Related papers: Millisecond Time Variations of X-Ray Binaries
We present the results of our extensive binary orbital motion corrected pulsation search for 13 low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). These selected sources exhibit burst oscillations in X-rays with frequencies ranging from 45 to 1122 Hz, and…
Accreting neutron stars exhibit pulsed X-rays and complex temporal variability across multi-wavelengths and different timescales. This variability could be driven by various physical processes including instability or inhomogeneous motions…
RXTE has been operating for nearly 2 years and is planning the third. The spacecraft performance has been good and the three instruments are operating well. Observations have been made of the range of targets suitable for RXTE, including…
X-ray timing of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with RXTE has since 1996 revealed several distinct high-frequency phenomena. Among these are oscillations during thermonuclear (type-I) bursts, which (in addition to…
It has recently been suggested that the maximum observed quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequencies, $\nu_{max}$, for several low-mass X-ray binaries, particularly 4U 1820-30, correspond to the orbital frequency at the inner-most stable…
X-ray observations suggest that neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) are rotating with frequencies from 300 - 600 Hz. These spin rates are significantly less than the break-up rates for essentially all realistic neutron star…
We have detected quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) near 1 kHz from the low mass X-ray binary 4U 0614+091 in observations with XTE. The observations span several months and sample the source over a large range of X-ray luminosity. In every…
Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) may represent the orbital frequencies of the innermost Keplerian orbits around accreting neutron stars. Attempts have recently been made to derive constraints…
We explain the peak spacing in the power spectra of millisecond variability detected by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in the X-ray emission from the LMXBs (Sco X-1, 4U1728-34, 4U1608-522, 4U1636-536, etc) in terms of the rotational…
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…
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…
Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) has been regarded as representing the Keplerian frequency at the inner disk edge in the neutron star X-ray binaries. The so-called ``parallel tracks'' on the plot of the kHz QPO frequency vs.…
We suggest a plausible interpretation for the twin kiloHertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. We identify the upper kHz QPO frequencies to be the rotational frequency and the lower kHz QPOs the…
Quasi-periodic brightness oscillations (QPOs) with frequencies in the range 300-1200 Hz have been detected from at least nine neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. Here we summarize the sonic-point model for these brightness oscillations,…
Starting in 1999, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has monitored the central bulge region of the Galaxy with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA), resolving about 50 binary X-ray sources, including 18 sources discovered by RXTE and…
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 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…
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…
The high time resolution and large area of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have been essential in the detection and characterization of high-frequency quasi-periodic variability in the flux from neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. An…
Kilo-Hertz (kHz) Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been discovered in the X-ray fluxes of 8 low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The characteristics of these QPOs are remarkably similar from one…