170 research outputs found
The Spin Distribution of Millisecond X-ray Pulsars
The spin frequency distribution of accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars cuts
off sharply above 730 Hz, well below the breakup spin rate for most neutron
star equations of state. I review several different ideas for explaining this
cutoff. There is currently considerable interest in the idea that gravitational
radiation from rapidly rotating pulsars might act to limit spin up by
accretion, possibly allowing eventual direct detection with gravitational wave
interferometers. I describe how long-term X-ray timing of fast accreting
millisecond pulsars like the 599 Hz source IGR J00291+5934 can test the
gravitational wave model for the spin frequency limit.Comment: 8 pages with 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "A Decade of
Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars", Amsterdam, April 2008, eds. R. Wijnands
et al. (AIP Conf. Proc.
Breaking the AMSP mould: the increasingly strange case of HETE J1900.1-2455
We present ongoing Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) monitoring observations
of the 377.3 Hz accretion-powered pulsar, HETE J1900.1-2455 Activity continues
in this system more than 3 years after discovery, at a mean luminosity of
4.4e36 erg/s (for d=5 kpc), although pulsations were present only within the
first 70 days. X-ray variability has increased each year, notably with a brief
interval of nondetection in 2007, during which the luminosity dropped to below
1e-3 of the mean level. A deep search of data from the intervals of
nondetection in 2005 revealed evidence for extremely weak pulsations at an
amplitude of 0.29% rms, a factor of ten less than the largest amplitude seen
early in the outburst.
X-ray burst activity continued through 2008, with bursts typically featuring
strong radius expansion. Spectral analysis of the most intense burst detected
by RXTE early in the outburst revealed unusual variations in the inferred
photospheric radius, as well as significant deviations from a blackbody. We
obtained much better fits instead with a comptonisation model.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, one table; to appear in the proceedings of the
workshop "A Decade of Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars", Amsterdam, April
2008, eds. R. Wijnands et al. (AIP Conf. Proc.
Intermittent accreting millisecond pulsars: light houses with broken lamps?
Intermittent accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars are an exciting new type of
sources. Their pulsations appear and disappear either on timescales of hundreds
of seconds or on timescales of days. The study of these sources add new
observational constraints to present models that explain the presence or not of
pulsations in neutron star LMXBs. In this paper we present preliminary results
on spectral and aperiodic variability studies of all intermittent AMSPs, with a
particular focus on the comparison between pulsating and non pulsating periods.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the proceedings of the workshop "A
Decade of Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars", Amsterdam, April 2008, eds.
R. Wijnands et al. (AIP Conf. Proc.
Spectral evidence for jets from Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars
Transient radio emission from X-ray binaries is associated with synchrotron
emission from collimated jets that escape the system, and accreting millisecond
X-ray pulsars (AMXPs) are no exception. Although jets from black hole X-ray
binaries are well-studied, those from neutron star systems appear much fainter,
for reasons yet uncertain. Jets are usually undetectable at higher frequencies
because of the relative brightness of other components such as the accretion
disc. AMXPs generally have small orbital separations compared with other X-ray
binaries and as such their discs are relatively faint. Here, I present data
that imply jets in fact dominate the radio-to-optical spectrum of outbursting
AMXPs. They therefore may provide the best opportunity to study the behaviour
of jets produced by accreting neutron stars, and compare them to those produced
by black hole systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "A Decade of
Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars", Amsterdam, April 2008, eds. R. Wijnands
et al. (AIP Conf. Proc.
