Related papers: Millisecond Oscillations in X-Ray Binaries
In this review I briefly describe the latest advances in studies of aperiodic variability of accreting X-ray binaries and outline the model which currently describe the majority of observational appearances of variability of accreting…
It has been suggested that both X-ray bursters and millisecond radio pulsars may be strange (quark) stars, rather than neutron stars. Confirming (or rejecting) this suggestion may require knowing what role strong-field effects of general…
Starting from the observation that kilohertz Quasi Period Oscillations (kHz QPO) occur in a very narrow range of X-ray luminosities in neutron star low mass X-ray binaries, we try to link the kHz QPO observability to variations of the…
We summarize the quiescent X-ray observations of transient low-mass X-ray binaries. These observations show that, in quiescence, binaries containing black holes are fainter than those containing neutron stars. This has triggered a number of…
In the last 10 years multi-wavelength fast variability studies of low mass X-ray binaries have shown a dramatic development. A key discovery was the detection of O-IR sub-second fluctuations in two black-hole transients, lagging the X-rays…
Millisecond x-ray pulsars have weak magnetic dipole moments of $\sim 10^{16}$\,T\,m$^3$ compared to ordinary X-ray pulsars with dipole moments of $10^{20}$\,T\,m$^3$. For this reason a surrounding accretion disc can extend closer to the…
We report the discovery of millisecond oscillations in the X-ray emission from the X-ray transient SAX J1750.8-2900. Millisecond quasiperiodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) were present in the persistent emission with frequencies ranging from 543…
Short gamma-ray bursts are associated with binary neutron star mergers, which are multimessenger astronomical events that have been observed both in gravitational waves and in the multiband electromagnetic spectrum. Depending on the masses…
We report the discovery of two new types of variability in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary MXB 1730-335 (the 'Rapid Burster'). In one observation in 1999, it exhibits a large-amplitude quasi-periodic oscillation with a period of…
The frequencies of quasi-periodic oscillations around neutron stars are believed to be related to characteristic frequencies in the gravitational fields of the compact objects. In different variability models, these include the Keplerian,…
In this chapter we give an overview of the properties of X-ray binary systems containing a weakly magnetized neutron star. These are old (Giga-years life-time) semi-detached binary systems containing a neutron star with a relatively weak…
Burst oscillations, a phenomenon observed in a significant fraction of Type I (thermonuclear) X-ray bursts, involve the development of highly asymmetric brightness patches in the burning surface layers of accreting neutron stars.…
This review summarizes the observational constraints on the mass spectrum of compact objects in X-ray binaries. We currently have 20 X-ray binaries with confirmed black holes, based on dynamical information (i.e. mass in excess of 3 Msun).…
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,…
Many distinct classes of high-energy variability have been observed in astrophysical sources, on a range of timescales. The widest range (spanning microseconds-decades) is found in accreting, stellar-mass compact objects, including neutron…
We investigate the dependence of pulse amplitudes of accreting millisecond pulsars on the masses of the neutron stars. Because the pulsation amplitudes are suppressed as the neutron stars become more massive, the probability of detection of…
X-ray brightness oscillations with frequencies from 300 - 600 Hz have been observed in six low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) bursters with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). These oscillations likely result from spin modulation of a hot…
Millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations (mHz QPOs) observed in neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries (NS LMXBs) are generally explained as marginally stable thermonuclear burning on the neutron star surface. We report the discovery of mHz…
We have identified the third known accretion-powered millisecond pulsar, XTE J0929-314, with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. The source is a faint, high-Galactic-latitude X-ray transient (d >~ 5 kpc) that was in outburst during 2002…
Millisecond pulsars are old neutron stars that have been spun up to high rotational frequencies via accretion of mass from a binary companion star. An important issue for understanding the physics of the early spin evolution of millisecond…