A large population of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries with long outburst recurrence time ?

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Meyer-Hofmeister, E., Cheng, Huaqing, Liu, B. F.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Meyer-Hofmeister, E.
Cheng, Huaqing
Liu, B. F.
author_facet Meyer-Hofmeister, E.
Cheng, Huaqing
Liu, B. F.
contents Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with neutron stars show quite different features which depend on the rate of mass transfer from the donor star. With a high transfer rate the Z sources are in a persistent soft spectral state, with a moderate rate the transient Atoll sources have outburst cycles like the black hole X-ray binaries. The observations document very long outburst recurrence times for quite a number of sources. We follow with our computations the evolution of the accretion disc until the onset of the ionization instability. For sources with a low mass transfer rate the accumulation of matter in the disc is essentially reduced due to the continuous evaporation of matter from the disc to the coronal flow. Different mass transfer rates result in nearly the same amount of matter accumulated for the outburst which means the outburst properties are similar for sources with short and sources with long outburst cycles, contrary to some expectations. Then of systems with long recurrence time less sources will be detected and the total population of LMXBs could be larger than it appears. This would relieve the apparent problem that the observed number of LMXBs as progenitors of millisecond pulsars (MSP) is too small compared to the number of MSP. Concerning the few quasi-persistent sources with year-long soft states we argue that these states are not outbursts, but quasi-stationary hot states as in Z sources.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_02020
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A large population of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries with long outburst recurrence time ?
Meyer-Hofmeister, E.
Cheng, Huaqing
Liu, B. F.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with neutron stars show quite different features which depend on the rate of mass transfer from the donor star. With a high transfer rate the Z sources are in a persistent soft spectral state, with a moderate rate the transient Atoll sources have outburst cycles like the black hole X-ray binaries. The observations document very long outburst recurrence times for quite a number of sources. We follow with our computations the evolution of the accretion disc until the onset of the ionization instability. For sources with a low mass transfer rate the accumulation of matter in the disc is essentially reduced due to the continuous evaporation of matter from the disc to the coronal flow. Different mass transfer rates result in nearly the same amount of matter accumulated for the outburst which means the outburst properties are similar for sources with short and sources with long outburst cycles, contrary to some expectations. Then of systems with long recurrence time less sources will be detected and the total population of LMXBs could be larger than it appears. This would relieve the apparent problem that the observed number of LMXBs as progenitors of millisecond pulsars (MSP) is too small compared to the number of MSP. Concerning the few quasi-persistent sources with year-long soft states we argue that these states are not outbursts, but quasi-stationary hot states as in Z sources.
title A large population of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries with long outburst recurrence time ?
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.02020