Related papers: Accretion-powered millisecond pulsars
The systematic search for the presence of cyclotron lines in the spectra of accreting X-ray pulsars is being carried on with the BeppoSAX satellite since the beginning of the mission. These highly successful observations allowed the…
We employ our new model for the polarised emission of accreting X-ray pulsars to describe the emission from the luminous X-ray pulsar Hercules X-1. In contrast with previous works, our model predicts the polarisation parameters…
By analyzing the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer data on SAX J1808.4-3658 we show that the X-ray emission in accretion powered millisecond pulsars can be produced by Comptonization in a hot slab (radiative shock) of Thomson optical depth tau~1…
We review the physical processes occurring in the magnetosphere of accreting X-ray pulsars, with emphasis on those processes that give rise to observable effects in their high (E>10 keV) energy spectra. In the second part we compare the…
This is an overview of pulsar accretion modeling. The physics of pulsar accretion, i.e., the process of plasma flow onto the neutron star surface, can be constrained from the spectral properties of the X-ray source. We discuss a new…
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…
In this work we have estimated upper and lower limits to the strength of the magnetic dipole moment of all 14 accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). For each source we searched the archival…
Neutron stars in close binary systems have the potential to spin up to millisecond periods due to the accretion of matter and angular momentum from their low-mass companions. In later stages of this process, they sometimes start to swing…
Millisecond spinning, low magnetic field neutron stars are believed to attain their fast rotation in a 0.1-1 Gyr-long phase during which they accrete matter endowed with angular momentum from a low-mass companion star. Despite extensive…
A great deal of emphasis on timing in the RXTE era has been on pushing toward higher and higher frequency phenomena, particularly kHz QPOs. However, the large areas of the RXTE pointed instruments provide another capability which is key for…
Accretion driven millisecond X-ray pulsars can accrete over a wide range of mass flow rates. The pulsations persist even at small accretion rates at which these objects would be expected to be in the propeller stage. We argue that the inner…
Rotation-powered "recycled" millisecond pulsars are a variety of rapidly-spinning neutron stars that typically show thermal X-ray radiation due to the heated surface of their magnetic polar caps. Detailed numerical modeling of the…
A new window is opening in high-energy astronomy: X-ray polarimetry. With many missions currently under development and scheduled to launch as early as 2021, observations of the X-ray polarisation of accreting X-ray pulsars will soon be…
The Galactic population of rotation-powered (aka radio) millisecond pulsars (MSPs) exhibits diverse X-ray properties. Energetic MSPs show pulsed non-thermal radiation from their magnetospheres. Eclipsing binary MSPs predominantly have X-ray…
Observations made using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have shown that accreting weak-field neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binary systems (LMXBs) produce three distinct types of millisecond X-ray oscillations that can be used to determine…
A millisecond pulsar is a neutron star that has been substantially spun up by accretion from a binary companion. A previously unrecognized factor governing the spin evolution of such pulsars is the crucial effect of non-steady or transient…
At present, ten years after they were first discovered, ten accreting millisecond pulsars are known. I present a study of the aperiodic X-ray variability in three of these systems, which led to the discovery of simultaneous kHz quasi…
Accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars are known to provide a wealth of physical information during their successive states of outburst and quiescence. Based on the observed spin-up and spin-down rates of these objects it is possible, among…
Possible manifestations of accreting magnetars are discussed. It is shown that the four ultra-luminous X-ray pulsars can be understood in the accreting low magnetic field magnetar scenario. The NGC300 ULX1 pulsar may have a higher dipole…
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…