Abstract
Pulsar braking indices offer insight into the physics that underlies pulsar spin-down. Only five braking indices have been measured via phase-coherent timing; all measured values are less than 3, the value expected from magnetic dipole radiation. Here we present new measurements for three of the five pulsar braking indices, obtained with phase-coherent timing for PSRs J1846-0258 (n=2.65±0.01), B1509-58 (n=2.839±0.001) and B0540-69 (n=2.140±0.009). We discuss the implications of these results and possible physical explanations for them.
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Livingstone, M.A., Kaspi, V.M., Gavriil, F.P. et al. New phase-coherent measurements of pulsar braking indices. Astrophys Space Sci 308, 317–323 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9320-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9320-3