skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: On the relaxation behaviors of slow and classical glitches: Observational biases and their opposite recovery trends

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1]
  1. National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China)

We study the pulsar timing properties and the data analysis methods of glitch recoveries. In some cases one first fits the times of arrival (TOAs) to obtain the 'time-averaged' frequency ν and its first derivative ν-dot , and then fits models to them. However, our simulations show that ν and ν-dot obtained in this way are systematically biased unless the time intervals between the nearby data points of TOAs are smaller than about 10{sup 4} s, which is much shorter than typical observation intervals. Alternatively, glitch parameters can be obtained by fitting the phases directly with relatively smaller biases, but the initial recovery time scale is usually chosen by eye, which may introduce a strong bias. We also construct a phenomenological model by assuming a pulsar spin-down law of ν-dot ν{sup −3}=−H{sub 0}G(t) with G(t) = 1 + κe {sup –t/τ} for a glitch recovery, where H {sub 0} is a constant and κ and τ are the glitch parameters to be found. This model can reproduce the observed data of slow glitches from B1822–09 and the giant classical glitch of B2334+61, with κ < 0 or κ > 0, respectively. We then use this model to simulate TOA data and test several fitting procedures for a glitch recovery. The best procedure is (1) to use a very high order polynomial (e.g., to 50th order) to precisely describe the phase, (2) obtain ν(t) and ν-dot (t) from the polynomial, then (3) obtain the glitch parameters from ν(t) or ν-dot (t). Finally, the uncertainty in the starting time t {sub 0} of a classical glitch causes uncertainties in some glitch parameters, but less so for a slow glitch, t {sub 0}, of which can be determined from data.

OSTI ID:
22342026
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 778, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Thermally activated post-glitch response of the neutron star inner crust and core. I. Theory
Journal Article · Thu Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:22342026

ANGULAR MOMENTUM TRANSFER IN VELA-LIKE PULSAR GLITCHES
Journal Article · Sat Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters · OSTI ID:22342026

A VERY LARGE GLITCH IN PSR B2334+61
Journal Article · Fri Aug 20 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal Letters · OSTI ID:22342026