BeppoSAX observations of XTE J1946+274

We report on the BeppoSAX monitoring of a giant outburst of the transient X-ray pulsar XTE J1946+274 in 1998. The source was detected with a flux of ~ 4 x 10^(-9) erg cm^(-2) s^(-1) (in 0.1 - 120 keV range). The broadband spectrum, typical for accreting pulsars, is well described by a cutoff power law with a cyclotron resonance scattering feature (CRSF) at ~ 38 keV. This value is consistent with earlier reports based on the observations with Suzaku at factor of ten lower luminosity, which implies that the feature is formed close to the neutron star surface rather than in the accretion column. Pulsations with P ~ 15.82 s were observed up to ~ 70 keV. The pulse profile strongly depends on energy and is characterised by a "soft" and a "hard" peaks shifted by half period, which suggests a strong phase dependence of the spectrum, and that two components with roughly orthogonal beam patterns are responsible for the observed pulse shape. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the CRSF, despite its relatively high energy, is only detected in the spectrum of the soft peak of the pulse profile. Along with the absence of correlation of the line energy with luminosity, this could be explained in the framework of the recently proposed "reflection" model for CRSF formation. However more detailed modelling of both line and continuum formation are required to confirm this interpretation

CXOU J160103.1-513353: another CCO with a carbon atmosphere?

We report on the analysis of XMM-Newton observations of the central compact object CXOU J160103.1-513353 located in the center of the non-thermally emitting supernova remnant (SNR) G330.2+1.0. The X-ray spectrum of the source is well described with either single-component carbon or two-component hydrogen atmosphere models. In the latter case, the observed spectrum is dominated by the emission from a hot component with a temperature ~3.9MK, corresponding to the emission from a hotspot occupying ~1% of the stellar surface (assuming a neutron star with mass M = 1.5M$_\odot$, radius of 12 km, and distance of ~5 kpc as determined for the SNR). The statistics of the spectra and obtained upper limits on the pulsation amplitude expected for a rotating neutron star with hot spots do not allow us to unambiguously distinguish between these two scenarios. We discuss, however, that while the non-detection of the pulsations can be explained by the unfortunate orientation in CXOU J160103.1-513353, this is not the case when the entire sample of similar objects is considered. We therefore conclude that the carbon atmosphere scenario is more plausible.Comment: accepted in A&

Searching for coherent pulsations in ultraluminous X-ray sources

Luminosities of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are uncomfortably large if compared to the Eddington limit for isotropic accretion onto stellar-mass object. Most often either supercritical accretion onto stellar mass black hole or accretion onto intermediate mass black holes is invoked the high luminosities of ULXs. However, the recent discovery of coherent pulsations from M82 ULX with NuSTAR showed that another scenario implying accretion onto a magnetized neutron star is possible for ULXs. Motivated by this discovery, we re-visited the available XMM-Newton archival observations of several bright ULXs with a targeted search for pulsations to check whether accreting neutron stars might power other ULXs as well. We have found no evidence for significant coherent pulsations in any of the sources including the M82 ULX. We provide upper limits for the amplitude of possibly undetected pulsed signal for the sources in the sample.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, submitted to A&

Orbital parameters of V 0332+53 from 2015 giant outburst data

We present the updated orbital solution for the transient Be X-ray binary V 0332+53 comple- menting historical measurements with the data from the gamma-ray burst monitor onboard Fermi obtained during the outburst in June-October 2015. We model the observed changes in the spin- frequency of the pulsar and deduce the orbital parameters of the system. We significantly improve existing constrains and show that contrary to the previous findings no change in orbital parameters is required to explain the spin evolution of the source during the outbursts in 1983, 2005 and 2015. The reconstructed intrinsic spin-up of the neutron star during the latest outburst is found to be comparable with previosly observed values and predictions of the accretion torque theory.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, submitted to A&

Supergiant, fast, but not so transient 4U 1907+09

We have investigated the dipping activity observed in the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 1907+09 and shown that the source continues to pulsate in the "off" state, noting that the transition between the "on" and "off" states may be either dip-like or flare-like. This behavior may be explained in the framework of the "gated accretion" scenario proposed to explain the flares in supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs). We conclude that 4U 1907+09 might prove to be a missing link between the SFXTs and ordinary accreting pulsars.Comment: 4 pages 5 figures, accepted in A&

