The long-term rotational evolution of the old, isolated PSR B0950+08 is
intriguing in that its spin-down rate displays sinusoidal like oscillations due
to alternating variations, both in magnitude and sign, of the second time
derivative of the pulse frequency. We show that large internal temperature to
pinning energy ratio towards the base of the crust implied by the recent high
surface temperature measurement leads to linear creep interaction to operate in
the densest parts of the inner crust where vortex lines assume a parabolic
shape due to pinning to nuclear clusters. The resulting low frequency
oscillations of vortex lines combined with the time variable
superfluid-external pulsar braking torque coupling give rise to oscillatory
spin-down rate. We apply this model to PSR B0950+08 observations for several
external torque models. Our model has potential to constrain the radial
extension of the closed magnetic field region in the outer core of neutron
stars from the oscillation period of the spin-down rate.
Preprint
Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to MNRAS
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena; Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics