2001/03/31 by Kristen Menou, Rosalba Perna, Lars Hernquist
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Atomic physics #Dipole #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Magnetic dipole #Neutron star #Nuclear physics #Physics #Pulsar #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Radiation #Range (aeronautics) #Rotational energy #Spin (aerodynamics) #Supernova #Supernova remnant #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/320927
minor changes, final version accepted to ApJL
arxiv created 2001/05/21 · openalex publication_date 2001/06/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We present a model for the spin-down of young radio pulsars in which the neutron star loses rotational energy not only by emitting magnetic dipole radiation but also by torquing a surrounding disk produced by supernova fallback. The braking index predicted in our model is, in general, less than n = 3 (the value for pure magnetic dipole radiation), in agreement with the reported values of n < 3 for five young radio pulsars. With an accuracy of 30% or better, our model reproduces the age, braking index, and third-frequency derivative of the Crab pulsar for a disk mass inflow rate in the range of 3 × 10 16 -10 17 g s -1 .