The Radio Emission, X-Ray Emission, and Hydrodynamics of G328.4+0.2: A Comprehensive Analysis of a Luminous Pulsar Wind Nebula, Its Neutron Star, and the Progenitor Supernova Explosion

We present new observational and modeling results obtained for the Galactic nonthermal radio source G328.4+0.2. Using X-ray data obtained by XMM-Newton, we confirm that its X-ray emission is heavily absorbed, has a spectrum best fitted by a power-law model of photon index Γ=2 with no evidence for a thermal component, comes from a region significantly smaller than the radio emission, and that the X-ray and radio emissions are significantly offset from each other. We also present the results of a new high-resolution (7") 1.4 GHz image of G328.4+0.2 obtained using ATCA and a deep search for radio pulsations using the Parkes radio telescope. By comparing this 1.4 GHz image with a similar resolution image at 4.8 GHz, we find that the radio emission has a flat spectrum (α~0 S_ν~ν^α). Additionally, we are able to limit the pseudoluminosity of any pulsar to L₁₄₀₀≡S₁₄₀₀400d²<~30 mJy kpc² for the central radio pulsar, assuming a distance of 17 kpc. In light of these observational results, we test whether G328.4+0.2 is a pulsar wind nebula or an SNR that contains a large pulsar wind nebula using a simple hydrodynamic model for the evolution of a pulsar wind nebula inside an SNR. As a result of this analysis, we conclude that G328.4+0.2 is a young (<~10,000 years old) pulsar wind nebula formed by a low magnetic field (<~10¹² G) neutron star born spinning rapidly (<~10 ms) expanding into an undetected SNR formed by an energetic (>~10⁵¹ ergs), low ejecta mass (M_ej<~5 M_solar) supernova explosion that occurred in a low-density (n~0.03 cm^-3) environment.