Related papers: Accreting isolated neutron stars
Accretion of interstellar material by an isolated neutron star is discussed. The point I address here is the interaction between the accretion flow and the stellar magnetosphere. I show that the interchange instabilities of the…
As many as $10^9$ neutron stars populate the Galaxy, but only $\approx 10^3$ are directly observed as pulsars or as accreting sources in X-ray binaries. In principle also the accretion of the interstellar medium may make isolated neutron…
The accretion process onto a magnetized isolated neutron star, which captures material from the interstellar medium, is discussed. The evolutionary track of such a star can be presented as a sequence of four states: ejector, supersonic…
I review the rotation measurements of accreting neutron stars. Many of the highly magnetic accreting X-ray pulsars have been continuously observed with the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) aboard the Compton Gamma-Ray…
Strong magnetic field of accreting neutron stars ($10^{14}$ G) is hard to probe by X-ray spectroscopy but can be indirectly inferred from spin-up/spin-down measurement in X-ray pulsars. The existing observations of slowly rotating X-ray…
A scenario of the formation of isolated X-ray pulsars is discussed with an application to one of the best studied objects of this class 1E 161348-5055. This moderately luminous, 10^33 - 10^35 erg/s, pulsar with a relatively soft spectrum,…
We perform population synthesis modeling of isolated neutron stars in the Milky Way over its lifetime. Compared with previous studies, we use more detailed models of the interstellar medium and the magneto-rotational evolution of neutron…
Using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RossiXTE), astronomers have discovered that disk-accreting neutron stars with weak magnetic fields produce three distinct types of high-frequency X-ray oscillations. These oscillations are powered by…
Neutron stars, with their strong surface gravity, have interestingly short timescales for the sedimentation of heavy elements. Recent observations of unstable thermonuclear burning (observed as X-ray bursts) on the surfaces of slowly…
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…
The spectral properties of X--ray radiation produced in a static atmosphere around a neutron star accreting at very low rates are investigated. Previous results by Alme \& Wilson (1973) are extended to the range $10^{-7}\leq L/L_{Edd}\leq…
We investigate whether the magnetic field of an accreting neutron star may be diamagnetically screened by the accreted matter. We assume the freshly accumulated material is unmagnetized, and calculate the rate at which the intrinsic stellar…
Neutron Stars are among the most exotic objects in the Universe. A neutron star, with a mass of 1.4-2 Solar masses within a radius of about 10-15 km, is the most compact stable configuration of matter in which degeneracy pressure can still…
Observations using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have discovered dozens of accreting neutron stars with millisecond spin periods in low-mass binary star systems. Eighteen are millisecond X-ray pulsars powered by accretion or nuclear…
We study properties of luminous X-ray pulsars using a simplified model of the accretion column. The maximal possible luminosity is calculated as a function of the neutron star (NS) magnetic field and spin period. It is shown that the…
Some accreting neutron stars and young stars show unexplained episodic flares in the form of quasi-periodic oscillations or recurrent outbursts. In a series of two papers we present new work on an instability that can lead to episodic…
The application of standard accretion theory to observations of X-ray binaries provides valuable insights into neutron star properties, such as their spin period and magnetic field. However, most studies concentrate on relatively old…
We apply the model of subsonic settling accretion on to isolated neutron stars accreting from the interstellar medium (AINS). We show that in this regime the expected mean X-ray luminosity from AINS turns out to be 2-3 orders of magnitude…
Observations of Type I X-ray bursts have long been taken as evidence that the sources are neutron stars. Black body models approximate the spectral data and imply a suddenly heated neutron star cooling over characteristic times of seconds…
Accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars are an important subset of low-mass X-ray binaries in which coherent X-ray pulsations can be observed during occasional, bright outbursts (X-ray luminosity $L_X\sim 10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$). These…