The Magnetic Field of the Ultraluminous X-ray Pulsar M82 X-2
Abstract
Pulsations were recently detected from the ultraluminous X-ray source X-2 in M82. The newly discovered pulsar has been described as a common neutron star with a 1 TG magnetic field that accretes above the Eddington rate and as a magnetar-like pulsar with a 100 TG magnetic field that is above the quantum limit. We show here that this X-ray source is not exotic in any sense. The standard equations of accretion along field lines predict that, for the measured spin period $P_S$ and spinup rate $\dot{P_S}$, the isotropic X-ray luminosity $L_X$ must be near the Eddington limit (i.e., $L_{X}\approx 3.5\times 10^{38}$~erg~s$^{-1}$); and that the surface magnetic field $B$, that does not depend on $P_S$, must be modest (i.e., $B_*\approx 1-10$ TG). The observed higher luminosity can be explained by a moderate amount of geometric beaming that occurs in our direction. Other ultraluminous X-ray sources may also turn out to be common pulsars with similar physical characteristics, but since the emission must occur at a favorable angle to the observer, we expect that very few such pulsars will be discovered in the future.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- November 2014
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.1411.5434
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1411.5434
- Bibcode:
- 2014arXiv1411.5434C
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- This paper has been withdrawn by the authors. New observations have led to a different calculation that will be presented in another paper