consequence of glitches. Our results are qualitatively consistent with the superfluid vortex unpinning models of pulsar glitches.

Long-term Statistics of Pulsar Glitches Due to History-dependent Avalanches

Abstract Stress accumulation-relaxation meta-models of pulsar glitches make precise, microphysics-agnostic predictions of long-term glitch statistics, which can be falsified by existing and future timing data. Previous meta-models assume that glitches are triggered by an avalanche process, e.g., involving superfluid vortices, and that the probability density function (PDF) of the avalanche sizes is history independent and specified exogenously. Here, a recipe is proposed to generate the avalanche sizes endogenously in a history-dependent manner, by tracking the thresholds of occupied vortex pinning sites as a function of time. Vortices unpin spasmodically from sites with thresholds below a global, time-dependent stress and repin at sites with thresholds above the global stress, imbuing the system with long-term memory. The meta-model predicts PDFs, auto-, and cross-correlations for glitch sizes and waiting times, which are provisionally inconsistent with current observations, unlike some previous meta-models (e.g., state-dependent Poisson process), whose predictions are consistent. The theoretical implications are intriguing, albeit uncertain, because history-dependent avalanches embody faithfully the popular, idealized understanding in the literature of how vortex unpinning operates as a driven, stochastic process. The meta-model predicts aftershocks, which occur with larger than average sizes and longer than average waiting times after the largest, system-resetting glitches. This prediction will be tested, once more data are generated by the next generation of pulsar timing campaigns.

New insight into the physical essence of pulsar glitch

Based on the oscillation between the B phase and A phase of 3P2 neutron superfluid in neutron stars, we propose a new glitch model for young pulsars. According to our model, the glitch is explained as a repeat phenomena from the quasi period 3P2 neutron superfluid B phase, to A phase, then to B phase (many repeated glitches with quasi-period). With the repeating of the phase transition, the vortex quantum number of 3P2 neutron superfluid vortices is gradually reduced, and the heating rate ε(B) in B phase also gets lower and lower. After a number of glitches, the time intervals between successive glitches will gradually become longer, and the glitch amplitude decreases. When the heating rate ε(B) of an old neutron star becomes lower than the cooling rate of the direct Urca, which can happen in a super-strongmagnetic field, the B phase of the 3P2 neutron superfluid vortices is no longer returned to the A phase state and the phase oscillation of the system is stopped immediately. The slowing glitch phenomenon of some older pulsars is a natural result of our theory, which means that very old pulsars will no longer present the glitch. Our model will be tested in future pulsar glitch observations.

A real-time automated glitch detection pipeline at Ooty Radio Telescope

ABSTRACT Glitches are the observational manifestations of superfluidity inside neutron stars. The aim of this paper is to describe an automated glitch detection pipeline, which can alert the observers on possible real-time detection of rotational glitches in pulsars. Post alert, the pulsars can be monitored at a higher cadence to measure the post-glitch recovery phase. Two algorithms, namely median absolute deviation and polynomial regression, have been explored to detect glitches in real time. The pipeline has been optimized with the help of simulated timing residuals for both the algorithms. Based on the simulations, we conclude that the polynomial regression algorithm is significantly more effective for real time glitch detection. The pipeline has been tested on a few published glitches. This pipeline is presently implemented at the Ooty Radio Telescope. In the era of upcoming large telescopes like SKA, several hundreds of pulsars will be observed regularly and such a tool will be useful for both real-time detection as well as optimal utilization of observation time for such glitching pulsars.

X-Ray Polarimetry of the Crab Nebula with PolarLight: Polarization Recovery after the Glitch and a Secular Position Angle Variation

Abstract We report follow-up observations of the Crab Nebula with the PolarLight X-ray polarimeter, which revealed a possible variation in polarization associated with a pulsar glitch in 2019. The new observations confirm that the polarization has recovered roughly 100 days after the glitch. With the new observations, we find that the polarization angle (PA) measured with PolarLight from the total nebular emission has a difference of 18.°0 ± 4.°6 from that measured 42 yr ago with OSO-8, indicating a secular evolution of polarization with either the Crab Nebula or pulsar. The long-term variation in PA could be a result of multiple glitches in the history, magnetic reconnection, or movement of synchrotron emitting structures in the nebula, or secular evolution of the pulsar magnetic geometry.

The slow rise and recovery of the 2019 Crab pulsar glitch

ABSTRACT We present updated measurements of the Crab pulsar glitch of 2019 July 23 using a data set of pulse arrival times spanning ∼5 months. On MJD 58687, the pulsar underwent its seventh largest glitch observed to date, characterized by an instantaneous spin-up of ∼1 μHz. Following the glitch, the pulsar’s rotation frequency relaxed exponentially towards pre-glitch values over a time-scale of approximately 1 week, resulting in a permanent frequency increment of ∼0.5 μHz. Due to our semicontinuous monitoring of the Crab pulsar, we were able to partially resolve a fraction of the total spin-up. This delayed spin-up occurred exponentially over a time-scale of ∼18 h. This is the sixth Crab pulsar glitch for which part of the initial rise was resolved in time and this phenomenon has not been observed in any other glitching pulsars, offering a unique opportunity to study the microphysical processes governing interactions between the neutron star interior and the crust.

