Related papers: No magnetars in ULXs
We review observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). X-ray spectroscopic and timing studies of ULXs suggest a new accretion state distinct from those seen in Galactic stellar-mass black hole binaries. The detection of coherent…
With the discovery of pulsations in some of the ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), it is quite clear that most of the ULXs harbor either a neutron star or a stellar mass black hole as a compact object accreting at super-Eddington rates.…
The nature of the 5-12 s "anomalous" X-ray pulsars remains a mystery. Among the models that have been proposed to explain the properties of AXPs, the most likely ones are: (1) isolated accreting neutron stars evolved from the…
We consider ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) where the accretor is a neutron star rather than a black hole. We show that the recently-discovered example (M82 X-2) fits naturally into the simple picture of ULXs as beamed X-ray sources fed…
Magnetars are a special kind of neutron stars. There may also be accreting magnetars. From the studies of isolated magnetars, it is known that a neutron star with a strong dipole field only is not a magnetar. Super-slow X-ray pulsars may…
A number of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) have recently been detected in the optical/IR wavelengths. We use their inferred brightness to place general constraints on any model for this emission within the magnetar framework. We find that…
Recently, ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) M82 X-2 has been identified to be an accreting neutron star, which has a $P=1.37$ s spin period, and is spinning up at a rate $\dot{P}=-2.0\times 10^{-10}~\rm s\,s^{-1}$. Interestingly, its…
The high-energy sources known as anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are well explained as magnetars: isolated neutron stars powered by their own magnetic energy. After explaining why it is generally believed…
We perform a global 2.5D general-relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulation of super-critical accretion onto a neutron star with a $2\times 10^{10}$ G dipolar magnetic field, as a model of a neutron-star-powered ultraluminous…
Magnetic field of accreting neutron stars determines their overall behaviour including the maximum possible luminosity. Some models require an above-average magnetic field strength (> 10^13 G) in order to explain super-Eddington mass…
There is growing evidence that soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are isolated neutron stars with superstrong magnetic fields, i.e., magnetars, marking them a distinguished species from the conventional…
High mass accretion rate onto strongly magnetised neutron stars results in the appearance of accretion columns supported by the radiation pressure and confined by the strong magnetic field of a star. At mass accretion rates above $\sim…
We propose a unified picture of high magnetic field radio pulsars and magnetars by arguing that they are all rotating high-field neutron stars, but have different orientations of their magnetic axes with respective to their rotation axes.…
The phenomenology of anomalous X-ray pulsars is usually interpreted within the paradigm of very highly magnetized neutron stars, also known as magnetars. According to this paradigm, the persistent emission of anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs)…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) have been objects of great interest for the past few decades due to their unusually high luminosities and spectral properties. A few of these sources exhibit super-Eddington luminosities assuming them to…
We present a population synthesis study of the observed properties of the magnetars, which allows for X-ray selection effects, investigating the hypothesis that they are drawn from a population of progenitors that are more massive than…
We present the results of a radio monitoring campaign to search for radio emission from nearby ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). These sources are bright off-nuclear X-ray point sources with luminosities exceeding L_X > 10^39 erg/sec. A…
Most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are believed to be X-ray binary systems, but previous observational and theoretical studies tend to prefer a black hole rather than a neutron star accretor. The recent discovery of 1.37 s pulsations…
The identification of the Ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) X-2 in M82 as an accreting pulsar has shed new light on the nature of a subset of ULXs, while rising new questions on the nature of the super-Eddington accretion. Here, by…
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) belong to a class of neutron stars believed to harbor the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, as indicated by their energetic bursts and their rapid spindowns. We have developed a theoretical model that…