Timing Observations of PSR J1023+0038 During a Low-Mass X-ray Binary State

Abstract

Transitional millisecond pulsars (tMSPs) switch, on roughly multi-year timescales, between rotation-powered radio millisecond pulsar (RMSP) and accretion-powered low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) states. The tMSPs have raised several questions related to the nature of accretion flow in their LMXB state and the mechanism that causes the state switch. The discovery of coherent X-ray pulsations from PSR J1023+0038 (while in the LMXB state) provides us with the first opportunity to perform timing observations and to compare the neutron star's spin variation during this state to the measured spin-down in the RMSP state. Whereas the X-ray pulsations in the LMXB state likely indicate that some material is accreting onto the neutron star's magnetic polar caps, radio continuum observations indicate the presence of an outflow. The fraction of the inflowing material being ejected is not clear, but it may be much larger than that reaching the neutron star's surface. Timing observations can measure the total torque on the neutron star. We have phase-connected nine XMM-Newton observations of PSR J1023+0038 over the last 2.5 years of the LMXB state to establish a precise measurement of spin evolution. We find that the average spin-down rate as an LMXB is 26.8+/-0.4% faster than the rate (-2.39x10^-15 Hz s-1) determined during the RMSP state. This shows that negative angular momentum contributions (dipolar magnetic braking and outflow) exceed positive ones (accreted material), and suggests that the pulsar wind continues to operate at a largely unmodified level. We discuss implications of this tight observational constraint in the context of possible accretion models.