The X-ray afterglow flat segment in short GRB 051221A: Energy injection from a millisecond magnetar?
Abstract
The flat segment lasting
∼
10
4
seconds in the X-ray afterglow of GRB051221A represents the first clear case of strong energy injection in the external shock of a short GRB afterglow. In this work, we show that a millisecond pulsar with dipole magnetic field
∼
10
14
Gauss could well account for that energy injection. The good quality X-ray flat segment thus suggests that the central engine of this short burst may be a millisecond magnetar.