The Fading of Transient Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar XTE J1810-197

Abstract

Three observations of the 5.54 s transient anomalous X-ray pulsar XTE J1810-197 obtained over 6 months with the Newton X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM-Newton) mission are used to study its spectrum and pulsed light curve as the source fades from outburst. The decay is consistent with an exponential of time constant ~300 days but not a power law as predicted in some models of sudden deep crustal heating events. All spectra are well fitted by a blackbody plus a steep power law, a problematic model that is commonly fitted to anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs). A two-temperature blackbody fit is also acceptable and better motivated physically in view of the faint optical/IR fluxes, the X-ray pulse shapes that weakly depend on energy in XTE J1810-197, and the inferred emitting areas that are less than or equal to the surface area of a neutron star. The fitted temperatures remained the same while the flux declined by 46%, which can be interpreted as a decrease in area of the emitting regions. The pulsar continues to spin down, albeit at a reduced rate of (5.1+/-1.6)×10^-12 s s^-1. The inferred characteristic age τ_c≡P/2P~17,000 yr, magnetic field strength B_s~1.7×10¹⁴ G, and outburst properties are consistent with both the outburst and quiescent X-ray luminosities being powered by magnetic field decay, i.e., XTE J1810-197 is a magnetar.