Mapping the QCD Phase Transition with Accreting Compact Stars
We discuss an idea for how accreting millisecond pulsars could contribute to
the understanding of the QCD phase transition in the high-density nuclear
matter equation of state (EoS). It is based on two ingredients, the first one
being a ``phase diagram'' of rapidly rotating compact star configurations in
the plane of spin frequency and mass, determined with state-of-the-art hybrid
equations of state, allowing for a transition to color superconducting quark
matter. The second is the study of spin-up and accretion evolution in this
phase diagram. We show that the quark matter phase transition leads to a
characteristic line in the Omega-M plane, the phase border between neutron
stars and hybrid stars with a quark matter core. Along this line a change in
the pulsar's moment of inertia entails a waiting point phenomenon in the
accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP) evolution: most of these objects
should therefore be found along the phase border in the Omega-M plane, which
may be viewed as the AMXP analog of the main sequence in the
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for normal stars. In order to prove the existence
of a high-density phase transition in the cores of compact stars we need
population statistics for AMXP's with sufficiently accurate determination of
their masses and spin frequencies.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Conference on "A
Decade of Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars, Amsterdam, April 14-18, 200
The Advanced X-ray Timing Array (AXTAR)
AXTAR is an X-ray observatory mission concept, currently under study in the
U.S., that combines very large collecting area, broadband spectral coverage,
high time resolution, highly flexible scheduling, and an ability to respond
promptly to time-critical targets of opportunity. It is optimized for
submillisecond timing of bright Galactic X-ray sources in order to study
phenomena at the natural time scales of neutron star surfaces and black hole
event horizons, thus probing the physics of ultradense matter, strongly curved
spacetimes, and intense magnetic fields. AXTAR's main instrument is a
collimated, thick Si pixel detector with 2-50 keV coverage and 8 square meters
collecting area. For timing observations of accreting neutron stars and black
holes, AXTAR provides at least an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity
over both RXTE and Constellation-X. AXTAR also carries a sensitive sky monitor
that acts as a trigger for pointed observations of X-ray transients and also
provides continuous monitoring of the X-ray sky with 20 times the sensitivity
of the RXTE ASM. AXTAR builds on detector and electronics technology previously
developed for other applications and thus combines high technical readiness and
well understood cost.Comment: 4 pages with 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of "A Decade of
Accreting Millisecond X-ray Pulsars", Amsterdam, April 2008, eds. R. Wijnands
et al. (AIP Conf. Proc.). Footnote and references adde
A complex state transition from the black hole candidate Swift J1753.5-0127
We present our monitoring campaign of the outburst of the black-hole
candidate Swift J1753.5-0127, observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and
the Swift satellites. After ~4.5 years since its discovery, the source had a
transition to the hard intermediate state. We performed spectral and timing
studies of the transition showing that, unlike the majority of the transient
black holes, the system did not go to the soft states but it returned to the
hard state after a few months. During this transition Swift J1753.5-0127
features properties which are similar to those displayed by the black hole
Cygnus X-1. We compared Swift J1753.5-0127 to one dynamically confirmed black
hole and two neutron stars showing that its power spectra are in agreement with
the binary hosting a black hole. We also suggest that the prolonged period at
low flux that followed the initial flare is reminiscent of that observed in
other X-ray binaries, as well as in cataclysmic variables.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
e-VLBI observations of Circinus X-1: monitoring of the quiescent and flaring radio emission on AU scales
A recent detection of the peculiar neutron star X-ray binary Circinus X-1
with electronic very long baseline interferometry (e-VLBI) prompted the
suggestion that compact, non-variable radio emission persists through the
entire 16.6-day orbit of the binary system. We present the results of a high
angular resolution monitoring campaign conducted with the Australian Long
Baseline Array in real-time e-VLBI mode. e-VLBI observations of Circinus X-1
were made on alternate days over a period of 20 days covering the full binary
orbit. A compact radio source associated with Circinus X-1 was clearly detected
at orbital phases following periastron passage but no compact radio emission
was detected at any other orbital phase, ruling out the presence of a
persistent, compact emitting region at our sensitivity levels. The jet was not
resolved at any epoch of our 1.4-GHz monitoring campaign, suggesting that the
ultrarelativistic flow previously inferred to exist in this source is likely to
be dark. We discuss these findings within the context of previous radio
monitoring of Circinus X-1.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 7 pages, 5 figure
Parsec-Scale Bipolar X-ray Shocks Produced by Powerful Jets from the Neutron Star Circinus X-1
We report the discovery of multi-scale X-ray jets from the accreting neutron
star X-ray binary, Circinus X-1. The bipolar outflows show wide opening angles
and are spatially coincident with the radio jets seen in new high-resolution
radio images of the region. The morphology of the emission regions suggests
that the jets from Circinus X-1 are running into a terminal shock with the
interstellar medium, as is seen in powerful radio galaxies. This and other
observations indicate that the jets have a wide opening angle, suggesting that
the jets are either not very well collimated or precessing. We interpret the
spectra from the shocks as cooled synchrotron emission and derive a cooling age
of approximately 1600 yr. This allows us to constrain the jet power to be
between 3e35 erg/s and 2e37 erg/s, making this one of a few microquasars with a
direct measurement of its jet power and the only known microquasar that
exhibits stationary large-scale X-ray emission.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal
Letter
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