Related papers: Accreting Neutron Stars in Low-Mass X-Ray Binary S…
Observations using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have discovered dozens of accreting neutron stars with millisecond spin periods in low-mass binary star systems. Eighteen are millisecond X-ray pulsars powered by accretion or nuclear…
The Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has found that the neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries exhibit oscillations in the range 300-1200 Hz. Persistent emission may exhibit one or both of two features. In bursts a nearly coherent…
X-rays trace accretion onto compact objects in binaries with low mass companions at rates ranging up to near Eddington. Accretion at high rates onto neutron stars goes through cycles with time-scales of days to months. At lower average…
High amplitude X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these oscillations…
Observations made using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have shown that accreting weak-field neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binary systems (LMXBs) produce three distinct types of millisecond X-ray oscillations that can be used to determine…
Recent measurements of young accreting binary neutron stars are determining more precise magnetic field and accretion parameters. A low magnetic field accreting, millisecond pulsar has finally been found in a binary burster. At least 20…
I review the rotation measurements of accreting neutron stars. Many of the highly magnetic accreting X-ray pulsars have been continuously observed with the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray…
The dramatic discovery with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer satellite of remarkably coherent $\sim$300--1200 Hz oscillations in the X-ray brightness of some sixteen neutron stars in low-mass binary systems has spurred theoretical modeling…
One of the most dramatic discoveries made with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer is that many accreting neutron stars in low-mass binary systems produce strong, remarkably coherent, high-frequency X-ray brightness oscillations. The 325-1200…
We have shown previously that many of the properties of persistent accretion-powered millisecond pulsars can be understood if their X-ray emitting areas are near their spin axes and move as the accretion rate and structure of the inner disk…
Recent discoveries by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer indicate that most of the rapidly accreting and weakly magnetic neutron stars in the Galaxy are rotating at spin frequencies greater than 250 Hz. Remarkably, they all rotate in a narrow…
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…
In this chapter we give an overview of the properties of X-ray binary systems containing a weakly magnetized neutron star. These are old (Giga-years life-time) semi-detached binary systems containing a neutron star with a relatively weak…
One of the most dramatic discoveries made so far with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer is that many accreting neutron stars with weak magnetic fields generate strong, remarkably coherent, high-frequency X-ray brightness oscillations. The…
Before the launch of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite, the differences in the rapid X-ray variability between the two main types of neutron star binaries (i.e., the Z and atoll sources) could be explained by invoking…
It is thought that neutron stars in low-mass binary systems can accrete matter and angular momentum from the companion star and be spun-up to millisecond rotational periods. During the accretion stage, the system is called a low-mass X-ray…
X-ray observations suggest that neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) are rotating with frequencies from 300 - 600 Hz. These spin rates are significantly less than the break-up rates for essentially all realistic neutron star…
Observations of thermonuclear (Type I) X-ray bursts from neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have revealed large amplitude, high coherence X-ray brightness oscillations with…
We study the current sample of rapidly rotating neutron stars in both accreting and non-accreting binaries in order to determine whether the spin distribution of accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries can be reconciled with…
Soft X-ray Transients (SXRTs) have long been suspected to contain old, weakly magnetic neutron stars that have been spun up by accretion torques. After reviewing their observational properties, we analyse the different regimes that likely…