The Largest Pulsar Glitch and the Universality of Glitch Behavior

Abstract

Large pulsar glitches seem to be common to all radio pulsars and to exhibit a universal behaviour connecting the rate of occurrence, event size and interglitch relaxation that can be explained if the glitches are due to angular momentum exchange in the neutron star. This has implications for the energy dissipation rate. The large timing excursions observed in SGRs are not similar to the pulsar glitches. The one glitch observed in an AXP is very similar to pulsar glitches and demonstrates that typical neutron star glitch response occurs when the external torque is constant for an extended period of time. In the long run the timing variations of both the AXPs and the SGRs are much stronger than the timing noise of radio pulsars but comparable with the behaviour of accreting sources. For the DTNs, the thermal luminosities do not seem compatible with cooling ages and statistics if these sources are magnetars. The energy dissipation rates implied by the dynamical behaviour of glitching pulsars will provide the luminosities of the DTNs under propeller spindown torques supplied by fossil disks on neutron stars with conventional 10 12 G dipole magnetic fields.

Statistical Study of Glitch Behaviours of Glitching Pulsars

“…It was shown that Vela pulsar, J0537-6910 and J1341-6220 show a quasiperiodic glitch pattern [15]. Vela alone was reported to have quasiregularly pattern [18], and a linear glitch pattern was also reported for Vela and J0537-6910 depicting also strong elasticity of the objects [12]. This corroborated the report that Vela and J0537-6910 have particular glitching behaviours or pattern and that such pattern may be shared by most Vela-like pulsars [11].…”

“…11, 12, 15, 19, 23]. Alpar reported only that of Vela [18], and PSR1341-6220 was reported to have quasi-regular pattern [15,19].…”

Constraint on the internal structure of neutron stars from pulsar glitches

“…Considering current experimental and theoretical constraints on the dense-matter equation of state, we find that the crustal superfluid does not carry enough angular momentum to explain Vela pulsar glitches. Even if crustal entrainment is ignored, the standard vortex-mediated glitch scenario has been challenged by the observation in 2010 of a huge glitch in PSR 2334+6 from which the following constraint was inferred: I crust /I ≥ 9.4% [84]. These observations suggest that the neutron superfluid in the core of a neutron star contributes to glitches [85].…”