Rotating radio transients(RRATs) are peculiar astronomical objects whose emission mechanism remains under investigation.In this paper, we present observations of three RRATs, J1538+2345, J1854+0306 and J1913+1330, carried out with the Fivehundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST). Specifically, we analyze the mean pulse profiles and temporal flux density evolutions of the RRATs. Owing to the high sensitivity of FAST, the derived burst rates of the three RRATs are higher than those in previous reports. RRAT J1854+0306 exhibited a time-dynamic mean pulse profile, whereas RRAT J1913+1330 showed distinct radiation and nulling segments on its pulse intensity trains. The mean pulse profile variation with frequency is also studied for RRAT J1538+2345 and RRAT J1913+1330, and the profiles at different frequencies could be well fitted with a cone-core model and a conal-beam model, respectively.
Magnetars are proposed to be peculiar neutron stars which could power their X-ray radiation by super-strong magnetic fields as high as > 10^(14) G.However,no direct evidence for such strong fields has been obtained till now,and the recent discovery of low magnetic field magnetars even indicates that some more efficient radiation mechanism than magnetic dipole radiation should be included.In this paper,quantum vacuum friction(QVF) is suggested to be a direct consequence of super-strong surface fields,therefore the magnetar model could then be tested further through QVF braking.The high surface magnetic field of a pulsar interacting with the quantum vacuum results in a significantly high spindown rate(P).It is found that a QVF dominates the energy loss of pulsars when the pulsar's rotation period and its first derivative satisfy the relationship P^3P > 0.63 ×10^(-16)ξ^(-4) s^2,whereξ is the ratio of the surface magnetic field over the dipole magnetic field.In the "QVF + magnetodipole" joint braking scenario,the spindown behavior of magnetars should be quite different from that in the pure magnetodipole model.We are expecting these results could be tested by magnetar candidates,especially low magnetic field cases,in the future.
With the largest dish Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope(FAST), both the mean and single pulses of PSR B2016+28, especially including the single-pulse structure, are investigated in detail in this study. The mean pulse profiles at different frequencies can be well fitted in a conal model, and the peak separation of intensity-dependent pulse profiles increases with intensity. The integrated pulses are obviously frequency dependent(pulse width decreases by ～20% as frequency increases from 300 to 750 MHz), but the structure of single pulses changes slightly(the corresponding correlation scale decreases by only～1%). This disparity between mean and single pulses provides independent evidence for the existence of the RS-type vacuum inner gap, indicating a strong bond between particles on the pulsar surface. Diffused drifting sub-pulses are analyzed. The results show that the modulation period along pulse series(P_3) is positively correlated to the separation between two adjacent sub-pulses(P_2). This correlation may hint a rough surface on the pulsar, eventually resulting in the irregular drift of sparks. All the observational results may have significant implications in the dynamics of pulsar magnetosphere and are discussed extensively in this paper.
We analyze the emission plateaus in the X-ray afterglow light curves of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and those in the optical light curves of type Ⅱ plateau supernovae (SNe Ⅱ-P) in order to study whether they have similar late energy injection behaviors. We show that correlations of bolometric energies (or luminosities) between the prompt explosions and the plateaus for the two phenomena are similar. The energy emitted by SNe Ⅱ-P are at the lower end of the range of possible energies for GRBs. The bolometric energies (or luminosities) in the prompt phase Eexpl (or Lexpl ) and in the plateau phase Eplateau (or Lplateau ) share relations of E expl ∝ Eplateau 0.73 ±0.14 and Lexpl ∝ Lplateau～0.70 . These results may indicate a similar late energy injection behavior that produces the observed plateaus in these two phenomena.
The state equation for strangeon matter is very stiff due to the non-relativistic nature of its particles and their repulsive interaction,such that pulsar masses as high as～3 M_⊙ would be expected. However, an adiabatic sound speed, c_s=(?P/?ρ)～(1/2), is usually superluminal in strangeon matter, and the dynamic response of a strangeon star(e.g., binary merger) is not tractable in numerical simulations. In this study, we examined signal propagation in strangeon matter and calculate the actual propagation speed, c_(signal).We found that the causality condition, c_(signal)< c, is satisfied and the signal speed is presented as a function of stellar radius.
