Determining the rotation direction in pulsars
| Autor: | J. M. Rax, Nathaniel J. Fisch, Renaud Gueroult, Yuan Shi |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | LAboratoire PLasma et Conversion d'Energie (LAPLACE), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton University, Laboratoire d'optique appliquée (LOA), École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA Paris)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Astrophysical Sciences [Princeton], Groupe de Recherche Energétique, Plasmas et Hors Equilibre (LAPLACE-GREPHE), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
General relativity Science Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Physics and Astronomy Magnetosphere 02 engineering and technology Astrophysics Rotation General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Article 03 medical and health sciences symbols.namesake Pulsar [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-PLASM-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Plasma Physics [physics.plasm-ph] Faraday effect lcsh:Science ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics Physics Multidisciplinary Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics General Chemistry 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Astrophysical magnetic fields Magnetic field Interstellar medium Neutron star 030104 developmental biology symbols lcsh:Q 0210 nano-technology Compact astrophysical objects |
| Zdroj: | Nature Communications, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2019) Nature Communications Nature Communications, Nature Publishing Group, 2019, 10 (1), ⟨10.1038/s41467-019-11243-4⟩ |
| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-019-11243-4 |
| Popis: | Pulsars are rotating neutron stars emitting lighthouse-like beams. Owing to their unique properties, pulsars are a unique astrophysical tool to test general relativity, inform on matter in extreme conditions, and probe galactic magnetic fields. Understanding pulsar physics and emission mechanisms is critical to these applications. Here we show that mechanical-optical rotation in the pulsar magnetosphere affects polarisation in a way which is indiscernible from Faraday rotation in the interstellar medium for typical GHz observations frequency, but which can be distinguished in the sub-GHz band. Besides being essential to correct for possible systematic errors in interstellar magnetic field estimates, this result offers a unique means to determine the rotation direction of pulsars, providing additional constraints on magnetospheric physics. With the ongoing development of sub-GHz observation capabilities, our finding promises discoveries, such as the spatial distribution of pulsars rotation directions, which could exhibit potentially interesting, but presently invisible, correlations or features. Interstellar magnetic fields determined from pulsar polarimetry in the GHz-band may be biased by mechanical-optical rotation in pulsars’ magnetospheres. Here the authors show how observations at sub-GHz frequencies can be used to resolve such a bias and determine pulsar rotation directions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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