Population of the Galactic X-ray binaries and eRosita

The population of the Galactic X-ray binaries has been mostly probed with moderately sensitive hard X-ray surveys so far. The eRosita mission will provide, for the first time a sensitive all-sky X-ray survey in the 2-10 keV energy range, where the X-ray binaries emit most of the flux and discover the still unobserved low-luminosity population of these objects. In this paper, we briefly review the current constraints for the X-ray luminosity functions of high- and low-mass X-ray binaries and present our own analysis based the INTEGRAL 9-year Galactic survey, which yields improved constraints. Based on these results, we estimate the number of new XRBs to be detected in the eRosita all-sky surveyComment: accepted for publication in A&

Modern Integrated Associations: Comparative Analysis of Economic Growth Factors

In the article, the results of the research, which purpose is to ground and assess the factors of economic growth of regional integration communities and national economies of member countries that develop them, are presented. The foreign trade, mutual trade turnover, and domestic demand are allocated as such factors. The authors has applied the novelty in their methodology which in contrast to the traditional assessment method of growth factors of integration communities and their participants, is based on comparison of two components — external and domestic demand, based on dividing the external demand on two components: the first one is pure export (the difference between export and import is a component of cumulative demand) of goods in integration community, i.e. the pure export of mutual trade; the second one is a pure export of foreign trade of goods outside of the integration association. Scope of the research is seven most known regional integrated units arose at different times and being at different stages of development — the European Union, North American Free Trade Area, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Southern American Common Market, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and also member countries of the Eurasian integration — the Customs Union and Common Free Market Zone developed into the Eurasian Economic Union in January 1, 2015. In conclusion, it is noted that the integration develops successfully only in the conditions of the rise in national economies of the participating countries. Crisis economies have to deal more with internal problems than to resolve integration issues.The article has been prepared within the project «Eurasian integration: asymmetries and efficiency» with financial support of the grant № 1275/GF4 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan»

Optical and near-infrared photometric monitoring of the transient X-ray binary A0538-66 with REM

The transient Be/X-ray binary A0538-66 shows peculiar X-ray and optical variability. Despite numerous studies, the intrinsic properties underlying its anomalous behaviour remain poorly understood. Since 2014 September we are conducting the first quasi-simultaneous optical and near-infrared photometric monitoring of A0538-66 in seven filters with the Rapid Eye Mount (REM) telescope, aiming to understand the properties of this binary system. We found that the REM lightcurves show fast flares lasting one or two days that repeat almost regularly every ~16.6 days, the orbital period of the neutron star. If the optical flares are powered by X-ray outbursts through photon reprocessing, the REM lightcurves indicate that A0538-66 is still active in X-rays: bright X-ray flares (L_x > 1E37 erg/s) could be observable during the periastron passages. The REM lightcurves show a long-term variability that is especially pronounced in the g band and decreases with increasing wavelength, until it no longer appears in the near-infrared lightcurves. In addition, A0538-66 is fainter with respect to previous optical observations most likely due to the higher absorption of the stellar radiation of a denser circumstellar disc. On the basis of the current models, we interpret these observational results with a circumstellar disc around the Be star observed nearly edge-on during a partial depletion phase. The REM lightcurves also show short-term variability on timescales of ~1 day possibly indicative of perturbations in the density distribution of the circumstellar disc caused by the tidal interaction with the neutron star.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Stable accretion from a cold disc in highly magnetized neutron stars

The aim of this paper is to investigate the transition of a strongly magnetized neutron star into the accretion regime with very low accretion rate. For this purpose we monitored the Be-transient X-ray pulsar GRO J1008-57 throughout a full orbital cycle. The current observational campaign was performed with the Swift/XRT telescope in the soft X-ray band (0.5-10 keV) between two subsequent Type I outbursts in January and September 2016. The expected transition to the propeller regime was not observed. However, the transitions between different regimes of accretion were detected. In particular, after an outburst the source entered a stable accretion state characterised by the accretion rate of ~10^14-10^15 g/s. We associate this state with accretion from a cold (low-ionised) disc of temperature below ~6500 K. We argue that a transition to such accretion regime should be observed in all X-ray pulsars with certain combination of the rotation frequency and magnetic field strength. The proposed model of accretion from a cold disc is able to explain several puzzling observational properties of X-ray pulsars.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted by A&