39 research outputs found
Unique White Dwarfs Accompanying Recycled Pulsars
I introduce the two classes of pulsar, white-dwarf binaries, and describe for
each what we have learned from a specific system, PSR J1012+5307 and PSR
B0655+64, respectively, summarising what has been done, presenting new results,
and discussing what the future may hold. Briefly, for the companion of PSR
J1012+5307 we find a DA spectrum, and infer a mass of about 0.16Msun, the
lowest among all spectroscopically identified white dwarfs. Combined with a
radial-velocity orbit, a neutron-star mass between 1.5 and 3.2Msun (95% conf.)
is derived. The companion of PSR B0655+64 shows strong Swan C2 bands, i.e., it
is a DQ star. Unlike anything reported for other DQs, however, it shows
variations in strength of the bands by a factor two. Most likely, the
variations are periodic, with a period of about 9.7h. This is substantially
shorter than the 1-day orbital period, which can likely be understood in terms
of its past evolution.Comment: 6 pages of text and 2 figures, LaTeX using crckapb.sty (included) and
psfig.sty. To appear in Proc. 10th European Workshop on white dwarfs (Eds.
Isern, Hernanz, & Garcia-Berro
High-mass X-ray binaries and OB-runaway stars
High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) represent an important phase in the
evolution of massive binary systems. HMXBs provide unique diagnostics to test
massive-star evolution, to probe the physics of radiation-driven winds, to
study the process of mass accretion, and to measure fundamental parameters of
compact objects. As a consequence of the supernova explosion that produced the
neutron star (or black hole) in these systems, HMXBs have high space velocities
and thus are runaways. Alternatively, OB-runaway stars can be ejected from a
cluster through dynamical interactions. Observations obtained with the
Hipparcos satellite indicate that both scenarios are at work. Only for a
minority of the OB runaways (and HMXBs) a wind bow shock has been detected.
This might be explained by the varying local conditions of the interstellar
medium.Comment: 15 pages, latex (sty file included) with 5 embedded figures (one in
jpg format), to appear in Proc. "Influence of binaries on stellar population
studies", Eds. Vanbeveren, Van Rensberge
The two-hour orbit of a binary millisecond X-ray pulsar
Typical radio pulsars are magnetized neutron stars that are born rapidly
rotating and slow down as they age on time scales of 10 to 100 million years.
However, millisecond radio pulsars spin very rapidly even though many are
billions of years old. The most compelling explanation is that they have been
"spun up" by the transfer of angular momentum during accretion of material from
a companion star in so-called low-mass X-ray binary systems, LMXBs. (LMXBs
consist of a neutron star or black hole accreting from a companion less than
one solar mass.) The recent detection of coherent X-ray pulsations with a
millisecond period from a suspected LMXB system appears to confirm this link.
Here we report observations showing that the orbital period of this binary
system is two hours, which establishes it as an LMXB. We also find an apparent
modulation of the X-ray flux at the orbital period (at the two per cent level),
with a broad minimum when the pulsar is behind this low-mass companion star.
This system seems closely related to the "black widow" millisecond radio
pulsars, which are evaporating their companions through irradiation. It may
appear as an eclipsing radio pulsar during periods of X-ray quiescence.Comment: 4 pages with 1 figure. Style files included. Fig. 2 deleted and text
revised. To appear in Nature. Press embargo until 18:00 GMT on 1998 July 2
Dense Matter in Compact Stars: Theoretical Developments and Observational Constraints
We review theoretical developments in studies of dense matter and its phase
structure of relevance to compact stars. Observational data on compact stars,
which can constrain the properties of dense matter, are presented critically
and interpreted.Comment: Annu. Rev. Nucl. & Part. Sci. in press. 51 pages, 17 figure
A variable absorption feature in the X-ray spectrum of a magnetar
Soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are slowly
rotating, isolated neutron stars that sporadically undergo episodes of
long-term flux enhancement (outbursts) generally accompanied by the emission of
short bursts of hard X-rays. This behaviour can be understood in the magnetar
model, according to which these sources are mainly powered by their own
magnetic energy. This is supported by the fact that the magnetic fields
inferred from several observed properties of AXPs and SGRs are greater than -
or at the high end of the range of - those of radio pulsars. In the peculiar
case of SGR 0418+5729, a weak dipole magnetic moment is derived from its timing
parameters, whereas a strong field has been proposed to reside in the stellar
interior and in multipole components on the surface. Here we show that the
X-ray spectrum of SGR 0418+5729 has an absorption line, the properties of which
depend strongly on the star's rotational phase. This line is interpreted as a
proton cyclotron feature and its energy implies a magnetic field ranging from
2E14 gauss to more than 1E15 gauss.Comment: Nature, 500, 312 (including Supplementary Information
X-ray emission from isolated neutron stars
X-ray emission is a common feature of all varieties of isolated neutron stars
(INS) and, thanks to the advent of sensitive instruments with good
spectroscopic, timing, and imaging capabilities, X-ray observations have become
an essential tool in the study of these objects. Non-thermal X-rays from young,
energetic radio pulsars have been detected since the beginning of X-ray
astronomy, and the long-sought thermal emission from cooling neutron star's
surfaces can now be studied in detail in many pulsars spanning different ages,
magnetic fields, and, possibly, surface compositions. In addition, other
different manifestations of INS have been discovered with X-ray observations.
