1 research outputs found
Gamma-Ray Emission From Be/X-Ray Binaries
Be/X-ray binaries are systems formed by a massive Be star and a magnetized
neutron star, usually in an eccentric orbit. The Be star has strong equatorial
winds occasionally forming a circumstellar disk. When the neutron star
intersects the disk the accretion rate dramatically increases and a transient
accretion disk can be formed around the compact object. This disk can last
longer than a single orbit in the case of major outbursts. If the disk rotates
faster than the neutron star, the Cheng-Ruderman mechanism can produce a
current of relativistic protons that would impact onto the disk surface,
producing gamma-rays from neutral pion decays and initiating electromagnetic
cascades inside the disk. In this paper we present calculations of the
evolution of the disk parameters during both major and minor X-ray events, and
we discuss the generation of gamma-ray emission at different energies within a
variety of models that include both screened and unscreened disks.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in: "The multiwavelength approach to unidentified
gamma-ray sources", Eds. K. S. Cheng & G.E. Romero, Kluwer Academic Publisher
(Astrophysics and Space Sciences Journal). The present version has two
additional figures respect to the version to be published in the journa