2006/07/18 by E. Massaro, R. Campana, G. Cusumano +1 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065118
published as Astron.Astrophys. 459 (2006) 859-870 · 14 pages, 16 figures; accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics
arxiv created 2006/07/18 · openalex publication_date 2006/08/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We present a multicomponent model to explain the features of the pulsed emission and spectrum of the Crab Pulsar, on the basis of X and γ-ray observations obtained with BeppoSAX, INTEGRAL and CGRO. This model explains the evolution of the pulse shape and of the phase-resolved spectra, ranging from the optical/UV to the GeV energy band, on the assumption that the observed emission is due to more components. The first component, CO, is assumed to have the pulsed double-peaked profile observed at the optical frequencies, while the second component, CX, is dominant in the interpeak and second peak phase regions. The spectra of these components are modelled with log-parabolic laws and their spectral energy distributions have peak energies at 12.2 and 178 keV, respectively. To explain the properties of the pulsed emission in the MeV-GeV band, we introduce two more components, and , with phase distributions similar to those of CO and CX and log-parabolic spectra with the same curvature but peak energies at about 300 MeV and 2 GeV. This multicomponent model is able to reproduce both the broadband phase-resolved spectral behaviour and the changes of the pulse shape with energy. We also propose some possible physical interpretations in which CO and CX are emitted by secondary pairs via a synchrotron mechanism while and can originate either from Compton scattered or primary curvature photons.