351 research outputs found
Radiative transitions of the helium atom in highly magnetized neutron star atmospheres
Recent observations of thermally emitting isolated neutron stars revealed
spectral features that could be interpreted as radiative transitions of He in a
magnetized neutron star atmosphere. We present Hartree-Fock calculations of the
polarization-dependent photoionization cross sections of the He atom in strong
magnetic fields ranging from 10^12 G to 10^14 G. Convenient fitting formulae
for the cross sections are given as well as related oscillator strengths for
various bound-bound transitions. The effects of finite nucleus mass on the
radiative absorption cross sections are examined using perturbation theory.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Minor changes. MNRAS in pres
Probing the Crust of the Neutron Star in EXO 0748-676
X-ray observations of quiescent X-ray binaries have the potential to provide
insight into the structure and the composition of neutron stars. EXO 0748-676
had been actively accreting for over 24 yr before its outburst ceased in late
2008. Subsequent X-ray monitoring revealed a gradual decay of the quiescent
thermal emission that can be attributed to cooling of the accretion-heated
neutron star crust. In this work, we report on new Chandra and Swift
observations that extend the quiescent monitoring to ~5 yr post-outburst. We
find that the neutron star temperature remained at ~117 eV between 2009 and
2011, but had decreased to ~110 eV in 2013. This suggests that the crust has
not fully cooled yet, which is supported by the lower temperature of ~95 eV
that was measured ~4 yr prior to the accretion phase in 1980. Comparing the
data to thermal evolution simulations reveals that the apparent lack of cooling
between 2009 and 2011 could possibly be a signature of convection driven by
phase separation of light and heavy nuclei in the outer layers of the neutron
star.Comment: 9 pages, 4 tables, 3 figures. Minor revisions according to referee
report. Accepted to Ap
XMM-Newton Observations of Radio Pulsars B0834+06 and B0826-34 and Implications for Pulsar Inner Accelerator
We report the X-ray observations of two radio pulsars with drifting
subpulses: B0834 + 06 and B0826 - 34 using \xmm\. PSR B0834 + 06 was detected
with a total of 70 counts from the three EPIC instruments over 50 ks exposure
time. Its spectrum was best described as that of a blackbody (BB) with
temperature K and bolometric luminosity
of erg s. As it is typical in
pulsars with BB thermal components in their X-ray spectra, the hot spot surface
area is much smaller than that of the canonical polar cap, implying a
non-dipolar surface magnetic field much stronger than the dipolar component
derived from the pulsar spin-down (in this case about 50 times smaller and
stronger, respectively). The second pulsar PSR B0826 - 34 was not detected over
50 ks exposure time, giving an upper limit for the bolometric luminosity erg s. We use these data as well as the radio
emission data concerned with drifting subpulses to test the Partially Screened
Gap (PSG) model of the inner accelerator in pulsars.Comment: Accepted for publication by The Astrophysical Journa
Electrodynamics of Magnetars IV: Self-Consistent Model of the Inner Accelerator, with Implications for Pulsed Radio Emission
We consider the voltage structure in the open-field circuit and outer
magnetosphere of a magnetar. The standard polar-cap model for radio pulsars is
modified significantly when the polar magnetic field exceeds 1.8x10^{14} G.
Pairs are created by accelerated particles via resonant scattering of thermal
X-rays, followed by the nearly instantaneous conversion of the scattered photon
to a pair. A surface gap is then efficiently screened by e+- creation, which
regulates the voltage in the inner part of the circuit to ~10^9 V. We also
examine the electrostatic gap structure that can form when the magnetic field
is somewhat weaker, and deduce a voltage 10-30 times larger over a range of
surface temperatures. We examine carefully how the flow of charge back to the
star above the gap depends on the magnitude of the current that is extracted
from the surface of the star, on the curvature of the magnetic field lines, and
on resonant drag. The rates of different channels of pair creation are
determined self-consistently, including the non-resonant scattering of X-rays,
and collisions between gamma rays and X-rays. We find that the electrostatic
gap solution has too small a voltage to sustain the observed pulsed radio
output of magnetars unless i) the magnetic axis is nearly aligned with the
rotation axis and the light of sight; or ii) the gap is present on the closed
as well as the open magnetic field lines. Several properties of the radio
magnetars -- their rapid variability, broad pulses, and unusually hard radio
spectra -- are consistent with a third possibility, that the current in the
outer magnetosphere is strongly variable, and a very high rate of pair creation
is sustained by a turbulent cascade.Comment: 32 pages, submitted to the Astrophysical Journa
Feature integration in natural language concepts
Two experiments measured the joint influence of three key sets of semantic features on the frequency with which artifacts (Experiment 1) or plants and creatures (Experiment 2) were categorized in familiar categories. For artifacts, current function outweighed both originally intended function and current appearance. For biological kinds, appearance and behavior, an inner biological function, and appearance and behavior of offspring all had similarly strong effects on categorization. The data were analyzed to determine whether an independent cue model or an interactive model best accounted for how the effects of the three feature sets combined. Feature integration was found to be additive for artifacts but interactive for biological kinds. In keeping with this, membership in contrasting artifact categories tended to be superadditive, indicating overlapping categories, whereas for biological kinds, it was subadditive, indicating conceptual gaps between categories. It is argued that the results underline a key domain difference between artifact and biological concepts
X-ray spectra from magnetar candidates. I. Monte Carlo simulations in the non-relativistic regime
The anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-repeaters are peculiar high-energy
sources believed to host a magnetar, i.e. an ultra-magnetized neutron star.
Their persistent, soft X-ray emission (~1-10 keV)is usually modeled by the
superposition of a blackbody and a power-law tail. It has been suggested that
this spectrum forms as the thermal photons emitted by the star surface traverse
the magnetosphere. Magnetar magnetospheres are likely different from those of
ordinary radio-pulsars, since the external magnetic field may acquire a
toroidal component as a consequence of the deformation of the star crust
induced by the super-strong interior field. In turn, the magnetosphere will be
permeated by currents that can boost primary photons through repeated
scatterings. Here we present 3D Monte Carlo simulations of photon propagation
in a twisted magnetosphere. Our model is based on a simplified treatment of the
charge carriers velocity distribution which, however, accounts for the particle
collective motion, in addition to the thermal one. Present treatment is
restricted to conservative (Thomson) scattering in the electron rest frame. The
code, nonetheless, is completely general and inclusion of the relativistic QED
resonant cross section, which is required in the modeling of the hard (~20-200
keV) spectral tails observed in the magnetar candidates, is under way. The
properties of emerging spectra have been assessed under different conditions,
by exploring the model parameter space, including effects arising from the
viewing geometry. Monte Carlo runs have been collected into a spectral archive.
Two tabulated XSPEC spectral models, with and without viewing angles, have been
produced and applied to the 0.1-10 keV XMM-Newton EPIC-pn spectrum of the AXP
CXOU J1647-4552.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures, 1 table; corrected typos; accepted for
publication in MNRA
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