A Double Outburst from IGR J00291+5934: Implications for Accretion Disk Instability Theory

The accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 underwent two ~10 d long outbursts during 2008, separated by 30 d in quiescence. Such a short quiescent period between outbursts has never been seen before from a neutron star X-ray transient. X-ray pulsations at the 599 Hz spin frequency are detected throughout both outbursts. For the first time, we derive a pulse phase model that connects two outbursts, providing a long baseline for spin frequency measurement. Comparison with the frequency measured during the 2004 outburst of this source gives a spin-down during quiescence of -4(1)x10^-15 Hz/s, approximately an order of magnitude larger than the long-term spin-down observed in the 401 Hz accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. If this spin-down is due to magnetic dipole radiation, it requires a 2x10^8 G field strength, and its high spin-down luminosity may be detectable with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Alternatively, this large spin-down could be produced by gravitational wave emission from a fractional mass quadrupole moment of Q/I = 1x10^{-9}. The rapid succession of the outbursts also provides a unique test of models for accretion in low-mass X-ray binaries. Disk instability models generally predict that an outburst will leave the accretion disk too depleted to fuel a second outburst after such a brief quiescence. We suggest a modification in which the outburst is shut off by the onset of a propeller effect before the disk is depleted. This model can explain the short quiescence and the unusually slow rise of the light curve of the second 2008 outburst.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures; accepted by Ap

Discovery Of A 552 Hz Burst Oscillation In The Low-Mass X-Ray Binary Exo 0748–676

We report the detection of pulsations at 552 Hz in the rising phase of two type-I (thermonuclear) X-ray bursts observed from the accreting neutron star EXO 0748–676 in 2007 January and December, by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The fractional amplitude was 15% (rms). The dynamic power density spectrum for each burst revealed an increase in frequency of ≈1-2 Hz while the oscillation was present. The frequency drift, the high significance of the detections and the almost identical signal frequencies measured in two bursts separated by 11 months, confirms this signal as a burst oscillation similar to those found in 13 other sources to date. We thus conclude that the spin frequency in EXO 0748 – 676 is within a few Hz of 552 Hz, rather than 45 Hz as was suggested from an earlier signal detection by Villarreal & Strohmayer. Consequently, Doppler broadening must significantly affect spectral features arising from the neutron star surface, so that the narrow absorption features previously reported from an XMM-Newton spectrum could not have arisen there. The origin of both the previously reported 45 Hz oscillation and the X-ray absorption lines is now uncertain

X-ray timing of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-114).We present a 7 yr timing study of the 2.5 ms X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658, an X-ray transient with a recurrence time of =2 yr, using data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer covering 4 transient outbursts (1998-2005). Substantial pulse shape variability, both stochastic and systematic, was observed during each outburst. Analysis of the systematic pulse shape changes suggests that, as an outburst dims, the X-ray "hot spot" on the pulsar surface drifts longitudinally and a second hot spot may appear. The overall pulse shape variability limits the ability to measure spin frequency evolution within a given X-ray outburst (and calls previous zi measurements of this source into question), with typical upper limits of Jil < 2.5 x 10-14 Hz s-1 (2a). However, combining data from all the outbursts shows with high (6 a) significance that the pulsar is undergoing long-term spin down at a rate /i = (-5.6 ± 2.0) x 10-16 Hz s-1, with most of the spin evolution occurring during X-ray quiescence. We discuss the possible contributions of magnetic propeller torques, magnetic dipole radiation, and gravitational radiation to the measured spin down, setting an upper limit of B < 1.5 x 108 G for the pulsar's surface dipole magnetic field and Q < 4.4 x 1036 g cm2 for the mass quadrupole moment. We also measured an orbital period derivative of Porb = (3.5 + 0.2) x 10-12 s s-1 We identify a strong anti-correlation between the fractional amplitude of the harmonic (r2) and the X-ray flux (fx) in the persistent pulsations of four sources: SAX J1808.4-3658, IGR J00291+5934, and XTE J1751-305, XTE J1807-294. These sources exhibit a powerlaw relationship r2 x( fx7 with slopes ranging from y = -0.47 to -0.70. The three other accreting millisecond pulsars that we analyzed, XTE J0929-314, XTE J1814-338, and HETE J1900.1-2455, do not as fully explore a wide range of fluxes, but they too seem to obey a similar relation. We argue that these trends may be evidence of the recession of the accretion disk as the outbursts dim. We examine the energy dependence of the persistent pulsations and thermonuclear burst oscillations from SAX J1808.4-3658.We confirm the soft phase lags previously discovered from this source, and we discover that these phase lags increase as the source flux decays slowly following its peak flux. When the source decay becomes rapid and the outburst enters its flaring tail stage, this relationship reverses, and the phase lags diminish as the flux dims further. This result, along with the pulse profile changes observed at the beginning of the flairing tail stage, suggests an abrupt change in the geometry of the accretion disk and column at this time in the outburst. In contrast, the thermonuclear burst oscillation timing does not show appreciable lags, and the burst oscillation phases and fractional amplitudes appear to be relatively independent of energy.by Jacob M. Hartman.Ph.D

