Target-of-Opportunity Chandra Observations of Glitching High-B Radio Pulsars: Searching for Magnetar Metamorphoses

We recently discovered a high-magnetic-field rotation-powered pulsar undergoing a "magnetar metamorphosis" simultaneously with a rotation glitch, transforming from an ordinary rotation-powered pulsar into a much brighter X-ray source with very different spectrum, and even possibly impacting on its nebular surroundings. After <8 weeks, the source returned to its normal state. This amazing event, caught serendipitously, suggests that all high-magnetic-field radio pulsars undergo such transient metamorphoses at glitch epochs, but have not been so recognized because of the absence of a sensitive X-ray all-sky monitor. We therefore request Chandra ToO observations of one high-magnetic-field radio pulsar when it has a large glitch or large X-ray burst in order to test this hypothesis.