We report on the long-term monitoring of five anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE ). We present a phase-coherent timing ephemeris for 4U 0142+61, and show that it has rotated with high stability over 4.4 yr, with RMS phase deviation of 7% of the pulse period from a simple fit including only n and n&d2; . We show that 1E 1048.1-5937 shows significant deviations from simple spin-down such that phase-coherent timing has not been possible over time spans longer than a few months. We find that the deviations from simple spin down are not consistent with single "glitch" type events, nor are they consistent with radiative precession. We suggest that 1E 1048.1-5937 may be a transition object between the soft gamma-ray repeater and AXP populations, and the AXP most likely to one day undergo an outburst. We also report on the continued timing stability of 1E 2259.1+586, for which phase coherence has now been maintained over 4.5 yr, as well as on the detection of a significant n&d3; in RXS J170849.0-400910, consistent with recovery following a glitch. We note a possible correlation in which timing stability decreases with increasing n&d2; . We find no large variability in pulse morphology as a function of time. We present high signal-to-noise ratio average pulse profiles for each AXP, and consider them as a function of energy. We find a variety of different behaviors, and consider possible trends in the data. We also find no large variations in pulsed flux, and set la upper limits of ∼20--30% of the mean.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.33763 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Gavriil, Fotis P. |
| Contributors | Kaspi, Victoria M. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Physics.) |
| Rights | © Fotis P. Gavriil, 2001 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001873921, proquestno: MQ78880, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest., Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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