The kHz QPOs as a probe of the X-ray color-color diagram and accretion-disk structure for the atoll source 4U 1728-34

We have taken the kHz QPOs as a tool to probe the correlation between the tracks of X-ray color-color diagram (CCD) and magnetosphere-disk positions for the atoll source 4U 1728-34, based on the assumptions that the upper kHz QPO is ascribed to the Keplerian orbital motion and the neutron star (NS) magnetosphere is defined by the dipole magnetic field. We find that from the island to the banana state, the inner accretion disk gradually approaches the NS surface with the radius decreasing from r ~33.0km to ~15.9 km, corresponding to the magnetic field from B(r) ~4.8*10^6 G to ~4.3*10^7 G. In addition, we note the characteristics of some particular radii of magnetosphere-disk -r are: firstly, the whole atoll shape of the CCD links the disk radius range of ~15.9 - 33.0 km, which is just located inside the corotation radius of 4U 1728-34 -r_co ( ~34.4 km), implying that the CCD shape is involved in the NS spin-up state. Secondly, the island and banana states of CCD correspond to the two particular boundaries: (I)-near the corotation radius at r ~27.2 - 33.0 km, where the source lies in the island state; (II)-near the NS surface at r ~15.9 - 22.3 km, where the source lies in both the island and banana states. Thirdly, the vertex of the atoll shape in CCD, where the radiation transition from the hard to soft photons occurs, is found to be near the NS surface at r ~16.4 km. The above results suggest that both the magnetic field and accretion environment are related to the CCD structure of atoll track, where the corotation radius and NS hard surface play the significant roles in the radiation distribution of atoll source.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Integral and Rxte/Asm Observations on Igr J17098-3628

To probe further the possible nature of the unidentified source IGR J17098-3628, we have carried out a detailed analysis of its long-term time variability as monitored by RXTE/ASM, and of its hard X-ray properties as observed by INTEGRAL. INTEGRAL has monitored this sky region over years and significantly detected IGR J17098-3628 only when the source was in this dubbed active state. In particular, at $\ge$ 20 keV, IBIS/ISGRI caught an outburst in March 2005, lasting for $\sim$5 days with detection significance of 73$\sigma$ (20-40 keV) and with the emission at $<$200 keV. The ASM observations reveal that the soft X-ray lightcurve shows a similar outburst to that detected by INTEGRAL, however the peak of the soft X-ray lightcurve either lags, or is preceded by, the hard X-ray ($>$20 keV) outburst by $\sim$2 days. This resembles the behavior of X-ray novae like XN 1124-683, hence it further suggests a LMXB nature for IGR J17098-3628. While the quality of the ASM data prevents us from drawing any definite conclusions, these discoveries are important clues that, coupled with future observations, will help to resolve the as yet unknown nature of IGR J17098-3628.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure, accepted in PAS