Related papers: Spectral states in Be/X-ray pulsars
The discovery of source states in the X-ray emission of black-hole binaries and neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries constituted a major step forward in the understanding of the physics of accretion onto compact objects. While there are…
We have investigated the spectral and timing variability of four accreting X-ray pulsars with Be-type companions during major X-ray outbursts. Different spectral states were defined according to the value of the X-ray colours and flux.…
During normal Type I outbursts, the pulse profiles of Be/X-ray binary pulsars are found to be complex in soft X-ray energy ranges. The profiles in soft X-ray energy ranges are characterized by the presence of narrow absorption dips or…
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…
Accreting X-ray pulsars, located in X-ray binaries, are neutron stars with magnetic fields as strong as $B\sim10^{12\text{--}13}$ G. This review offers a concise overview of the accretion and radiation processes of X-ray pulsars and…
Context: In addition to coherent pulsation, many accreting neutron stars exhibit flaring activity and strong aperiodic variability on time scales comparable to or shorter than their pulsation period. Such a behavior shows that the accretion…
We present RXTE observations of two recently identified massive X-ray binaries. RX J0440.9+4431/BSD 24-491 and RX J1037.5-564/LS 1698 are confirmed as accreting Be/X-ray systems following the discovery of X-ray pulsations, with barycentric…
A fraction of the Ultra Luminous X-ray (ULX) sources are known to be accreting neutron stars as they show coherent X-ray pulsations with pulse periods ranging from ~1-30 seconds. While initially thought to host intermediate-mass black…
It has been suggested that most Be/X-ray binaries are low X-ray luminosity nearby objects, containing white dwarfs (Chevalier & Ilovaisky 1998). We show that existing evidence indicates that all known Be/X-ray binaries are relatively bright…
We review the properties and behavior X-ray binaries that contain an accreting black hole. The larger majority of such systems are X-ray transients, and many of them were observed in daily pointings with RXTE throughout the course of their…
X-ray binaries are known to exhibit different spectral states which are often associated with different black hole accretion modes. The exact geometry and properties of these accretion modes is still uncertain. Recent IXPE measurements of…
A number of accreting X-ray pulsars experience spectral changes, both on the long time scales and on the time scales of the neutron star spin period. The sources seem to form two distinct groups which differ by the type of the spectral…
Context: Be/X-ray binaries show outbursts with peak luminosities up to a few times $10^{37}\,$erg/s, during which they can be observed and studied in detail. Most (if not all) Be/X-ray binaries harbour accreting pulsars, whose X-ray spectra…
The high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray emission of black hole binaries and candidates are briefly examined with respect to the question of X-ray states. We use the prescription of McClintock and Remillard (2005), in…
Galactic accretion driven stellar X-ray sources can be divided into groups in different ways. An important division, which covers almost all known X-ray binaries, can be made according to the mass of the donor star: high-mass X-ray binaries…
The pulsations of X-ray pulsars carry information about the accretion and magnetic field geometry. Here we present a study and classification of energy resolved pulse profiles of a sample of X-ray pulsars, focusing on high-mass X-ray…
With the availability of the large database of black-hole transients from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, the observed phenomenology has become very complex. The original classification of the properties of these systems in a series of…
Accreting X-ray pulsars are among the most luminous objects in the X-ray sky. In highly magnetized neutron stars (B~10^12 G), the flow of matter is dominated by the strong magnetic field. The general properties of accreting X-ray binaries…
X-ray binaries, as bright local sources with short variability timescales for a wide range of accretion processes, represent ideal targets for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. In this chapter, we present a high-resolution X-ray spectral…
In X-ray binary star systems consisting of a compact object that accretes material from an orbiting secondary star, there is no straightforward means to decide if the compact object is a black hole or a neutron star. To assist this…