These new classes of high-energy sources, comprising the nearby X-ray Dim
Isolated Neutron Stars, the Central Compact Objects in supernova remnants, the
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars, and the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters, now add up to
several tens of confirmed members, plus many candidates, and allow us to study
a variety of phenomena unobservable in "standard'' radio pulsars.Comment: Chapter to be published in the book of proceedings of the 1st Sant
Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, "ICREA Workshop on the high-energy emission from
pulsars and their systems", held in April, 201
Supernova Remnants as Clues to Their Progenitors
Supernovae shape the interstellar medium, chemically enrich their host
galaxies, and generate powerful interstellar shocks that drive future
generations of star formation. The shock produced by a supernova event acts as
a type of time machine, probing the mass loss history of the progenitor system
back to ages of 10 000 years before the explosion, whereas supernova
remnants probe a much earlier stage of stellar evolution, interacting with
material expelled during the progenitor's much earlier evolution. In this
chapter we will review how observations of supernova remnants allow us to infer
fundamental properties of the progenitor system. We will provide detailed
examples of how bulk characteristics of a remnant, such as its chemical
composition and dynamics, allow us to infer properties of the progenitor
evolution. In the latter half of this chapter, we will show how this exercise
may be extended from individual objects to SNR as classes of objects, and how
there are clear bifurcations in the dynamics and spectral characteristics of
core collapse and thermonuclear supernova remnants. We will finish the chapter
by touching on recent advances in the modeling of massive stars, and the
implications for observable properties of supernovae and their remnants.Comment: A chapter in "Handbook of Supernovae" edited by Athem W. Alsabti and
Paul Murdin (18 pages, 6 figures
Discovery of extreme particle acceleration in the microquasar Cygnus X-3
The study of relativistic particle acceleration is a major topic of
high-energy astrophysics. It is well known that massive black holes in active
galaxies can release a substantial fraction of their accretion power into
energetic particles, producing gamma-rays and relativistic jets. Galactic
microquasars (hosting a compact star of 1-10 solar masses which accretes matter
from a binary companion) also produce relativistic jets. However, no direct
evidence of particle acceleration above GeV energies has ever been obtained in
microquasar ejections, leaving open the issue of the occurrence and timing of
extreme matter energization during jet formation. Here we report the detection
of transient gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from the microquasar Cygnus X-3,
an exceptional X-ray binary which sporadically produces powerful radio jets.
Four gamma-ray flares (each lasting 1-2 days) were detected by the AGILE
satellite simultaneously with special spectral states of Cygnus X-3 during the
period mid-2007/mid-2009. Our observations show that very efficient particle
acceleration and gamma-ray propagation out of the inner disk of a microquasar
usually occur a few days before major relativistic jet ejections. Flaring
particle energies can be thousands of times larger than previously detected
maximum values (with Lorentz factors of 105 and 102 for electrons and protons,
respectively). We show that the transitional nature of gamma-ray flares and
particle acceleration above GeV energies in Cygnus X-3 is clearly linked to
special radio/X-ray states preceding strong radio flares. Thus gamma-rays
provide unique insight into the nature of physical processes in microquasars.Comment: 29 pages (including Supplementary Information), 8 figures, 2 tables
version submitted to Nature on August 7, 2009 (accepted version available at
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nature08578.pdf
Evolutionary and pulsational properties of white dwarf stars
Abridged. White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of the vast
majority of stars, including our Sun. The study of white dwarfs has potential
applications to different fields of astrophysics. In particular, they can be
used as independent reliable cosmic clocks, and can also provide valuable
information about the fundamental parameters of a wide variety of stellar
populations, like our Galaxy and open and globular clusters. In addition, the
high densities and temperatures characterizing white dwarfs allow to use these
stars as cosmic laboratories for studying physical processes under extreme
conditions that cannot be achieved in terrestrial laboratories. They can be
used to constrain fundamental properties of elementary particles such as axions
and neutrinos, and to study problems related to the variation of fundamental
constants.
In this work, we review the essentials of the physics of white dwarf stars.
Special emphasis is placed on the physical processes that lead to the formation
of white dwarfs as well as on the different energy sources and processes
responsible for chemical abundance changes that occur along their evolution.
Moreover, in the course of their lives, white dwarfs cross different
pulsational instability strips. The existence of these instability strips
provides astronomers with an unique opportunity to peer into their internal
structure that would otherwise remain hidden from observers. We will show that
this allows to measure with unprecedented precision the stellar masses and to
infer their envelope thicknesses, to probe the core chemical stratification,
and to detect rotation rates and magnetic fields. Consequently, in this work,
we also review the pulsational properties of white dwarfs and the most recent
applications of white dwarf asteroseismology.Comment: 85 pages, 28 figures. To be published in The Astronomy and
Astrophysics Revie