The eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar PSR B1744-24A - possible test for a magnetic braking mechanism

As presented by Nice et al. (2000), long-term timing of the eclipsing binar y PSR B1744-24A shows that the orbital period of this system decreases viii th a time-scale of only similar to 2000 Myr. To explain the much faster orb ital period decay than that predicted by only emission of the gravitational waves (similar to 1000 Myr) we propose that the orbital evolution of this system is also driven by magnetic braking. If magnetic braking is to explai n the rapid decay of the orbit, then lambda characterizing the effectivenes s of the dynamo action in the stellar convection zone in the magnetic stell ar wind formula must be equal to 1.