A Gravitational-Wave Perspective on Neutron-Star Seismology

We provide a bird’s-eye view of neutron-star seismology, which aims to probe the extreme physics associated with these objects, in the context of gravitational-wave astronomy. Focussing on the fundamental mode of oscillation, which is an efficient gravitational-wave emitter, we consider the seismology aspects of a number of astrophysically relevant scenarios, ranging from transients (like pulsar glitches and magnetar flares), to the dynamics of tides in inspiralling compact binaries and the eventual merged object and instabilities acting in isolated, rapidly rotating, neutron stars. The aim is not to provide a thorough review, but rather to introduce (some of) the key ideas and highlight issues that need further attention.

Vortex pinning in the superfluid core of relativistic neutron stars

ABSTRACT Our recent Newtonian treatment of the smooth-averaged mutual-friction force acting on the neutron superfluid and locally induced by the pinning of quantized neutron vortices to proton fluxoids in the outer core of superfluid neutron stars is here adapted to the general-relativistic framework. We show how the local non-relativistic motion of individual vortices can be matched to the global dynamics of the star using the fully 4D covariant Newtonian formalism of Carter & Chamel. We derive all the necessary dynamical equations for carrying out realistic simulations of superfluid rotating neutron stars in full general relativity, as required for the interpretation of pulsar frequency glitches. The role of vortex pinning on the global dynamics appears to be non-trivial.

Superfluid Neutron Matter with a Twist

Superfluid neutron matter is a key ingredient in the composition of neutron stars. The physics of the inner crust are largely dependent on those of its S-wave neutron superfluid, which has made its presence known through pulsar glitches and modifications in neutron star cooling. Moreover, with recent gravitational-wave observations of neutron star mergers, the need for an equation of state for the matter of these compact stars is further accentuated and a model-independent treatment of neutron superfluidity is important. Ab initio techniques developed for finite systems can be guided to perform extrapolations to the thermodynamic limit and attain this model-independent extraction of various quantities of infinite superfluid neutron matter. To inform such an extrapolation scheme, we performed calculations of the neutron 1S0 pairing gap using model-independent odd–even staggering in the context of the particle-conserving, projected Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) theory under twisted boundary conditions. While the practice of twisted boundary conditions is standard in solid-state physics and has been used repeatedly in the past to reduce finite-size effects, this is the first time that it has been employed in the context of pairing. We find that a twist-averaging approach results in a substantial reduction of the finite-size effects, bringing systems with N⪆50 within a 2% error margin from the infinite system. This can significantly reduce extrapolation-related errors in the extraction of superfluid neutron matter quantities.

The impact of superconductivity and the Hall effect in models of magnetised neutron stars

AbstractEquilibrium configurations of the internal magnetic field of a pulsar play a key role in modelling astrophysical phenomena from glitches to gravitational wave emission. In this paper, we present a numerical scheme for solving the Grad–Shafranov equation and calculating equilibrium configurations of pulsars, accounting for superconductivity in the core of the neutron star, and for the Hall effect in the crust of the star. Our numerical code uses a finite difference method in which the source term appearing in the Grad–Shafranov equation, which is used to model the magnetic equilibrium is non-linear. We obtain solutions by linearising the source and applying an under-relaxation scheme at each step of computation to improve the solver’s convergence. We have developed our code in both C++ and Python, and our numerical algorithm can further be adapted to solve any non-linear PDEs appearing in other areas of computational astrophysics. We produce mixed toroidal–poloidal field configurations, and extend the portion of parameter space that can be investigated with respect to previous studies. We find that in even in the more extreme cases, the magnetic energy in the toroidal component does not exceed approximately 5% of the total. We also find that if the core of the star is superconducting, the toroidal component is entirely confined to the crust of the star, which has important implications for pulsar glitch models which rely on the presence of a strong toroidal field region in the core of the star, where superfluid vortices pin to superconducting fluxtubes.

Superfluid vortex-mediated mutual friction in non-homogeneous neutron star interiors

ABSTRACT Understanding the average motion of a multitude of superfluid vortices in the interior of a neutron star is a key ingredient for most theories of pulsar glitches. In this paper, we propose a kinetic approach to compute the mutual friction force that is responsible for the momentum exchange between the normal and superfluid components in a neutron star, where the mutual friction is extracted from a suitable average over the motion of many vortex lines. As a first step towards a better modelling of the repinning and depinning processes of many vortex lines in a neutron star, we consider here only straight and non-interacting vortices: we adopt a minimal model for the dynamics of an ensemble of point vortices in two dimensions immersed in a non-homogeneous medium that acts as a pinning landscape. Since the degree of disorder in the inner crust or outer core of a neutron star is unknown, we compare the two possible scenarios of periodic and disordered pinscapes. This approach allows us to extract the mutual friction between the superfluid and the normal component in the star when, in addition to the usual Magnus and drag forces acting on vortex lines, also a pinning force is at work. The effect of disorder on the depinning transition is also discussed.

