Rapid spin changes around a magnetar fast radio burst

Chin-Ping Hu (), Takuto Narita, Teruaki Enoto (), George Younes (), Zorawar Wadiasingh (), Matthew G. Baring, Wynn C. G. Ho, Sebastien Guillot, Paul S. Ray, Tolga Güver, Kaustubh Rajwade, Zaven Arzoumanian, Chryssa Kouveliotou, Alice K. Harding and Keith C. Gendreau
Additional contact information
Chin-Ping Hu: National Changhua University of Education
Takuto Narita: Kyoto University
Teruaki Enoto: RIKEN
George Younes: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Zorawar Wadiasingh: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Matthew G. Baring: Rice University
Wynn C. G. Ho: Haverford College
Sebastien Guillot: UPS-OMP, CNRS, CNES
Paul S. Ray: Space Science Division, US Naval Research Laboratory
Tolga Güver: Istanbul University
Kaustubh Rajwade: The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Zaven Arzoumanian: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Chryssa Kouveliotou: The George Washington University
Alice K. Harding: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Keith C. Gendreau: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Nature, 2024, vol. 626, issue 7999, 500-504

Abstract: Abstract Magnetars are neutron stars with extremely high magnetic fields (≳1014 gauss) that exhibit various X-ray phenomena such as sporadic subsecond bursts, long-term persistent flux enhancements and variable rotation-period derivative1,2. In 2020, a fast radio burst (FRB), akin to cosmological millisecond-duration radio bursts, was detected from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154 (refs. 3–5), confirming the long-suspected association between some FRBs and magnetars. However, the mechanism for FRB generation in magnetars remains unclear. Here we report the X-ray observation of two glitches in SGR 1935+2154 within a time interval of approximately nine hours, bracketing an FRB that occurred on 14 October 20226,7. Each glitch involved a significant increase in the magnetar’s spin frequency, being among the largest abrupt changes in neutron-star rotation8–10 observed so far. Between the glitches, the magnetar exhibited a rapid spin-down phase, accompanied by an increase and subsequent decline in its persistent X-ray emission and burst rate. We postulate that a strong, ephemeral, magnetospheric wind11 provides the torque that rapidly slows the star’s rotation. The trigger for the first glitch couples the star’s crust to its magnetosphere, enhances the various X-ray signals and spawns the wind that alters magnetospheric conditions that might produce the FRB.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-07012-5

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