Probing Pulsar Kicks With Velocity And Spin Vectors
Abstract
The Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed equatorial outflows and polar jet structures in many young pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). We have re-analyzed the Chandra archive of PWNe where a toroidal termination shock is observed, and applied a fitting technique to measure the spin axis orientation. Abetted by recent progress in measuring pulsar proper motions and radio polarization observations, it has become possible to make improved comparison between the pulsar linear and angular momentum vectors; this places constrains on the kick physics and hence probes the core collapse dynamics. We describe simulations of a simple kick model by asymmetric neutrino emission. Three scenarios for proto-neutron star cooling are discussed. The distributions of pulsar initial spin period, projected velocity and alignment angle on the sky plane are obtained for a range of kick parameters and compared with the present set of spin and proper motion measurements. Results of the simulation provide constraints on the kick parameters, including the kick amplitude, timescale and proto-neutron star initial spin period.
This work was supported in part by NASA grant NAG5-13344 and by grant AR6-7003X issued by the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of the National Aeronautics Space Administration under contract NAS8-03060.- Publication:
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AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #9
- Pub Date:
- September 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006HEAD....9.0119N