English

X-ray pulsars: a review

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2012-06-15 v1

Abstract

Accreting X-ray pulsars are among the most luminous objects in the X-ray sky. In highly magnetized neutron stars (B~10^12 G), the flow of matter is dominated by the strong magnetic field. The general properties of accreting X-ray binaries are presented, focusing on the spectral characteristics of the systems. The use of cyclotron lines as a tool to directly measure a neutron star's magnetic field and to test the theory of accretion are discussed. We conclude with the current and future prospects for accreting X-ray binary studies.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1206.3124,
  title  = {X-ray pulsars: a review},
  author = {I. Caballero and J. Wilms},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1206.3124},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

8 pages, 7 figures, Frascati Workshop 2011, "Multifrequency Behaviour of High Energy Cosmic Sources", Vulcano 23-28 May 2011, published in Mem. SAIt

R2 v1 2026-06-21T21:19:18.122Z