Search results for "Stars"
showing 10 items of 798 documents
Long-term evolution of the force-free twisted magnetosphere of a magnetar
2017
We study the long-term quasi-steady evolution of the force-free magnetosphere of a magnetar coupled to its internal magnetic field. We find that magnetospheric currents can be maintained on long timescales of the order of thousands of years. Meanwhile, the energy, helicity and twist stored in the magnetosphere all gradually increase over the course of this evolution, until a critical point is reached, beyond which a force-free magnetosphere cannot be constructed. At this point, some large-scale magnetospheric rearrangement, possibly resulting in an outburst or a flare, must occur, releasing a large fraction of the stored energy, helicity and twist. After that, the quasi-steady evolution sho…
Implementation of a simplified approach to radiative transfer in general relativity
2013
We describe in detail the implementation of a simplified approach to radiative transfer in general relativity by means of the well-known neutrino leakage scheme (NLS). In particular, we carry out an extensive investigation of the properties and limitations of the NLS for isolated relativistic stars to a level of detail that has not been discussed before in a general-relativistic context. Although the numerous tests considered here are rather idealized, they provide a well-controlled environment in which to understand the relationship between the matter dynamics and the neutrino emission, which is important in order to model the neutrino signals from more complicated scenarios, such as binar…
On the observability of T Tauri accretion shocks in the X-ray band
2010
Context. High resolution X-ray observations of classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) show a soft X-ray excess due to high density plasma (n_e=10^11-10^13 cm^-3). This emission has been attributed to shock-heated accreting material impacting onto the stellar surface. Aims. We investigate the observability of the shock-heated accreting material in the X-ray band as a function of the accretion stream properties (velocity, density, and metal abundance) in the case of plasma-beta<<1 in the post-shock zone. Methods. We use a 1-D hydrodynamic model describing the impact of an accretion stream onto the chromosphere, including the effects of radiative cooling, gravity and thermal conduction. We expl…
Testing reflection features in 4U 1705-44 with XMM-Newton, BeppoSAX, and RXTE in the hard and soft states
2012
We use data of the bright atoll source 4U 1705-44 taken with XMM-Newton, BeppoSAX and RXTE both in the hard and in the soft state to perform a self-consistent study of the reflection component in this source. Although the data from these X-ray observatories are not simultaneous, the spectral decomposition is shown to be consistent among the different observations, when the source flux is similar. We therefore select observations performed at similar flux levels in the hard and soft state in order to study the spectral shape in these two states in a broad band (0.1-200 keV) energy range, with good energy resolution, and using self-consistent reflection models. These reflection models provide…
Gravitational Waves from the Papaloizou-Pringle Instability in Black-Hole-Torus Systems
2011
Black hole (BH)--torus systems are promising candidates for the central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and also possible outcomes of the collapse of supermassive stars to supermassive black holes (SMBHs). By three-dimensional general relativistic numerical simulations, we show that an $m=1$ nonaxisymmetric instability grows for a wide range of self-gravitating tori orbiting BHs. The resulting nonaxisymmetric structure persists for a timescale much longer than the dynamical one, becoming a strong emitter of large amplitude, quasiperiodic gravitational waves. Our results indicate that both, the central engine of GRBs and newly formed SMBHs, can be strong gravitational wave sources observa…
The force-free twisted magnetosphere of a neutron star – II. Degeneracies of the Grad–Shafranov equation
2017
We extend our previous study of equilibrium solutions of non-rotating force-free magnetospheres of neutron stars. We show that multiple solutions exist for the same sets of parameters, implying that the solutions are degenerate. We are able to obtain configurations with disconnected field lines, however, in nearly all cases these correspond to degenerate higher energy solutions. We carry out a wide parametric search in order to understand the properties of the solutions. We confirm our previous results that the lower energy solutions have up to $\sim 25\%$ more energy than the vacuum case, helicity of the order of $\sim 5$ (in some defined units), maximum twist of $\sim 1.5$ rad, and a dipo…
X-ray spectroscopy of MXB 1728-34 with XMM-Newton
2011
We have analysed an XMM-Newton observation of the low mass X-ray binary and atoll source MXB 1728-34. The source was in a low luminosity state during the XMM-Newton observation, corresponding to a bolometric X-ray luminosity of 5*10E36 d^2 erg/s, where d is the distance in units of 5.1 kpc. The 1-11 keV X-ray spectrum of the source, obtained combining data from all the five instruments on-board XMM-Newton, is well fitted by a Comptonized continuum. Evident residuals are present at 6-7 keV which are ascribed to the presence of a broad iron emission line. This feature can be equally well fitted by a relativistically smeared line or by a self-consistent, relativistically smeared, reflection mo…
Testing Rate Dependent corrections on timing mode EPIC-pn spectra of the accreting Neutron Star GX 13+1
2014
When the EPIC-pn instrument on board XMM-Newton is operated in Timing mode, high count rates (>100 cts/s) of bright sources may affect the calibration of the energy scale, resulting in a modification of the real spectral shape. The corrections related to this effect are then strongly important in the study of the spectral properties. Tests of these calibrations are more suitable in sources which spectra are characterised by a large number of discrete features. Therefore, in this work, we carried out a spectral analysis of the accreting Neutron Star GX 13+1, which is a dipping source with several narrow absorption lines and a broad emission line in its spectrum. We tested two different co…
The spin and orbit of the newly discovered pulsar IGR J17480-2446
2011
We present an analysis of the spin and orbital properties of the newly discovered accreting pulsar IGR J17480-2446, located in the globular cluster Terzan 5. Considering the pulses detected by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer at a period of 90.539645(2) ms, we derive a solution for the 21.27454(8) hr binary system. The binary mass function is estimated to be 0.021275(5) Msun, indicating a companion star with a mass larger than 0.4 Msun. The X-ray pulsar spins up while accreting at a rate of between 1.2 and 1.7E-12 Hz/s, in agreement with the accretion of disc matter angular momentum given the observed luminosity. We also report the detection of pulsations at the spin period of the source dur…
Suzaku broad-band spectrum of 4U 1705-44: probing the reflection component in the hard state
2015
Iron emission lines at 6.4-6.97 keV, identified with Kalpha radiative transitions, are among the strongest discrete features in the X-ray band. These are one of the most powerful probes to infer the properties of the plasma in the innermost part of the accretion disk around a compact object. In this paper we present a recent Suzaku observation, 100-ks effective exposure, of the atoll source and X-ray burster 4U 1705-44, where we clearly detect signatures of a reflection component which is distorted by the high-velocity motion in the accretion disk. The reflection component consists of a broad iron line at about 6.4 keV and a Compton bump at high X-ray energies, around 20 keV. All these feat…