A Photon Splitting Cascade Model of Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters

The spectra of soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), with the exception of the March 5, 1979 main burst, are characterized by high-energy cutoffs around 30 keV and low-energy turnovers that are much steeper than a Wien spectrum. Baring (1995) found that the spectra of cascades due to photon splitting in a very strong, homogeneous magnetic field can soften spectra and produce good fits to the soft spectra of SGRs. Magnetic field strengths somewhat above the QED critical field strength $B_{\rm cr}$, where $B_{\rm cr} = 4.413 \times 10^{13}$ G, is required to produce cutoffs at 30-40 keV. We have improved upon this model by computing Monte Carlo photon splitting cascade spectra in a neutron star dipole magnetic field, including effects of curved space-time in a Schwarzschild metric. We investigate spectra produced by photons emitted at different locations and observer angles. We find that the general results of Baring hold for surface emission throughout most of the magnetosphere, but that emission in equatorial regions can best reproduce the constancy of SGR spectra observed from different bursts.Comment: 5 pages in LATEX using REVTEX aipbook.sty + 4 figures (uuencoded, compressed postscript), to appear in the proceedings of the Third Huntsville Workshop on Gamma-Ray Bursts, eds. C. Kouveliotou, M. S. Briggs and G. J. Fishman (New York, AIP

A New Class of Radio Quiet Pulsars

The complete absence of radio pulsars with periods exceeding a few seconds has lead to the popular notion of the existence of a high $P$ death line. In the standard picture, beyond this boundary, pulsars with low spin rates cannot accelerate particles above the stellar surface to high enough energies to initiated pair cascades through curvature radiation, and the pair creation needed for radio emission is strongly suppressed. In this paper we postulate the existence of another pulsar ``death line,'' corresponding to high magnetic fields $B$ in the upper portion of the $\dot{P}$--$P$ diagram, a domain where few radio pulsars are observed. The origin of this high $B$ boundary, which occurs when $B$ becomes comparable to or exceeds $10^{13}$ Gauss, is again due to the suppression of magnetic pair creation $\gamma\to e^+e^-$, but in this instance, primarily because of ineffective competition with the exotic QED process of magnetic photon splitting. This paper describes the origin, shape and position of the new ``death line,'' above which pulsars are expected to be radio quiet, but perhaps still X-ray and $\gamma$-ray bright.Comment: 5 pages, including 1 eps figure, to appear in Proc. 4th Compton Symposium, (1997) ed. Dermer, C. D. & Kurfess, J. D. (AIP, New York

Two-photon annihilation of thermal pairs in strong magnetic fields

The annihilation spectrum of pairs with 1-D thermal distributions in the presence of a strong magnetic field is calculated. Numerical analysis of the spectrum are performed for mildly relativistic temperatures and for different angles of emission with respect to field lines. Teragauss magnetic fields are assumed so that conditions are typical of gamma ray burst and pulsar environments. The spectra at each viewing angle reveal asymmetric line profiles that are signatures of the magnetic broadening and red shifting of the line: these asymmetries are more prominent for small viewing angles. Thermal Doppler broadening tends to dominate in the right wing of the line and obscures the magnetic broadening more at high temperatures and smaller viewing angles. This angular dependence of the line asymmetry may prove a valuable diagnostic tool. For low temperatures and magnetic field strengths, useful analytic expressions are presented for the line width, and also for the annihilation spectrum at zero viewing angle. The results presented find application in gamma ray burst and pulsar models, and may prove very helpful in deducing field strengths and temperatures of the emission regions of these objects from line observations made by Compton GRO and future missions

Resonant Inverse Compton Scattering Spectra from Highly-magnetized Neutron Stars

Hard, non-thermal, persistent pulsed X-ray emission extending between 10 keV and $\sim 150$ keV has been observed in nearly ten magnetars. For inner-magnetospheric models of such emission, resonant inverse Compton scattering of soft thermal photons by ultra-relativistic charges is the most efficient production mechanism. We present angle-dependent upscattering spectra and pulsed intensity maps for uncooled, relativistic electrons injected in inner regions of magnetar magnetospheres, calculated using collisional integrals over field loops. Our computations employ a new formulation of the QED Compton scattering cross section in strong magnetic fields that is physically correct for treating important spin-dependent effects in the cyclotron resonance, thereby producing correct photon spectra. The spectral cut-off energies are sensitive to the choices of observer viewing geometry, electron Lorentz factor, and scattering kinematics. We find that electrons with energies $\lesssim 15$ MeV will emit most of their radiation below 250 keV, consistent with inferred turnovers for magnetar hard X-ray tails. More energetic electrons still emit mostly below 1 MeV, except for viewing perspectives sampling field line tangents. Pulse profiles may be singly- or doubly-peaked dependent upon viewing geometry, emission locale, and observed energy band. Magnetic pair production and photon splitting will attenuate spectra to hard X-ray energies, suppressing signals in the Fermi-LAT band. The resonant Compton spectra are strongly polarized, suggesting that hard X-ray polarimetry instruments such as X-Calibur, or a future Compton telescope, can prove central to constraining model geometry and physics.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ; v3 fixes typos and updates some reference

Constraining Relativistic Bow Shock Properties in Rotation-Powered Millisecond Pulsar Binaries

Multiwavelength followup of unidentified Fermi sources has vastly expanded the number of known galactic-field "black widow" and "redback" millisecond pulsar binaries. Focusing on their rotation-powered state, we interpret the radio to X-ray phenomenology in a consistent framework. We advocate the existence of two distinct modes differing in their intrabinary shock orientation, distinguished by the phase-centering of the double-peaked X-ray orbital modulation originating from mildly-relativistic Doppler boosting. By constructing a geometric model for radio eclipses, we constrain the shock geometry as functions of binary inclination and shock stand-off $R_0$. We develop synthetic X-ray synchrotron orbital light curves and explore the model parameter space allowed by radio eclipse constraints applied on archetypal systems B1957+20 and J1023+0038. For B1957+20, from radio eclipses the stand-off is $R_0 \sim 0.15$ -- $0.3$ fraction of binary separation from the companion center, depending on the orbit inclination. Constructed X-ray light curves for B1957+20 using these values are qualitatively consistent with those observed, and we find occultation of the shock by the companion as a minor influence, demanding significant Doppler factors to yield double peaks. For J1023+0038, radio eclipses imply $R_0 \lesssim 0.4$ while X-ray light curves suggest $0.1\lesssim R_0 \lesssim 0.3$ (from the pulsar). Degeneracies in the model parameter space encourage further development to include transport considerations. Generically, the spatial variation along the shock of the underlying electron power-law index should yield energy-dependence in the shape of light curves motivating future X-ray phase-resolved spectroscopic studies to probe the unknown physics of pulsar winds and relativistic shock acceleration therein.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 36 pages, 15 figures; comments welcom