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Authors
Manuel Linares
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Compact binary millisecond pulsars with main-sequence donors, often referred to as redbacks, constitute the long-sought link between low-mass X-ray binaries and millisecond radio pulsars, and offer a unique probe of the interaction between pulsar winds and accretion flows. We present a systematic study of eight nearby redbacks, using more than 100 observations obtained with Swifts X-ray Telescope. We distinguish between three main states: pulsar, disk and outburst states. We find X-ray mode switching in the disk state of PSR J1023+0038 and XSS J12270-4859, similar to what was found in the other redback which showed evidence for accretion: rapid, recurrent changes in X-ray luminosity (0.5-10 keV, L$_mathrm{X}$), between [6-9]$times$10$^{32}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (disk-passive state) and [3-5]$times$10$^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (disk-active state). This strongly suggests that mode switching $-$which has not been observed in quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries$-$ is universal among redback millisecond pulsars in the disk state. We briefly explore the implications for accretion disk truncation, and find that the inferred magnetospheric radius in the disk state of PSR J1023+0038 and XSS J12270-4859 lies outside the light cylinder. Finally, we note that all three redbacks which have developed accretion disks have relatively high L$_mathrm{X}$ in the pulsar state ($>$10$^{32}$ erg s$^{-1}$).
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Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars (AMXPs) are astrophysical laboratories without parallel in the study of extreme physics. In this chapter we review the past fifteen years of discoveries in the field. We summarize the observations of the fifteen known AMXPs, with a particular emphasis on the multi-wavelength observations that have been carried out since the discovery of the first AMXP in 1998. We review accretion torque theory, the pulse formation process, and how AMXP observations have changed our view on the interaction of plasma and magnetic fields in strong gravity. We also explain how the AMXPs have deepened our understanding of the thermonuclear burst process, in particular the phenomenon of burst oscillations. We conclude with a discussion of the open problems that remain to be addressed in the future.
Nuclear-powered X-ray millisecond pulsars are the third type of millisecond pulsars, which are powered by thermonuclear fusion processes. The corresponding brightness oscillations, known as burst oscillations, are observed during some thermonuclear X-ray bursts, when the burning and cooling accreted matter gives rise to an azimuthally asymmetric brightness pattern on the surface of the spinning neutron star. Apart from providing neutron star spin rates, this X-ray timing feature can be a useful tool to probe the fundamental physics of neutron star interior and surface. This chapter presents an overview of the relatively new field of nuclear-powered X-ray millisecond pulsars.
Neutron Stars are among the most exotic objects in the Universe. A neutron star, with a mass of 1.4-2 Solar masses within a radius of about 10-15 km, is the most compact stable configuration of matter in which degeneracy pressure can still balance gravity, since further compression would lead to gravitational collapse and formation of a black hole. As gravity is extreme, rotation is extreme: neutron stars are the fastest rotating stars known, with periods as short as a millisecond. The presence of a magnetic field not aligned with the rotation axis of the star is the origin of pulsating emission from these sources, which for this reason are dubbed pulsars. The discovery in 1998 of the first Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsar, started an exciting season of continuing discoveries. In the last 20 years, thanks to the extraordinary performance of astronomical detectors in the radio, optical, X-ray, and Gamma-ray bands, astrophysicists had the opportunity to thoroughly investigate the so-called Recycling Scenario: the evolutionary path leading to the formation of a Millisecond-spinning Pulsar. In this chapter we review the general properties of Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars, which provide the first evidence that neutron stars are spun up to millisecond periods by accretion of matter and angular momentum from a (low-mass) companion star. We describe the general characteristics of this class of systems with particular attention to their spin and orbital parameters, their short-term and long-term evolution, as well as the information that can be drawn from their X-ray spectra.
Radiation of X-ray bursts and of accretion shocks in weakly magnetized neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries is produced in plane-parallel atmospheres dominated by electron scattering. We first discuss polarization produced by single (non-magnetic) Compton scattering, in particular the depolarizing effect of high electron temperature, and then the polarization due to multiply electron scattering in a slab. We further predict the X-ray pulse profiles and polarization properties of nuclear- and accretion-powered millisecond pulsars. We introduce a relativistic rotation vector model, which includes the effect of rotation of polarization plane due to the rapid motion of the hot spot as well as the light bending. Future observations of the X-ray polarization will provide a valuable tool to test the geometry of the emission region in pulsars and its physical characteristics.
The X-ray radiation produced on the surface of accreting magnetised neutron stars is expected to be strongly polarised. A swing of the polarisation vector with the pulsar phase gives a direct measure of the source inclination and magnetic obliquity. In the case of rapidly rotating millisecond pulsars, the relativistic motion of the emission region causes additional rotation of the polarisation plane. Here, we develop a relativistic rotating vector model, where we derive analytical expression for the polarisation angle as a function of the pulsar phase accounting for relativistic aberration and gravitational light bending in the Schwarzschild metric. We show that in the case of fast pulsars the rotation of the polarisation plane can reach tens of degrees, strongly influencing the observed shape of the polarisation angles phase dependence. The rotation angle grows nearly linearly with the spin rate but it is less sensitive to the neutron star radius. Overall, this angle is large even for large spots. Our results have implications with regard to the modelling of X-ray polarisation from accreting millisecond pulsars that are to be observed with the upcoming Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer and the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission. The X-ray polarisation may improve constraints on the neutron star mass and radius coming from the pulse profile modelling.
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