Scientific article
English

Phase-resolved gamma-ray spectroscopy of the Crab pulsar observed by POLAR

Published inJournal of High Energy Astrophysics, vol. 24, p. 15-22
Publication date2019
Abstract

The POLAR detector is a space based Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) polarimeter sensitive in the 15-500 keV energy range. Apart from its main scientific goal as a Gamma-Ray Burst polarimeter it is also able to detect photons from pulsars in orbit. By using the six-months in-orbit observation data, significant pulsation from the PSR B0531+21 (Crab pulsar) was obtained. In this work, we present the precise timing analysis of the Crab pulsar, together with a phase-resolved spectroscopic study using a joint-fitting method adapted for wide field of view instruments like POLAR. By using single power law fitting over the pulsed phase, we obtained spectral indices ranging from 1.718 to 2.315, and confirmed the spectral evolution in a reverse S shape which is homogenous with results from other missions over broadband. We will also show, based on the POLAR in-orbit performance and Geant4 Monte-Carlo simulation, the inferred capabilities of POLAR-2, the proposed follow-up mission of POLAR on board the China Space Station (CSS), for pulsars studies.

Keywords
  • POLAR
  • Gamma-ray
  • Neutron star
  • Pulsars
  • PSR B0531+21 (Crab pulsar)
  • Spectroscopy
Research groups
Citation (ISO format)
LI, Hancheng et al. Phase-resolved gamma-ray spectroscopy of the Crab pulsar observed by POLAR. In: Journal of High Energy Astrophysics, 2019, vol. 24, p. 15–22. doi: 10.1016/j.jheap.2019.10.001
Main files (1)
Article (Submitted version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN2214-4048
205views
265downloads

Technical informations

Creation14/04/2021 14:19:00
First validation14/04/2021 14:19:00
Update16/03/2023 00:24:14
Status update16/03/2023 00:24:12
Last indexation31/10/2024 21:50:47
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack