Measuring Timing Properties of PSR B0540-69

Neutron stars (NS) are rapidly spinning compact objects. Their rotation energy is released by particles, electromagnetic waves, and even gravitational waves. The source of the energy is of course the rotation, so by studying the rotational properties of neutron stars, we can gain some insights into matter under extreme conditions. In particular, it is known that the braking index n is sensitive to the moment of inertia and/or NS winds. The neutron star PSR B0540-69 exhibits interesting timing behavior; previous measurements of the braking index for this pulsar may suggest a change in time. In order to see if the change is real, We investigate the timing properties of B0540-69 using recent ~1000-days Swift satellite data.