Large Pulsar Kicks from Topological Currents

Understand

We show that kicks generated by topological currents may be responsible for the large velocities seen in a number of pulsars.

• The majority of the kick builds up within the first second of the star's birth and generates a force about two orders of magnitude larger than a neutrino kick in the same temperature and magnetic field regime.
• Because of the nature of the topological currents the star's cooling is not affected until it reaches 10^9 K; thereafter the current replaces neutrino emission as the dominant cooling process.
• A requirement for the kick to occur is a suitably thin crust on the star; this leads us to speculate that pulsars with large kicks are quark stars and those with small kicks are neutron stars.