A model for the flaring radio emission in the double pulsar system J0737-3039

Abstract

The binary J0737-3039 A & B includes two pulsars in a highly relativistic orbit. The pulsed radio flux from pulsar B brightens considerably during two portions of each orbit. This phenomenon cannot be naturally triggered by the illumination of $γ$-rays or X-rays from pulsar A or the bow shock around pulsar B. Instead, we explain these periodic flares quantitatively as episodes during which pairs from pulsar A's wind flow into the open field line region of pulsar B and emit curvature radiation at radio frequencies within an altitude of $\sim 10^8$ cm. The radio photons then travel through B's magnetosphere and eventually reach the observer on the other side of the pulsar. Our model requires that A's wind be anisotropic and that B's spin axis be somewhat misaligned relative to the orbital angular momentum. We estimate the expected $γ$-ray and X-ray emission from the system.