Cooling neutron stars and superfluidity in their interiors

We study the heat capacity and neutrino emission reactions (direct and modified Urca processes, nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung, Cooper pairing of nucleons) in matter of supranuclear density of the neutron star cores with superfluid neutrons and protons. Various superfluidity types are analysed (singlet-state pairing and two types of triplet-state pairing, without and with nodes of the gap at a nucleon Fermi surface). The results are used for cooling simulations of isolated neutron stars. Both, the standard cooling and the cooling enhanced by the direct Urca process, are strongly affected by nucleon superfluidity. Comparison of cooling theory of isolated neutron stars with observations of their thermal radiation may give stringent constraints on the critical temperatures of the neutron and proton superfluidities in the neutron star cores.Comment: LaTeX, 85 pages, 23 figures, Physics - Uspekhi (accepted

The G292.0+1.8 pulsar wind nebula in the mid-infrared

G292.0+1.8 is a Cas A-like supernova remnant that contains the young pulsar PSR J1124-5916 powering a compact torus-like pulsar wind nebula visible in X-rays. A likely counterpart to the nebula has been detected in the optical VRI bands. To confirm the counterpart candidate nature, we examined archival mid-infrared data obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Broad-band images taken at 4.5, 8, 24, and 70 microns were analyzed and compared with available optical and X-ray data. The extended counterpart candidate is firmly detected in the 4.5 and 8 micron bands. It is brighter and more extended in the bands than in the optical, and its position and morphology agree well with the coordinates and morphology of the torus-like pulsar wind nebula in X-rays. The source is not visible in 24 and 70 micron images, which are dominated by bright emission from the remnant shell and filaments. We compiled the infrared fluxes of the nebula, which probably contains a contribution from an unresolved pulsar in its center, with the optical and X-ray data. The resulting unabsorbed multiwavelength spectrum is described by power laws of significantly steeper slope in the infrared-optical than in X-rays, implying a double-knee spectral break between the optical and X-rays. The 24 and 70 microns flux upper limits suggest a second break and a flatter spectrum at the long wavelength limit. These features are common to two other pulsar wind nebulae associated with the remnants B0540-69.3 and 3C 58 and observed in all three ranges. The position, morphology, and spectral properties of the detected source allow us to comfirm that it is the infrared-optical counterpart to both the pulsar and its wind nebula system in the G292.0+1.8 supernova remnant.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

GEMINGA'S SOFT X-RAY EMISSION AND THE STRUCTURE OF ITS SURFACE

We present a model to explain the decrease in the amplitude of the pulse profile with increasing energy observed in Geminga's soft X-ray surface thermal emission. We assume the presence of plates surrounded by a surface with very distinct physical properties: these two regions emit spectra of very distinct shapes which present a crossover, the warm plates emitting a softer spectrum than the colder surrounding surface. The strongly pulsed emission from the plates dominates at low energy while the surroundings emission dominates at high energy, producing naturally a strong decrease in the pulsed fraction. In our illustrative example the plates are assumed to be magnetized while the rest of the surface is field free. This plate structure may be seen as a schematic representation of a continuous but very nonuniform distribution of the surface magnetic field or as a quasi realistic structure induced by past tectonic activity on Geminga.Comment: 10 pages, AASTeX latex, + 3 figures (compressed 7 uuencoded). Submitted to Ap. J. Let

Near-infrared observations of PSR J1357-6429

PSR J1357$-$6429 is a young radio pulsar that was detected in X-rays and $\gamma$-rays. We present the high spatial resolution near-infrared imaging of the pulsar field in $J$, $H$ and $K_s$ bands obtained with the VLT/NaCo using the Adaptive Optic system. We found a faint source at the most precise pulsar radio position which we propose as the pulsar near-infrared counterpart candidate. It is confidently detected in the $J$ and $K_s$ bands, with $J$ = 23.51$\pm$0.24 and $K_s$ = 21.82$\pm$0.25. There is a hint of the source in the $H$ band with an upper limit $H$ $>$ 22.8. The dereddened source fluxes are compatible with the extrapolation of the pulsar X-ray spectrum towards the near-infrared. If the candidate is the true counterpart, by this property PSR J1357$-$6429 would be similar to the nearby middle-age pulsar PSR B0656+14. In this case, both pulsars demonstrate an unusually high near-infrared efficiency relative to the X-ray efficiency as compared to other pulsars detected in both ranges.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

Equation of state and opacities for hydrogen atmospheres of magnetars

The equation of state and radiative opacities of partially ionized, strongly magnetized hydrogen plasmas, presented in a previous paper [ApJ 585, 955 (2003), astro-ph/0212062] for the magnetic field strengths 8.e11 G < B < 3.e13 G, are extended to the field strengths 3.e13 G < B < 1.e15 G, relevant for magnetars. The first- and second-order thermodynamic functions and radiative opacities are calculated and tabulated for 5.e5 < T < 4.e7 K in a wide range of densities. We show that bound-free transitions give an important contribution to the opacities in the considered range of B in the outer neutron-star atmosphere layers. Unlike the case of weaker fields, bound-bound transitions are unimportant.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX using emulateapj.cls (included). Accepted by Ap

Powering Anomalous X-ray Pulsars by Neutron Star Cooling

Using recently calculated analytic models for the thermal structure of ultramagnetized neutron stars, we estimate the thermal fluxes from young ($t\sim 1000$ yr) ultramagnetized ($B \sim 10^{15}$ G) cooling neutron stars. We find that the pulsed X-ray emission from objects such as 1E 1841-045 and 1E 2259+586 as well as many soft-gamma repeaters can be explained by photon cooling if the neutron star possesses a thin insulating envelope of matter of low atomic weight at densities $\rho < 10^{7}-10^{8}$ g/cm$^3$. The total mass of this insulating layer is $M \sim 10^{-11}-10^{-8} M_\odot$.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Ap.J. Letters (one reference entry corrected, no other changes