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Possible Evidence for Free Precession of a Strongly Magnetized Neutron Star in the Magnetar 4U 0142+61

K. Makishima, T. Enoto, J. S. Hiraga, T. Nakano, K. Nakazawa, S. Sakurai, M. Sasano, and H. Murakami
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 171102 – Published 30 April 2014
Physics logo See Synopsis: Internal Magnetic Field Causes Neutron Star to Go Wobbly

Abstract

Magnetars are a special type of neutron stars, considered to have extreme dipole magnetic fields reaching 1011T. The magnetar 4U 0142+61, one of the prototypes of this class, was studied in broadband x rays (0.5–70 keV) with the Suzaku observatory. In hard x rays (15–40 keV), its 8.69 sec pulsations suffered slow phase modulations by ±0.7sec, with a period of 15h. When this effect is interpreted as free precession of the neutron star, the object is inferred to deviate from spherical symmetry by 1.6×104 in its moments of inertia. This deformation, when ascribed to magnetic pressure, suggests a strong toroidal magnetic field, 1012T, residing inside the object. This provides one of the first observational approaches towards toroidal magnetic fields of magnetars.

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  • Received 4 October 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.171102

© 2014 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Internal Magnetic Field Causes Neutron Star to Go Wobbly

Published 30 April 2014

An analysis of x-ray emission from a magnetar suggests that its huge magnetic field has distorted its shape, causing it to wobble.

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Authors & Affiliations

K. Makishima1,2,3, T. Enoto4,5, J. S. Hiraga2, T. Nakano1, K. Nakazawa1, S. Sakurai1, M. Sasano1, and H. Murakami1

  • 1Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 2Research Center for the Early Universe, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 3MAXI team, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 4High Energy Astrophysics Laboratory, RIKEN Nishina Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 5NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Astrophysics Science Division, Code 662, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA

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Issue

Vol. 112, Iss. 17 — 2 May 2014

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