Abstract
The measurements of pulsar frequency second derivatives have shown that they are 102−106 times larger than expected for standard pulsar spin-down law, and are even negative for about half of pulsars. We explain these paradoxical results on the basis of the statistical analysis of the rotational parameters ν, \(\dot{\nu}\) and \(\ddot{\nu}\) of the subset of 295 pulsars taken mostly from the ATNF database. We have found a strong correlation between \(\ddot{\nu}\) and \(\dot{\nu}\) for both \(\ddot{\nu}>0\) and \(\ddot{\nu}<0\) , as well as between ν and \(\dot{\nu}\) . We interpret these dependencies as evolutionary ones due to \(\dot{\nu}\) being nearly proportional to the pulsars’ age. The derived statistical relations as well as “anomalous” values of \(\ddot{\nu}\) are well described by assuming the long-time variations of the spin-down rate. The pulsar frequency evolution, therefore, consists of secular change of ν ev(t), \(\dot{\nu}_{\mathrm{ev}}(t)\) and \(\ddot{\nu}_{\mathrm{ev}}(t)\) according to the power law with n≈5, the irregularities, observed within a timespan as a timing noise, and the variations on the timescale larger than that—several decades.
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This work has been supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant No 04-02-17555), Russian Academy of Sciences (program “Evolution of Stars and Galaxies”), and by the Russian Science Support Foundation. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous referee for valuable comments.
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Biryukov, A., Beskin, G. & Karpov, S. On the peculiarities in the rotational frequency evolution of isolated neutron stars. Astrophys Space Sci 308, 551–555 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9370-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9370-6