Related papers: Spectral evolution of bright NS LMXBs
We have observed the soft X-ray transient XTE J0421+56 in quiescence with XMM-Newton. The observed spectrum is highly unusual being dominated by a broad feature at 6.5 keV and can be modeled by a strongly absorbed continuum. The spectra of…
Recent observations of X-ray pulsars at low luminosities allow, for the first time, to compare theoretical models for the emission from highly magnetized neutron star atmospheres at low mass accretion rates ($\dot{M} \lesssim 10^{15}$ g…
1RXS J180408.9--342058 is a low mass X-ray binary hosting a neutron star, which shows X-ray activity at very different mass-accretion regimes, from very faint to almost the Eddington luminosity. In this work, we present a comprehensive…
Context. Supergiant fast X-ray transients are a subclass of high mass X-ray binaries that host a neutron star accreting mass from the wind of its OB supergiant companion. They are characterized by an extremely pronounced and rapid…
I briefly review the theory of soft X-ray transient systems. Irradiation of the accretion disc faces by the central X-ray source determines both the occurrence and the nature of the outbursts, in particular forcing these to be long viscous…
We present X-ray spectral variability studies of the ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX) M81 X--6 using {\it Suzaku} and {\it XMM-Newton} observations performed during 2001--2015. The spectra were first fitted by a standard multi-temperature…
The notion of source states characterizing the X-ray emission from black hole binaries has revealed to be a very useful tool to disentangle the complex spectral and aperiodic phenomenology displayed by those classes of accreting objects. We…
We present the results of two XMM-Newton observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5204 X-1. The EPIC spectra are well-fit by the standard spectral model of a black-hole X-ray binary, comprising a soft multi-colour disc…
Aims. INTEGRAL has been monitoring the Galactic center region for more than a decade. Over this time INTEGRAL has detected hundreds of type-I X-ray bursts from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1728-34, a.k.a. "the slow burster".…
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…
We develop a Monte Carlo Comptonization model for the X-ray spectrum of accretion-powered pulsars. Simple, spherical, thermal Comptonization models give harder spectra for higher optical depth, while the observational data from Vela X-1…
We present the study of one year of INTEGRAL data on the neutron star low mass X-ray binary GX 5-1. Thanks to the excellent angular resolution and sensitivity of INTEGRAL, we are able to obtain a high quality spectrum of GX 5-1 from ~5 keV…
A type-I burst could influence the accretion process through radiation pressure and Comptonization both for the accretion disk and the corona/boundary layer of an X-ray binary, and vice versa. We investigate the temporal evolution of a…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are interesting systems as they can host intermediate mass black holes. Alternatively, ULXs can represent stellar-mass black holes accreting at super-Eddington rates. Recently spectral curvature or breaks…
We report results of an extensive analysis of the X-ray nova XTE J1859+226 observed with BeppoSAX and RXTE during its 1999 outburst. We modelled the source spectrum with a multicolour blackbody-like feature plus the generic Comptonization…
Type I X-ray bursts in GS 1826-24, and in several other systems, may induce cooling of the hot inner accretion flow that surrounds the bursting neutron star. Given that GS 1826-24 remained persistently in the hard state over the period…
We have used the RXTE and INTEGRAL satellites simultaneously to observe the High Mass X-ray binary IGR J19140+0951. The spectra obtained in the 3--80 keV range have allowed us to perform a precise spectral analysis of the system along its…
X-ray variabilities with spectral state transitions in bright low mass X-ray binaries containing a neutron star are investigated by using the one-day bin light curves of MAXI/GSC (Gas Slit Camera) and Swift/BAT (Burst Alert Telescope). Four…
We develop a new theoretical model for the spectral formation process in accretion-powered X-ray pulsars based on a detailed treatment of the bulk and thermal Comptonization occurring in the accreting, shocked gas. A rigorous eigenfunction…
M82 hosts two well-known ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). X-1, an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) candidate, and X-2, an ultraluminous X-ray pulsar (ULXP). Here we present a broadband X-ray spectral analysis of both sources based on…