The different timing results of the magnetar Swift J1822.3—1606 are analyzed and understood theoretically.It is noted that different timing solutions are caused not only by timing noise,but also because the period derivative is decreasing after the outburst.Both the decreasing period derivative and the large timing noise may originate from wind braking associated with the magnetar.Future timing of Swift J1822.3—1606 will help clarify whether or not its period derivative is decreasing with time.
The state of super-dense matter is essential for us to understand the nature of pulsars;however,nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics makes it very difficult to make direct calculations of the state of cold matter at realistic baryon number densities inside compact stars.Nevertheless,from an observational point of view,it is conjectured that pulsars could be made up of quark clusters since the strong coupling between quarks might render the quarks to be grouped in clusters.In this paper,we attempt to find an equation of state of condensed quark-cluster matter in a phenomenological way.Supposing that the quark-clusters could be analogized to inert gases,we apply here the corresponding-state approach to derive the equation of state of quark-cluster matter,as was similarly demonstrated for nuclear and neutron-star matter in the 1970s.According to the calculations that we have presented,the quark-cluster stars,which are composed of quark-cluster matter,could have a high maximum mass that is consistent with observations and,in turn,further observations of pulsar mass could also place a constraint on the properties of quark-cluster matter.We will also briefly discuss the melting heat during the solid-liquid phase conversion and its related astrophysical consequences.
Several X-ray-dim isolated neutron stars(XDINSs), also known as the Magnificent Seven,exhibit a Planck-like soft X-ray spectrum. In the optical/ultraviolet(UV) band, there is an excess of radiation compared to an extrapolation from the X-ray spectrum. However, the majority exhibits "spectral deviations": the fact that there is more flux at longer wavelengths makes spectra deviate from the Rayleigh-Jeans law. A model of bremsstrahlung emission from a nonuniform plasma atmosphere is proposed in the regime of a strangeon star to explain the optical/UV excess and its spectral deviation as well as X-ray pulsation. The atmosphere is on the surface of strangeon matter, which has negligible emission, and is formed by the accretion of ISM-fed debris disk matter moving along the magnetic field lines to near the polar caps. These particles may spread out of the polar regions which makes the atmosphere non-uniform. The modeled electron temperatures are ~100-200 eV with radiation radii R_(opt)~∞~5-14 km. The spectra of five sources(RX J0720.4–3125, RX J0806.4–4123, RX J1308.6+2127, RX J1605.3+3249, RX J1856.5–3754) from optical/UV to X-ray bands can be fitted well by the radiative model, and exhibit Gaussian absorption lines at ~100-500 eV as would be expected.Furthermore, the surroundings(i.e., fallback disks or dusty belts) of XDINSs could be tested by future infrared/submillimeter observations.
Pulsar-like compact stars usually have strong magnetic fields, with strengths from ~10~8 to ~10^(12) G on the surface. How such strong magnetic fields can be generated and maintained is still an unsolved problem,which is, in principle, related to the interior structure of compact stars, i.e., the equation of state of cold matter at supra-nuclear density. In this paper we are trying to solve the problem in the regime of solid quark-cluster stars.Inside quark-cluster stars, the extremely low ratio of number density of electrons to that of baryons n_e /n_b and the screening effect from quark-clusters could reduce the long-range Coulomb interaction between electrons to short-range interaction. In this case, Stoner's model could apply, and we find that the condition for ferromagnetism is consistent with that for the validity of Stoner's model. Under the screened Coulomb repulsion, the electrons inside the stars could be spontaneously magnetized and become ferromagnetic, and hence would contribute non-zero net magnetic momentum to the whole star. We conclude that, for most cases in solid quark-cluster stars, the amount of net magnetic momentum, which is proportional to the amount of unbalanced spins ξ =(n_+- n_-)/ne and depends on the number density of electrons n_e =n_+ + n_-, could be significant with non-zero ξ. The net magnetic moments of electron system in solid quark-cluster stars could be large enough to induce the observed magnetic fields for pulsars with B ~ 10^(11) to ~ 10^(13) G.
