اشترك بالحزمة الذهبية واحصل على وصول غير محدود شمرا أكاديميا
تسجيل مستخدم جديدFormation of phase lags at the cyclotron energies in the pulse profiles of magnetized, accreting neutron stars
124
0
0.0
(
0
)
اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث
ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
Context: Accretion-powered X-ray pulsars show highly energy-dependent and complex pulse-profile morphologies. Significant deviations from the average pulse profile can appear, in particular close to the cyclotron line energies. These deviations can be described as energy-dependent phase lags, that is, as energy-dependent shifts of main features in the pulse profile. Aims: Using a numerical study we explore the effect of cyclotron resonant scattering on observable, energy-resolved pulse profiles. Methods: We generated the observable emission as a function of spin phase, using Monte Carlo simulations for cyclotron resonant scattering and a numerical ray-tracing routine accounting for general relativistic light-bending effects on the intrinsic emission from the accretion columns. Results: We find strong changes in the pulse profile coincident with the cyclotron line energies. Features in the pulse profile vary strongly with respect to the average pulse profile with the observing geometry and shift and smear out in energy additionally when assuming a non-static plasma. Conclusions: We demonstrate how phase lags at the cyclotron energies arise as a consequence of the effects of angular redistribution of X-rays by cyclotron resonance scattering in a strong magnetic field combined with relativistic effects. We also show that phase lags are strongly dependent on the accretion geometry. These intrinsic effects will in principle allow us to constrain a systems accretion geometry.
قيم البحث
اقرأ أيضاً
The problem of computing the pulse profiles from thermally emitting spots on the surface of a neutron star in general relativity is reconsidered. We show that it is possible to extend Beloborodov (2002) approach to include (multiple) spots of finite
size in different positions on the star surface. Results for the pulse profiles are expressed by comparatively simple analytical formulas which involve only elementary functions.
We present a detailed investigation of atmospheres around accreting neutron stars with high magnetic field ($Bgtrsim 10^{12}$ G) and low luminosity ($Llesssim 10^{33}$ erg/s). We compute the atmospheric structure, intensity and emergent spectrum for
a plane-parallel, pure hydrogen medium by solving the transfer equations for the normal modes coupled to the hydrostatic and energy balance equations. The hard tail found in previous investigations for accreting, non-magnetic neutron stars with comparable luminosity is suppressed and the X-ray spectrum, although still harder than a blackbody at the star effective temperature, is nearly planckian in shape. Spectra from accreting atmospheres, both with high and low fields, are found to exhibit a significant excess at optical wavelengths above the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the X-ray continuum.
X-ray observations of transiently accreting neutron stars during quiescence provide information about the structure of neutron star crusts and the properties of dense matter. Interpretation of the observational data requires an understanding of the n
uclear reactions that heat and cool the crust during accretion, and define its nonequilibrium composition. We identify here in detail the typical nuclear reaction sequences down to a depth in the inner crust where the mass density is 2E12 g/cm^3 using a full nuclear reaction network for a range of initial compositions. The reaction sequences differ substantially from previous work. We find a robust reduction of crust impurity at the transition to the inner crust regardless of initial composition, though shell effects can delay the formation of a pure crust somewhat to densities beyond 2E12 g/cm^3. This naturally explains the small inner crust impurity inferred from observations of a broad range of systems. The exception are initial compositions with A >= 102 nuclei, where the inner crust remains impure with an impurity parameter of Qimp~20 due to the N = 82 shell closure. In agreement with previous work we find that nuclear heating is relatively robust and independent of initial composition, while cooling via nuclear Urca cycles in the outer crust depends strongly on initial composition. This work forms a basis for future studies of the sensitivity of crust models to nuclear physics and provides profiles of composition for realistic crust models.
Studying the physical processes occurring in the region just above the magnetic poles of strongly magnetized, accreting binary neutron stars is essential to our understanding of stellar and binary system evolution. Perhaps more importantly, it provid
es us with a natural laboratory for studying the physics of high temperature and high density plasmas exposed to extreme radiation, gravitational, and magnetic fields. Observations over the past decade have shed new light on the manner in which plasma falling at velocities near the speed of light onto a neutron star surface is halted. Recent advances in modeling these processes have resulted in direct measurement of the magnetic fields and plasma properties. On the other hand, numerous physical processes have been identified that challenge our current picture of how the accretion process onto neutron stars works. Observation and theory are our essential tools in this regime because the extreme conditions cannot be duplicated on Earth. This white paper gives an overview of the current theory, the outstanding theoretical and observational challenges, and the importance of addressing them in contemporary astrophysics research.
The crust of accreting neutron stars plays a central role in many different observational phenomena. In these stars, heavy elements produced by H-He burning in the rapid proton capture (rp-) process continually freeze to form new crust. In this paper
, we explore the expected composition of the solid phase. We first demonstrate using molecular dynamics that two distinct types of chemical separation occur, depending on the composition of the rp-process ashes. We then calculate phase diagrams for three-component mixtures and use them to determine the allowed crust compositions. We show that, for the large range of atomic numbers produced in the rp-process ($Zsim 10$--$50$), the solid that forms has only a small number of available compositions. We conclude that accreting neutron star crusts should be polycrystalline, with domains of distinct composition. Our results motivate further work on the size of the compositional domains, and have implications for crust physics and accreting neutron star phenomenology.
سجل دخول لتتمكن من نشر تعليقات
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
