Parkes observations for project P885 semester 2015APRS_BPSR_01

We propose to monitor for one year 1E 1547.0-5408 and PSR J1622-4950,
two of the three magnetars known to currently emit radio waves.
Both were discovered at Parkes and their radio pulsations can only
be studied there. As magnetars (of which only 23 are confirmed in
the Galaxy), the aim is to develop a more reliable understanding
of the dynamical behaviour of their magnetospheres and ultra-strong
magnetic fields, which are responsible for X-ray and gamma-ray
outbursts, magnetospheric currents and particle acceleration, and
heating of the neutron star surface. We do this by tracking their
unsteady rotation in detail (the variable rotation period derivative
provides a measure of the changing torque) and also by comparing
to the X-ray flux when available (currently via the Swift satellite
for 1E 1547.0-5408). As radio magnetars (only four have been
identified, and the first one no longer emits radio waves), our aim
is to understand the conditions under which radio emission takes
place (both for each particular object, and in the larger context
of the known population of magnetars, most of which aren't known
to emit in the radio), and to characterize the variable radio
emission in order to place constraints on the emission mechanisms,
which at least in part differ from those of ordinary pulsars. We
do this by measuring their varying radio flux density and (full-Stokes)
pulse profiles, and by comparing the radio characteristics to their
torque and X-ray behaviour.

本研究拟对1E 1547.0-5408与PSR J1622-4950开展为期一年的监测——二者是目前已知的三颗射电发射磁星（magnetar）中的成员。
两颗源均在帕克斯（Parkes）天文台发现，其射电脉冲仅可在该台开展观测研究。
作为磁星（银河系目前仅确认存在23颗磁星），本研究的核心目标是更可靠地阐明其磁层与超强磁场的动力学行为——后者是X射线与伽马射线暴、磁层电流、粒子加速以及中子星表面加热现象的成因。
我们将通过两种路径实现这一目标：其一为精细化追踪其非稳态自转（自转周期导数的变化可用于表征转矩的演化）；其二为在X射线通量数据可用时开展对比分析——目前针对1E 1547.0-5408可通过斯威夫特（Swift）卫星获取相关数据。
作为射电磁星（目前仅确认4颗射电磁星，且首颗已停止射电辐射），本研究的另一目标是厘清射电辐射产生的物理条件——既针对单颗源个体，也置于已知磁星群体的整体语境中（绝大多数磁星未被观测到射电辐射）；同时我们将对可变射电辐射进行特征刻画，以此为辐射机制提供约束——该机制至少在部分层面区别于普通脉冲星的辐射机制。
我们将通过以下手段达成上述目标：测量其射电流量密度的变化与全斯托克斯（full-Stokes）脉冲轮廓，并将射电辐射特征与其转矩演化及X射线行为进行对比分析。