Related papers: Type I X-ray Bursts at Low Accretion Rates
X-ray bursts are thermonuclear flashes on the surface of accreting neutron stars and reliable burst models are needed to interpret observations in terms of properties of the neutron star and the binary system. We investigate the dependence…
Accretion of interstellar material by a magnetized, slowly rotating isolated neutron star is discussed. We show that the average persistent X-ray luminosity of these objects is unlikely to exceed 4x10^26 erg/s. They can also appear as X-ray…
We have assembled a sample of 1187 thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts from 48 accreting neutron stars by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, spanning more than ten years. The sample contains examples of two of the three theoretical ignition…
Superbursts are rare day-long Type I X-ray bursts due to carbon flashes on accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. They heat the neutron star envelope such that the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium becomes stable, and the…
Neutron star (NS) masses and radii can be estimated from observations of photospheric radius-expansion X-ray bursts, provided the chemical composition of the photosphere, the spectral colour-correction factors in the observed luminosity…
During accretion a neutron star (NS) is spun up as angular momentum is transported through its surface layers. We study the resulting differentially rotating profile, focusing on the impact this has for type I X-ray bursts. The predominant…
Superbursts were discovered at the beginning of this millennium. Just like type-I X-ray bursts, they are thought to be due to thermonuclear shell flashes on neutron stars, only igniting much deeper. With respect to type-I bursts, they last…
This paper reports on the detailed rp-process reaction flow on an accreting neutron star and the resulting ashes of a type I X-ray burst. It is obtained by coupling a 298 isotope reaction network to a self-consistent one-dimensional model…
We present a compilation of observed recurrence times ($t_{\rm rec}$) and infer the corresponding local mass-accretion rates ($\dot m$) for type I X-ray bursts, milliHertz quasi-periodic oscillating sources and recurrent novae eruptions. We…
X-ray bursts are thermonuclear explosions on the surface of accreting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries. As most of the known X-ray bursters are frequently observed by INTEGRAL, an international collaboration have been taking…
One of the challenges to increasing the mass of a white dwarf through accretion is the tendency for the accumulating hydrogen to ignite unstably and potentially trigger mass loss. It has been known for many years that there is a narrow…
Recent studies have shown that runaway thermonuclear burning of material accreted onto neutron stars, i.e. Type I X-ray bursts, may affect the accretion disk. We investigate this by performing a detailed time-resolved spectral analysis of…
For thermonuclear flashes to occur on neutron-star surfaces, fuel must have been accreted from a donor star. However, sometimes flashes are seen from transient binary systems when they are thought to be in their quiescent phase, during…
We investigate the atmosphere, ocean, and crust of neutron stars accreting at rates sufficiently high (typically in excess of the local Eddington limit) to stabilize the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium. For hydrogen-rich accretion…
We present a global linear stability analysis of nuclear fuel accumulating on the surface of an accreting neutron star and we identify the conditions under which thermonuclear bursts are triggered. The analysis reproduces all the recognized…
The rotation rates of six weakly-magnetic neutron stars accreting in low-mass X-ray binaries have most likely been measured by Type I X-ray burst observations with RXTE. The nearly coherent oscillations detected during the few seconds of…
I review our theoretical understanding of thermonuclear flashes on accreting neutron stars, concentrating on comparisons to observations. Sequences of regular Type I X-ray bursts from GS 1826-24 and 4U 1820-30 are very well described by the…
Relativistic jets are observed from accreting and cataclysmic transients throughout the Universe, and have a profound affect on their surroundings. Despite their importance, their launch mechanism is not known. For accreting neutron stars,…
Type I X-ray bursts are thermonuclear explosions that occur in the envelopes of accreting neutron stars. Detailed observations of these phenomena have prompted numerous studies in theoretical astrophysics and experimental nuclear physics…
The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass…