The 2009 outburst of accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057 as observed by SWIFT and RXTE

The twelfth accretion-powered millisecond pulsar, IGR J17511-3057, was discovered in September 2009. In this work we study its spectral and timing properties during the 2009 outburst based on Swift and RXTE data. Our spectral analysis of the source indicates only slight spectral shape evolution during the entire outburst. The equivalent width of the iron line and the apparent area of the blackbody emission associated with the hotspot at the stellar surface both decrease significantly during the outburst. This is consistent with a gradual receding of the accretion disc as the accretion rate drops. The pulse profile analysis shows absence of dramatic shape evolution with a moderate decrease in pulse amplitude. This behaviour might result from a movement of the accretion column footprint towards the magnetic pole as the disc retreats. The time lag between the soft and the hard energy pulses increase by a factor of two during the outburst. A physical displacement of the centroid of the accretion shock relative to the blackbody spot or changes in the emissivity pattern of the Comptonization component related to the variations of the accretion column structure could cause this evolution. We have found that IGR J17511-3057 demonstrates outburst stages similar to those seen in SAX J1808.4-3658. A transition from the "slow decay" into the "rapid drop" stage, associated with the dramatic flux decrease, is also accompanied by a pulse phase shift which could result from an appearance of the secondary spot due to the increasing inner disc radius.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS, in press. Title correcte

Linear Pursuit Differential Game under Phase Constraint on the State of Evader

We consider a linear pursuit differential game of one pursuer and one evader. Controls of the pursuer and evader are subjected to integral and geometric constraints, respectively. In addition, phase constraint is imposed on the state of evader, whereas pursuer moves throughout the space. We say that pursuit is completed, if inclusiony(t1)-x(t1)∈Mis satisfied at somet1>0, wherex(t)andy(t)are states of pursuer and evader, respectively, andMis terminal set. Conditions of completion of pursuit in the game from all initial points of players are obtained. Strategy of the pursuer is constructed so that the phase vector of the pursuer first is brought to a given set, and then pursuit is completed

On the nature of pulse profile variations and timing noise in accreting millisecond pulsars

Timing noise in the data on accretion-powered millisecond pulsars (AMP) appears as irregular pulse phase jumps on timescales from hours to weeks. A large systematic phase drift is also observed in the first discovered AMP SAX J1808.4-3658. To study the origin of these timing features, we use here the data of the well studied 2002 outburst of SAX J1808.4-3658. We develop first a model for pulse profile formation accounting for the screening of the antipodal emitting spot by the accretion disk. We demonstrate that the variations of the visibility of the antipodal spot associated with the receding accretion disk cause a systematic shift in Fourier phases, observed together with the changes in the pulse form. We show that a strong secondary maximum can be observed only in a narrow intervals of inner disk radii, which explains the very short appearance of the double-peaked profiles in SAX J1808.4-3658. By directly fitting the pulse profile shapes with our model, we find that the main parameters of the emitting spot such as its mean latitude and longitude as well as the emissivity pattern change irregularly causing small shifts in pulse phase, and the strong profile variations are caused by the increasing inner disk radius. We finally notice that significant variations in the pulse profiles in the 2002 and 2008 outbursts of SAX J1808.4-3658 happen at fluxes differing by a factor of 2, which can be explained if the inner disk radius is not a simple function of the accretion rate, but depends on the previous history.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; ApJ Letters, in pres

A simple motion differential game with different constraints on controls and under phase constraint on the state of the evader

We consider a simple motion pursuit differential game of one pursuer and one evader. Control of the pursuer is subjected to integral constraint, and that of the evader is subjected to geometric constraint. More precisely, value of control parameter of the evader belongs to a given convex subset of ℝn. Pursuit is completed if the evader becomes in l vicinity of the pursuer. Sufficient conditions of completion of pursuit are obtained

Optimal pursuit time in differential game for an infinite system of differential equations

We consider a differential game of one pursuer and one evader. The game is described by an infinite system of first order differential equations. Control functions of the players are subject to coordinate-wise integral constraints. Game is said to be completed if each component of state vector equal to zero at some unspecified time. The pursuer tries to complete the game and the evader pursues the opposite goal. A formula for optimal pursuit time is found and optimal strategies of players are constructed

Evasion differential game of infinitely many evaders from infinitely many pursuers in Hilbert space

We consider a simple motion evasion differential game of infinitely many evaders and infinitely many pursuers in Hilbert space ℓ2. Control functions of the players are subjected to integral constraints. If the position of an evader never coincides with the position of any pursuer, then evasion is said to be possible. Problem is to find conditions of evasion. The main result of the paper is that if either (i) the total resource of evaders is greater than that of pursuers or (ii) the total resource of evaders is equal to that of pursuers and initial positions of all the evaders are not limit points for initial positions of the pursuers, then evasion is possible. Strategies for the evaders are constructed

A major update of the International GLE Database : Correction for the variable GCR background

Funding Information: This work was partly supported by the Academy of Finland (project 321882 ESPERA). Publisher Copyright: © Copyright owned by the author(s).The main detector to provide data to study highly energetic (above ≈400 MeV) solar particles is the network of ground-based neutron monitors (NMs). Solar events recorded on the ground are called ground-level enhancements (GLEs). All GLE-related data from the NM network are collected in the International GLE Database (IGLED, https://gle.oulu.fi), which provides formal NM count-rate increases above the constant pre-increase level which is due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR). However, the basic formal assumption that the GCR background level remains constant throughout a GLE event is often violated. We have carefully revised the IGLED and provided a new data set of de-trended NM count-rate increases that accounts for the variable GCR background. This had led to a significant revision of the corresponding integral omnidirectional fluences of solar particles reconstructed from the GLE data. The database of the de-trended NM count rate is revised for most GLE events since 1956. Integral omnidirectional fluences were re-assessed for 58 GLE events and parameterized for 52 reasonably strong events by applying the modified Ellison-Ramaty spectral shape. This forms a basis for more precise studies of parameters of solar energetic particle events and thus for solar and space physics.Peer reviewe

The soft landing problem for an infinite system of second order differential equations

We study a soft landing differential game problem for an infinite system of second order differential equations. Control functions of pursuer and evader are subject to integral constraints. The pursuer tries to obtain equations and at some time and the purpose of the evader is opposite. We obtain a condition under which soft landing problem is not solvable

Varying disc-magnetosphere coupling as the origin of pulse profile variability in SAX J1808.4-3658

Accreting millisecond pulsars show significant variability of their pulse profiles, especially at low accretion rates. On the other hand, their X-ray spectra are remarkably similar with not much variability over the course of the outbursts. For the first time, we have discovered that during the 2008 outburst of SAX J1808.4-3658 a major pulse profile change was accompanied by a dramatic variation of the disc luminosity at almost constant total luminosity. We argue that this phenomenon is related to a change in the coupling between the neutron star magnetic field and the accretion disc. The varying size of the pulsar magnetosphere can influence the accretion curtain geometry and affect the shape and the size of the hotspots. Using this physical picture, we develop a self-consistent model that successfully describes simultaneously the pulse profile variation as well as the spectral transition. Our findings are particularly important for testing the theories of accretion onto magnetized neutron stars, better understanding of the accretion geometry as well as the physics of disc-magnetosphere coupling. The identification that varying hotspot size can lead to pulse profile changes has profound implications for determination of the neutron star masses and radii.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures and 3 tables; accepted to MNRA