Helium mixtures in nanotube bundles

An analogue to Raoult's law is determined for the case of a 3He-4He mixture adsorbed in the interstitial channels of a bundle of carbon nanotubes. Unlike the case of He mixtures in other environments, the ratio of the partial pressures of the coexisting vapor is found to be a simple function of the ratio of concentrations within the nanotube bundle.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

ACCRETION TORQUES AND MOTION OF THE HOT SPOT ON THE ACCRETING MILLISECOND PULSAR XTE J1807-294

We present a coherent timing analysis of the 2003 outburst of the accreting millisecond pulsar (AMXP) XTE J1807-294. We find a 95% confidence interval for the pulse frequency derivative of (+0.7, + 4.7) × 10⁻¹⁴ Hz s⁻¹ and (-0.6, + 3.8) × 10⁻¹⁴ Hz s⁻¹ for the fundamental and second harmonics, respectively. The sinusoidal fractional amplitudes of the pulsations are the highest observed among AMXPs and can reach values of up to 27% (2.5-30 keV). The pulse arrival time residuals of the fundamental frequency follow a linear anti-correlation with the fractional amplitudes that suggests hot spot motion both in longitude and latitude over the surface of the neutron star. An anti-correlation between residuals and X-ray flux suggests an influence of the accretion rate on pulse phase and casts doubts on the interpretation of pulse frequency derivatives in terms of changes of spin rates and torques on the neutron star

The Luminosity and Energy Dependence of Pulse Phase Lags in the Accretion-Powered Millisecond Pulsar Sax J1808.4-3658

Soft phase lags, in which X-ray pulses in lower energy bands arrive later than pulses in higher energy bands, have been observed in nearly all accretion-powered millisecond pulsars, but their origin remains an open question. In a study of the 2.5 ms accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4–3658, we report that the magnitude of these lags is strongly dependent on the accretion rate. During the brightest stage of the outbursts from this source, the lags increase in magnitude as the accretion rate drops; when the outbursts enter their dimmer flaring-tail stage, the relationship reverses. We evaluate this complex dependence in the context of two theoretical models for the lags, one relying on the scattering of photons by the accretion disk and the other invoking a two-component model for the photon emission. In both cases, the turnover suggests that we are observing the source transitioning into the "propeller" accretion regime.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. RXTE Guest Observer Progra

The long-term evolution of the spin, pulse shape, and orbit of the accretion-powered millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658

