A MULTIWAVELENGTH STUDY ON THE HIGH-ENERGY BEHAVIOR OF THE FERMI/LAT PULSARS

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/733/2/82· OSTI ID:21576748

Marelli, Martino; Luca, Andrea De; Caraveo, Patrizia A ^[1]

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1. INAF/IASF Milano, Via E. Bassini 15, I-20133 Milano (Italy)

Using archival as well as freshly acquired data, we assess the X-ray behavior of the Fermi/Large Area Telescope {gamma}-ray pulsars listed in the First Fermi source catalog. After revisiting the relationships between the pulsars' rotational energy losses and their X-ray and {gamma}-ray luminosities, we focus on the distance-independent {gamma}-to-X-ray flux ratios. When plotting our F{sub {gamma}}/F{sub X} values as a function of the pulsars' rotational energy losses, one immediately sees that pulsars with similar energetics have F{sub {gamma}}/F{sub X} spanning three decades. Such spread, most probably stemming from vastly different geometrical configurations of the X-ray and {gamma}-ray emitting regions, defies any straightforward interpretation of the plot. Indeed, while energetic pulsars do have low F{sub {gamma}}/F{sub X} values, little can be said for the bulk of the Fermi neutron stars. Dividing our pulsar sample into radio-loud and radio-quiet subsamples, we find that, on average, radio-quiet pulsars do have higher values of F{sub {gamma}}/F{sub X}, implying an intrinsic faintness of their X-ray emission and/or a different geometrical configuration. Moreover, despite the large spread mentioned above, statistical tests show a lower scatter in the radio-quiet data set with respect to the radio-loud one, pointing to a somewhat more constrained geometry for the radio-quiet objects with respect to the radio-loud ones.

• OSTI ID: 21576748
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 733; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
ENERGY LOSSES
GAMMA RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LOSSES
LUMINOSITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PULSARS
RADIATION FLUX
RADIATIONS
X RADIATION