The Effects of Burst Activity on Soft Gamma Repeater Pulse Properties and Persistent Emission

Abstract

Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) undergo changes in their pulse properties and persistent emission during episodes of intense burst activity. SGR 1900+14 has undergone large flux increases following recent burst activity. Both SGR 1900+14 and SGR 1806-20 have shown significant changes in their pulse profile and spin-down rates during the last several years. The pulse profile changes are linked with the burst activity whereas the torque variations are not directly correlated with the bursts. Here, we review the observed dynamics of the pulsed and persistent emission of SGR 1900+14 and SGR 1806-20 during burst active episodes and discuss what implications these results have for the burst emission mechanism, the magnetic field dynamics of magnetars, the nature of the torque variability, and SGRs in general.