Bayesian estimate of the superfluid moments of inertia from the 2016 glitch in the Vela pulsar

Context. The observation of the first pulse-to-pulse glitch in the Vela pulsar opens a new window among theoretical speculations on the internal dynamics of neutron stars as it allows us for testing models to factor in the circumstances of the first moments of a glitch. Several works in the literature have already considered the observational and physical parameters of the star by employing a minimal model with three rigidly rotating components. Aims. We improve the analytical study of the minimal three-component model for pulsar glitches by solving it with generic initial conditions for the two initial lags of their superfluid components. The purpose is to use this solution to fit the data of the 2016 Vela glitch by employing a Bayesian approach and to obtain a probability distribution for the physical parameters of the model and for observational parameters, such as the glitch rise time and the relaxation timescale. Methods. The fit is achieved through Bayesian inference. Due to the presence of an increase in the timing residuals near the glitch time, an extra magnetospheric component was added to the three-component model to deal with this phenomenon. A physically reasonable, non-informative prior was set on the different parameters of the model, so that the posterior distribution could be compared with state-of-the-art information obtained from microphysical calculations. By considering a model with a tightened prior on the moment of inertia fractions and by comparing it with the original model by means of Bayesian model selection, we studied the possibility of a crust-limited superfluid reservoir. Results. We obtained the posterior distribution for the moment of inertia fractions of the superfluid components, the coupling parameters, and the initial velocity lags between the components. An analysis of the inferred posterior also confirmed the presence of an overshoot in that glitch and set an upper limit of ∼6 s on the glitch rise timescale. The comparison between the two models with different priors on the moment of inertia fractions appears to indicate a need for a core participation in the glitch phenomenon, regardless of the uncertain strength of the entrainment coupling.

Vortex unpinning due to crustquake-initiated neutron excitation and pulsar glitches

ABSTRACT Pulsars undergoing crustquake release strain energy, which can be absorbed in a small region inside the inner crust of the star and excite the free superfluid neutrons therein. The scattering of these neutrons with the surrounding pinned vortices may unpin a large number of vortices and effectively reduce the pinning force on vortex lines. Such unpinning by neutron scattering can produce glitches for Crab-like pulsars and Vela pulsar of size in the range of ∼10−8–10−7 and ∼10−9–10−8, respectively. Although we discuss here the crustquake-initiated excitation, the proposal is very generic and equally applicable for any other sources, which can excite the free superfluid neutrons, or can be responsible for superfluid – normal phase transition of neutron superfluid in the inner crust of a pulsar.

Deformed crystals and torsional oscillations of neutron star crust

ABSTRACT We study breaking stress of deformed Coulomb crystals in a neutron star crust, taking into account electron plasma screening of ion–ion interaction; calculated breaking stress is fitted as a function of electron screening parameter. We apply the results for analysing torsional oscillation modes in the crust of a non-magnetic star. We present exact analytical expression for the fundamental frequencies of such oscillations and show that the frequencies of all torsional oscillations are insensitive to the presence of the outer neutron star crust. The results can be useful in theoretical modelling of processes involving deformed Coulomb crystals in the crust of neutron stars, such as magnetic field evolution, torsional crustal, or magneto-elastic quasi-periodic oscillations of flaring soft gamma-ray repeaters, pulsar glitches. The applicability of the results to soft gamma-ray repeaters is discussed.

Turbulent, pinned superfluids in neutron stars and pulsar glitch recoveries

ABSTRACT Pulsar glitches offer an insight into the dynamics of superfluids in the high-density interior of a neutron star. To model these phenomena, however, one needs to have an understanding of the dynamics of a turbulent array of superfluid vortices moving through a pinning lattice. In this paper, we develop a theoretical approach to describe vortex-mediated mutual friction in a pinned, turbulent and rotating superfluid. Our model is then applied to the study of the post-glitch rotational evolution in the Vela pulsar and in PSR J0537-6910. We show that in both cases a turbulent model fits the evolution of the spin frequency derivative better than a laminar one. We also predict that the second derivative of the frequency after a glitch should be correlated with the waiting time since the previous glitch, which we find to be consistent with observational data for these pulsars. The main conclusion of this paper is that in the post-glitch rotational evolution of these two pulsars we are most likely observing the response to the glitch of a pinned turbulent region of the star (possibly the crust) and not the laminar response of a regular straight vortex array.