The Magnetic Field of the Ultraluminous X-ray Pulsar M82 X-2

Abstract

Pulsations were recently detected from the ultraluminous X-ray source X-2 in M82. The newly discovered pulsar has been described as a common neutron star with a 1 TG magnetic field that accretes above the Eddington rate and as a magnetar-like pulsar with a 100 TG magnetic field that is above the quantum limit. We show here that this X-ray source is not exotic in any sense. The standard equations of accretion along field lines predict that, for the measured spin period \(P_S\) and spinup rate \(\dot{P_S}\), the isotropic X-ray luminosity \(L_X\) must be near the Eddington limit (i.e., \(L_{X}\approx 3.5\times 10^{38}\)~erg~s\(^{-1}\)); and that the surface magnetic field \(B\), that does not depend on \(P_S\), must be modest (i.e., \(B_*\approx 1-10\) TG). The observed higher luminosity can be explained by a moderate amount of geometric beaming that occurs in our direction. Other ultraluminous X-ray sources may also turn out to be common pulsars with similar physical characteristics, but since the emission must occur at a favorable angle to the observer, we expect that very few such pulsars will be discovered in the future.