Related papers: Short term aperiodic variability of X-ray binaries…
Strongly magnetized, accreting neutron stars show periodic and aperiodic variability over a wide range of time scales. By obtaining spectral and timing information on these different time scales, we can have a closer look into the physics…
We review the nuclear astrophysics aspects of accreting neutron stars in X-ray binaries. We summarize open astrophysical questions in light of recent observations and their relation to the underlying nuclear physics. Recent progress in the…
The X-ray emission from accreting black-holes and neutron stars features strong variability on sub-second time scales, with very complex and broad phenomenology. From high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations to rapidly changing X-ray…
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-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…
We report on recent progress in our theoretical understanding of X-ray binaries, which has largely been driven by new observations, and illustrate the interplay between theory and observations considering as examples intermediate-mass X-ray…
Current X-ray observatories make it possible to follow the evolution of transient and variable X-ray binaries across a broad range in luminosity and source behavior. In such studies, it can be unclear whether evolution in the low energy…
Compact binaries have long been a paradigm for accretion theory. Much of our present view of how accretion occurs comes directly from the comparison of theory with observations of these sources. Since theory differs little for other objects…
Black holes and weakly-magnetic accreting neutron stars show strong quasi-periodic variability over timescales that span a very wide range. This property offer us a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of basic physical processes…
I discuss some practical aspects of the analysis of millisecond time variability X-ray data obtained from accreting neutron stars and black holes. First I give an account of the statistical methods that are at present commonly applied in…
This paper surveys our current knowledge of the hard X-ray emission properties of old accreting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries. Hard X-ray components extending up to energies of a few hundred keV have been clearly detected in…
It was pointed out by Paczynski (1987) that the X-ray luminosity of accreting neutron stars is very sensitive to the physical properties of the accretion flow close to the innermost stable circular orbit. The X-ray radiation is dominated by…
A comprehensive review of aperiodic rapid X-ray variability (QPO and noise) in X-ray binaries with neutron stars and black holes.
In addition to coherent pulsation, many accreting neutron stars exhibit flaring activity and strong aperiodic variability on time scales similar to or shorter than their pulsation period. Such a behavior shows that the accretion flow in the…
A brief overview is given of the observations of accretion disks in X-ray binaries, discussing their geometry, their effect on the rotation period of the accreting object, their optical and X-ray spectra, time variability, and radio…
Short-term variability of X-ray continuum spectra has been reported for several Active Galactic Nuclei. Significant X-ray flux variations are observed within time scales down to 10^3-10^5 seconds. We discuss short variability time scales in…
Several relatively bright, persistent X-ray sources display regular pulses, with periods in the range of 700-10000 s. These sources are identified with massive close binaries in which a neutron star accretes material onto its surface. The…
We study the spin evolution of X-ray neutron stars in binary systems, which are being spun up by mass transfer from accretion disks. Our investigation reveals that a quark phase transition resulting from the changing central density induced…
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…
Besides the narrow peaks originating from the periodic signal, the power spectra of accreting X-ray pulsars display continuum components usually increasing towards low frequencies; these arise from the source aperiodic variability. Most…