MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS

Medin, Zachary James; Steinkirch, Marina von; Calder, Alan C.; Fontes, Christopher J.; Fryer, Chris L.; Hungerford, Aimee L.

doi:10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/102

Title: MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS

Abstract

The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass and radius of the neutron star can be inferred from the observations. By simultaneously probing neutron star masses and radii, X-ray bursts (XRBs) are one of the strongest diagnostics of the nature of matter at extremely high densities. Accurate determinations of these parameters are difficult, however, due to the highly non-ideal nature of the atmospheres where XRBs occur. Also, observations from X-ray telescopes such as RXTE and NuStar can potentially place strong constraints on nuclear matter once uncertainties in atmosphere models have been reduced. Lastly, here we discuss current progress on modeling atmospheres of X-ray bursting neutron stars and some of the challenges still to be overcome.

Authors:

Medin, Zachary James ^[1]; Steinkirch, Marina von ^[2];

^[2]; Fontes, Christopher J. ^[1];

^[3]; Hungerford, Aimee L. ^[1]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Publication Date:: Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2016

Research Org.:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1337104

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-16-22810
Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online); Journal Volume: 832; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; stars: neutron — X-rays: binaries — X-rays: bursts

Citation Formats


                    Medin, Zachary James, Steinkirch, Marina von, Calder, Alan C., Fontes, Christopher J., Fryer, Chris L., and Hungerford, Aimee L. MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS.  United States: N. p., 2016. 
Web.  doi:10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/102.

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                    Medin, Zachary James, Steinkirch, Marina von, Calder, Alan C., Fontes, Christopher J., Fryer, Chris L., & Hungerford, Aimee L. MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/102

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                    Medin, Zachary James, Steinkirch, Marina von, Calder, Alan C., Fontes, Christopher J., Fryer, Chris L., and Hungerford, Aimee L. Mon .  
"MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/102.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1337104.

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@article{osti_1337104,

  title        = {MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS},

  author       = {Medin, Zachary James and Steinkirch, Marina von and Calder, Alan C. and Fontes, Christopher J. and Fryer, Chris L. and Hungerford, Aimee L.},

  abstractNote = {The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass and radius of the neutron star can be inferred from the observations. By simultaneously probing neutron star masses and radii, X-ray bursts (XRBs) are one of the strongest diagnostics of the nature of matter at extremely high densities. Accurate determinations of these parameters are difficult, however, due to the highly non-ideal nature of the atmospheres where XRBs occur. Also, observations from X-ray telescopes such as RXTE and NuStar can potentially place strong constraints on nuclear matter once uncertainties in atmosphere models have been reduced. Lastly, here we discuss current progress on modeling atmospheres of X-ray bursting neutron stars and some of the challenges still to be overcome.},

  doi          = {10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/102},

  journal      = {The Astrophysical Journal (Online)},

  number       = 2,

  volume       = 832,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2016},

  month        = {Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2016}

}

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