3 research outputs found
The appearance of a compact jet in the soft-intermediate state of 4U 1543-47
Recent advancements in the understanding of jet-disc coupling in black hole
candidate X-ray binaries (BHXBs) have provided close links between radio jet
emission and X-ray spectral and variability behaviour. In 'soft' X-ray states
the jets are suppressed, but the current picture lacks an understanding of the
X-ray features associated with the quenching or recovering of these jets. Here
we show that a brief, ~4 day infrared (IR) brightening during a predominantly
soft X-ray state of the BHXB 4U 1543-47 is contemporaneous with a strong X-ray
Type B quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO), a slight spectral hardening and an
increase in the rms variability, indicating an excursion to the
soft-intermediate state (SIMS). This IR 'flare' has a spectral index consistent
with optically thin synchrotron emission and most likely originates from the
steady, compact jet. This core jet emitting in the IR is usually only
associated with the hard state, and its appearance during the SIMS places the
'jet line' between the SIMS and the soft state in the hardness-intensity
diagram for this source. IR emission is produced in a small region of the jets
close to where they are launched (~ 0.1 light-seconds), and the timescale of
the IR flare in 4U 1543-47 is far too long to be caused by a single, discrete
ejection. We also present a summary of the evolution of the jet and X-ray
spectral/variability properties throughout the whole outburst, constraining the
jet contribution to the X-ray flux during the decay.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. 11 pages, 6 figure
THE INCLINATION ANGLE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BRAKING INDEX OF PULSARS WITH PLASMA-FILLED MAGNETOSPHERE: APPLICATION TO THE HIGH BRAKING INDEX OF PSR J1640-4631
The recently discovered rotationally powered pulsar PSR J1640-4631 is the first to have a braking index measured, with high enough precision, that is greater than 3. An inclined magnetic rotator in vacuum or plasma would be subject not only to spin-down but also to an alignment torque. The vacuum model can address the braking index only for an almost orthogonal rotator, which is incompatible with the single-peaked pulse profile. The magnetic dipole model with the corotating plasma predicts braking indices between 3 and 3.25. We find that the braking index of 3.15 is consistent with two different inclination angles, 18 degrees.5 +/- 3 degrees and 56 degrees +/- 4 degrees. The smaller angle is preferred given that the pulse profile has a single peak and the radio output of the source is weak. We infer the change in the inclination angle to be at the rate -0 degrees.23 per century, three times smaller in absolute value than the rate recently observed for the Crab pulsar