1211.4185 (X. W. Liu et al.)

Braking PSR J1734-3333 by a possible fall-back disk    [PDF]

X. W. Liu, R. X. Xu, G. J. Qiao, J. L. Han, H. tong

The very small braking index of PSR J1734-3333, $n=0.9\pm0.2$, challenges the current braking mechanisms of pulsars. We present a possible interpretation that this pulsar is surrounded by a fall-back disk and braked by the disk. We analyzed the interaction between the neutron star magnetosphere and a possible fall-back disk, and found that the braking index of the neutron star is very small in the middle stage of propeller phase. In this regime, the braking index of PSR J1734-3333 will increase in the later stage of propeller phase, when it evolves to the region of anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma repeaters in the $P-\dot{P}$ diagram. The mass of the disk around PSR J1734-3333 in our model is about $20-30M_{\oplus}$, similar to the observed disk mass around AXP 4U 0142+61.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.4185