Related papers: Generation of Type I X-ray Burst Oscillations by U…
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…
Coherent oscillations have been observed during Type I X-ray bursts from 14 accreting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries, providing important information about their spin frequencies. However, the origin of the brightness asymmetry on…
I review the basic phenomenology and theory of the millisecond brightness oscillations observed during thermonuclear X-ray bursts from 13 of approximately 70 accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. Compelling observations…
I construct a simple model of the convective burning layer during a type I X-ray burst to investigate the effects convection has on the stability of the layer to nonradial oscillations. A linear perturbation analysis demonstrates that the…
Type I X-ray bursts are thermonuclear flashes observed from the surfaces of accreting neutron stars (NSs) in Low Mass X-ray Binaries. Oscillations have been observed during the rise and/or decay of some of these X-ray bursts. Those seen…
Accreting neutron stars (NSs) often show coherent modulations during type I X-ray bursts, called burst oscillations. We consider whether a nonradial mode can serve as an explanation for burst oscillations from those NSs which are not…
We analyze the frequency evolution of millisecond oscillations observed during type I X-ray bursts with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer in order to establish the stability of the mechanism underlying the oscillations. Our sample contains 68…
Material accreted onto a neutron star can stably burn in steady state only when the accretion rate is high (typically super-Eddington) or if a large flux from the neutron star crust permeates the outer atmosphere. For such situations we…
Observations of thermonuclear (Type I) X-ray bursts from neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have revealed large amplitude, high coherence X-ray brightness oscillations with…
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…
During a Type-I burst, the turbulent deflagation front may excite waves in the neutron star ocean and upper atmosphere with frequencies, $\omega \sim 1$ Hz. These waves may be observed as highly coherent flux oscillations during the burst.…
High amplitude, nearly coherent X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that…
Thermonuclear burning on the surface of a neutron star causes the expansion of a thin outer layer of the star, $\Delta R(t)$. The layer rotates slower than the star due to angular momentum conservation. The shear between the star and the…
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.…
Accreting neutron stars (NS) can exhibit high frequency modulations in their lightcurves during thermonuclear X-ray bursts, known as burst oscillations. The frequencies can be offset from the spin frequency of the NS by several Hz, and can…
Rossby waves (or r-modes) on the surface of a neutron star have become a leading model for the oscillations observed during the tail of Type-I X-ray bursts. Their frequency evolution matches well with the observed frequency drifts of the…
Previously, observations with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer showed that millisecond oscillations occur preferentially in thermonuclear X-ray bursts with photospheric radius expansion from sources rotating near 600 Hz, while they occur…
High amplitude X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these oscillations…
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…
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…