Multi-wavelength Study of Binary Millisecond Pulsars, First Evidence of Intra-Binary Shock Emission

Millisecond pulsars are known to be the fastest spinning compact stars and are often found in close binary systems. They are among the most efficient particle accelerators and natural laboratories of fundamental physics. During their evolution, they appear as radio pulsars powered by the rotation of the neutron star magnetic field or as X-ray pulsars powered by the accretion of mass, transferred by a companion star. I will describe the multi-wavelength signatures appearing during the evolution of binary millisecond pulsars, from the accretion state to the radio pulsar state. I will then present the recent observational campaign of the radio millisecond pulsar PSR J1048+2339 performed with Very Large Telescope, Sardinia Radio Telescope, Low-Frequency Array, Galileo telescope, and Swift satellite. The multi-wavelength campaign was aimed at unveiling the physical origin of the double-peaked emission lines in the optical spectra and mapping the distribution of the material in the system. The Doppler map of the Hα emission line revealed a significant emission close to the inner Lagrangian point extending along the free-fall trajectory of the gas. This extended structure is the first direct evidence of an intra-binary shock emission caused by the pulsar wind interacting with the ablated material from the donor.

Brief CV of Dr. Arianna Miraval Zanon:

Graduated in Astronomy in 2017 from the University of Padua with an observational thesis conducted at the Cagliari Observatory analyzing data from the Sardinia Radio Telescope and the Parkes radio telescope. She obtained her PhD at the University of Insubria, working at the Merate Observatory under the supervision of Dr. Sergio Campana and Dr. Paolo D’Avanzo. She then moved to the Rome Observatory in the high-energy group for her first postdoc. She specialized in the study of binary systems with millisecond pulsars in the X-ray, UV, optical, and radio bands.