Thin accretion discs around millisecond X-ray pulsars
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
2010-11-12 v1
Abstract
Millisecond x-ray pulsars have weak magnetic dipole moments of \,T\,m compared to ordinary X-ray pulsars with dipole moments of \,T\,m. For this reason a surrounding accretion disc can extend closer to the neutron star, and thus reach a higher temperature, at which the opacity is dominated by electron scattering and radiation pressure is strong. We compute the self-similar structure of such a geometrically thin axisymmetric accretion disc with an internal dynamo. Such models produce significantly stronger torques on the neutron star than models without dynamos, and can explain the strong spin variations in some millisecond X-ray pulsars.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1011.2621,
title = {Thin accretion discs around millisecond X-ray pulsars},
author = {Solomon Belay Tessema and Ulf Torkelsson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1011.2621},
year = {2010}
}
Comments
9 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS