Kavli Affiliate: Roger W. Romani
| First 5 Authors: Andrew G. Sullivan, Roger W. Romani, , ,
| Summary:
The intrabinary shocks (IBS) of spider pulsars emit non-thermal synchrotron
X-rays from accelerated electrons and positrons in the shocked pulsar wind,
likely energized by magnetic reconnection. In redback spider pulsars, the IBS
typically wraps around the pulsar, leading to a near-normal IBS shock with
relatively bright X-ray emission. The characteristic energies of radiating
particles and the magnetic fields in the IBS suggest spectral features in the
hard X-ray band. Here we perform joint soft-hard X-ray analyses of three
redback pulsars, J1723-2837, J2215+5135, and J2339-0533, including new J2215
NuSTAR data. We identify a significant cooling break in J1723-2837 and a
marginal break in J2215+5135, while placing constraints on the break energy in
J2339-0533. Interpreting these as synchrotron cooling features allows us to
estimate the IBS magnetic field $B_{rm IBS} sim 40-100$ G and place lower
bounds on the maximum radiating electron energy. Our results constrain the
magnetization of the pulsar wind as well as pair-production in millisecond
pulsar magnetospheres.
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