Related papers: Accreting Neutron Stars in Low-Mass X-Ray Binary S…
The first millisecond X-ray variability phenomena from accreting compact objects have recently been discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Three new phenomena are observed from low-mass X-ray binaries containing low-magnetic-field…
Previously, observations with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer showed that millisecond oscillations occur preferentially in thermonuclear X-ray bursts with photospheric radius expansion from sources rotating near 600 Hz, while they occur…
Neutron stars in X-ray binary systems are fascinating objects that display a wide range of timing and spectral phenomena in the X-rays. Not only parameters of the neutron stars, like magnetic field strength and spin period evolve in their…
X-ray timing of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with RXTE has since 1996 revealed several distinct high-frequency phenomena. Among these are oscillations during thermonuclear (type-I) bursts, which (in addition to…
Millisecond spinning, low magnetic field neutron stars are believed to attain their fast rotation in a 0.1-1 Gyr-long phase during which they accrete matter endowed with angular momentum from a low-mass companion star. Despite extensive…
Before the launch of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) it was recognized that neutron star accretion disks could extend inward to very near the neutron star surface, and thus be governed by millisecond timescales. Previous missions…
A neutron star in binary orbit with a low-mass non-degenerate companion becomes a source of x-rays with millisecond variability when mass accretion spins it up. Centrifugally driven changes in density profile may initiate a phase transition…
The recent emergence of a new class of accretion-powered, transient, millisecond X-ray pulsars presents some difficulties for the conventional picture of accretion onto rapidly rotating magnetized neutron stars and their spin behavior…
X-ray pulsars shine thanks to the conversion of the gravitational energy of accreted material to X-ray radiation. The accretion rate is modulated by geometrical and hydrodynamical effects in the stellar wind of the pulsar companions and/or…
RXTE has been operating for nearly 2 years and is planning the third. The spacecraft performance has been good and the three instruments are operating well. Observations have been made of the range of targets suitable for RXTE, including…
Highly magnetized neutron stars are promising candidates to explain some of the most peculiar astronomical phenomena, for instance, fast radio bursts, gamma-ray bursts, and superluminous supernovae. Pulsations of these highly magnetized…
Recent observations suggest that neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries rotate within a narrow range of spin frequencies clustered around 300 Hz. A proposed explanation for this remarkable fact is that gravitational radiation from a…
Millisecond pulsars are neutron stars (NSs) that are thought to have been spun-up by mass accretion from a stellar companion. It is unknown whether there is a natural brake for this process, or if it continues until the centrifugal breakup…
Weakly magnetic, millisecond spinning neutron stars attain their very fast rotation through a 1E8-1E9 yr long phase during which they undergo disk-accretion of matter from a low mass companion star. They can be detected as accretion-powered…
We propose that when neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries accrete sufficient mass and become millisecond pulsars, the interiors of these stars may undergo phase transitions, which excite stellar radial oscillations. We show that the…
Measuring the spin of Accreting Neutron Stars is important because it can provide constraints on the Equation of State of ultra-dense matter. Particularly crucial to our physical understanding is the discovery of sub-millisecond pulsars,…
The dependence of the spin frequency derivative $\dot{\nu}$ of accreting neutron stars with a strong magnetic field (X-ray pulsars) on the mass accretion rate (bolometric luminosity, $L_{bol}$) has been investigated for eight transient…
The giant flares produced by highly magnetized neutron stars, "magnetars," are the brightest sources of high energy radiation outside our solar system. Serendipitous observations with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) of the two…
High amplitude, nearly coherent 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…
X-ray pulsars (XRPs) are accreting strongly magnetised neutron stars (NSs) in binary systems with, as a rule, massive optical companions. Very reach phenomenology and high observed flux put them into the focus of observational and…