Gamma-ray bursts and high-velocity pulsars
Xu, Fan
Recently, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope measured the three-dimensional velocity of PSR J0538+2817 with respect to its associated supernova remnant S147 and found a possible spin-velocity alignment for this pulsar. Here, we show that the high velocity and the spin-velocity alignment of this pulsar can be explained by the so-called electromagnetic rocket mechanism. In this framework, the pulsar is kicked in the direction of the spin axis, which naturally explains the spin-velocity alignment. We scrutinize the evolution of the pulsar and show that the kick process can create a highly relativistic jet at the opposite direction of the kick velocity. The lifetime and energetics of the jet is estimated. It is argued that the jet can generate a gamma-ray burst (GRB).