We present a 7 yr timing study of the 2.5 ms X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658, an X-ray transient with a recurrence time of ~2 yr, using data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer covering 4 transient outbursts (1998-2005). We verify that the 401 Hz pulsation traces the spin frequency fundamental and not a harmonic. Substantial pulse shape variability, both stochastic and systematic, was observed during each outburst. Analysis of the systematic pulse shape changes suggests that, as an outburst dims, the X-ray "hot spot" on the pulsar surface drifts longitudinally and a second hot spot may appear. The overall pulse shape variability limits the ability to measure spin frequency evolution within a given X-ray outburst (and calls previous nudot measurements of this source into question), with typical upper limits of |nudot| < 2.5x10^{-14} Hz/s (2 sigma). However, combining data from all the outbursts shows with high (6 sigma) significance that the pulsar is undergoing long-term spin down at a rate nudot = (-5.6+/-2.0)x10^{-16} Hz/s, with most of the spin evolution occurring during X-ray quiescence. We discuss the possible contributions of magnetic propeller torques, magnetic dipole radiation, and gravitational radiation to the measured spin down, setting an upper limit of B < 1.5x10^8 G for the pulsar's surface dipole magnetic field and and Q/I < 5x10^{-9} for the fractional mass quadrupole moment. We also measured an orbital period derivative of Pdot = (3.5+/-0.2)x10^{-12} s/s. This surprising large Pdot is reminiscent of the large and quasi-cyclic orbital period variation observed in the so-called "black widow" millisecond radio pulsars, supporting speculation that SAX J1808.4-3658 may turn on as a radio pulsar during quiescence. In an appendix we derive an improved (0.15 arcsec) source position from optical data.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in Ap

A decade of timing an accretion-powered millisecond pulsar: The continuing spin down and orbital evolution of SAX J1808.4-3658

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer has observed five outbursts from the transient 2.5 ms accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 during 1998-2008. We present a pulse timing study of the most recent outburst and compare it with the previous timing solutions. The spin frequency of the source continues to decrease at a rate of (-5.5+/-1.2)x10^-18 Hz/s, which is consistent with the previously determined spin derivative. The spin-down occurs mostly during quiescence, and it is most likely due to the magnetic dipole torque from a B = 1.5x10^8 G dipolar field at the neutron star surface. We also find that the 2 hr binary orbital period is increasing at a rate of (3.80+/-0.06)x10^-12 s/s, also consistent with previous measurements. It remains uncertain whether this orbital change reflects secular evolution or short-term variability.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted by Ap

The Radio Sky at Meter Wavelengths: m-Mode Analysis Imaging with the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array

A host of new low-frequency radio telescopes seek to measure the 21-cm transition of neutral hydrogen from the early universe. These telescopes have the potential to directly probe star and galaxy formation at redshifts $20 \gtrsim z \gtrsim 7$, but are limited by the dynamic range they can achieve against foreground sources of low-frequency radio emission. Consequently, there is a growing demand for modern, high-fidelity maps of the sky at frequencies below 200 MHz for use in foreground modeling and removal. We describe a new widefield imaging technique for drift-scanning interferometers, Tikhonov-regularized $m$-mode analysis imaging. This technique constructs images of the entire sky in a single synthesis imaging step with exact treatment of widefield effects. We describe how the CLEAN algorithm can be adapted to deconvolve maps generated by $m$-mode analysis imaging. We demonstrate Tikhonov-regularized $m$-mode analysis imaging using the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) by generating 8 new maps of the sky north of $\delta=-30^\circ$ with 15 arcmin angular resolution, at frequencies evenly spaced between 36.528 MHz and 73.152 MHz, and $\sim$800 mJy/beam thermal noise. These maps are a 10-fold improvement in angular resolution over existing full-sky maps at comparable frequencies, which have angular resolutions $\ge 2^\circ$. Each map is constructed exclusively from interferometric observations and does not represent the globally averaged sky brightness. Future improvements will incorporate total power radiometry, improved thermal noise, and improved angular resolution -- due to the planned expansion of the OVRO-LWA to 2.6 km baselines. These maps serve as a first step on the path to the use of more sophisticated foreground filters in 21-cm cosmology incorporating the measured angular and frequency structure of all foreground contaminants.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figure

Anisotropic Condensation of Helium in Nanotube Bundles

Helium atoms are strongly attracted to the interstitial channels within a bundle of carbon nanotubes. The strong corrugation of the axial potential within a channel can produce a lattice gas system where the weak mutual attraction between atoms in neighboring channels of a bundle induces condensation into a remarkably anisotropic phase with very low binding energy. We estimate the binding energy and critical temperature for 4He in this novel quasi-one-dimensional condensed state. At low temperatures, the specific heat of the adsorbate phase (fewer than 2% of the total number of atoms) greatly exceeds that of the host material.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PRL (corrected typo in abstract