Modulated High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Microquasar Cygnus X-3
A. A. AbdoM. AckermannM. AjelloM. AxelssonL. BaldiniJ. BalletG. BarbielliniD. BastieriB. M. BaughmanK. BechtolR. BellazziniB. BerenjiR. D. BlandfordE. D. BloomE. BonamenteA. W. BorglandA. BrezM. BrigidaP. BruelT. H. BurnettS. BusonG. A. CaliandroR. A. CameronP. A. CaraveoJ. M. CasandjianC. CecchiÖ. ÇelikS. ChatyC. C. CheungJ. ChiangS. CipriniR. ClausJ. Cohen-TanugiL. R. CominskyJ. ConradS. CorbelR. CorbetC. D. DermerF. de PalmaS. W. DigelE. do Couto e SilvaP. S. DrellR. DuboisG. DubusD. DumoraC. FarnierC. FavuzziS. FeganW. B. FockeP. FortinM. FrailisP. FuscoF. GarganoN. GehrelsS. GermaniG. GiavittoB. GiebelsN. GigliettoF. GiordanoT. GlanzmanG. GodfreyI. A. GrenierM.-H. GrondinJ. E. GroveL. GuillemotS. GuiriecY. HanabataA. K. HardingM. HayashidaE. HaysA. B. HillL. HjalmarsdotterD. HoranR. E. HughesM. JacksonG. JóhannessonA. S. JohnsonT. J. JohnsonW. N. JohnsonT. KamaeH. KatagiriN. KawaiM. KerrJ. KnödlsederM. L. KocianE. KoerdingM. KussJ. LandéL. LatronicoM. Lemoine GoumardF. LongoF. LoparcoB. LottM. N. LovelletteP. LubranoG. M. MadejskiA. MakeevL. MarchandM. MarelliW. Max-MoerbeckM. N. MazziottaN. MccollJ. McEneryC. MeurerP. F. MichelsonS. MigliariW. MitthumsiriT. MizunoC. MonteM. E. MonzaniA. MorselliI. V. MoskalenkoS. MurgiaP. L. NolanJ. P. NorrisE. NussT. OhsugiN. OmodeiR. A. OngJ. F. OrmesD. PanequeD. ParentV. PelassaM. PepéM. Pesce-RollinsF. PironG. G. PooleyT. A. PorterK. PottschmidtS. RainòR. RandoPaul S. RayM. RazzanoN. ReaA. C. S. ReadheadA. ReimerO. ReimerJ. L. RichardsLeon RochesterJ. RodríguezA. Y. RodriguezR. W. RomaniF. RydeH. F-W. SadrozinskiA. SanderP. M. Saz ParkinsonC. SgròE. J. SiskindD. A. SmithP. D. SmithP. SpinelliJean‐Luc StarckM. A. StevensonM. S. StrickmanD. J. SusonH. TakahashiT. TanakaJ. B. ThayerD. J. ThompsonL. TibaldoJohn A. TomsickD. F. TorresG. TostiA. TramacereY. UchiyamaT. UsherV. VasileiouN. VilchezV. VitaleA. P. WaiteP. WangJ. WilmsB. L. WinerK. S. WoodT. YlinenM. Ziegler
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Microquasar Spotted Microquasars are binary star systems where a normal star sheds matter onto a neutron star or a black hole, generating x-ray radiation and jets of material moving at relativistic speeds. Microquasars have proved difficult to detect in high-energy gamma rays (> 100 megaelectron volts). Using the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Abdo et al. (p. 1512 , published online 26 November; see the Perspective by Bignami ) now report the detection of variable gamma-ray emission from the microquasar Cygnus X-3. The gamma-ray flux is modulated at the orbital period of Cygnus X-3, and its variation is correlated with the radio emission originating from the microquasar's relativistic jets.Keywords:
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Author(s): Hemphill, Paul Britton | Advisor(s): Rothschild, Richard E | Abstract: Accreting X-ray pulsars are a class of astrophysical objects consisting of a neutron star in a binary system with a stellar companion. Matter expelled by the companion star is captured by the neutron star's gravity; as this matter falls towards the neutron star's surface, is is compressed and heated, giving off X-rays. As the matter falls the last few miles above the neutron star surface, a number of physical processes compete for dominance, resulting in a highly complex environment governed by the interplay of magnetic, hydrodynamical, and radiative processes. The resulting spectrum often shows broad absorption-like features called cyclotron lines, which provide the only direct measurement of the magnetic field of a neutron star and act as probes of the properties of the accretion column, and their behavior with respect to changes in the accretion rate onto the neutron star has been of interest in recent years. My work in this dissertation brings together nearly 20 years of data from three X-ray satellites to study the X-ray emission from accreting pulsars, with a focus on the hard X-ray continuum and cyclotron lines. I present results for the accreting pulsars 4U 1538-522 and 4U 1907+09, examining the behavior of their cyclotron lines with respect to their luminosity, finding evidence for a positive correlation between the line energy and luminosity in 4U 1907+09. A combined analysis of most of the available X-ray data for the accreting pulsar 4U 1538-522 shows no such correlation in this source, either positive or negative. However, I do present evidence that the cyclotron line energy in 4U 1538-522 has shifted upwards by ~5% in recent years compared to measurements from 10-20 years ago. I additionally carry out an extensive analysis of the environment around 4U 1538-522 using the soft X-ray detectors aboard the satellite Suzaku. I finally present a set of new results from the transient X-ray pulsar V 0332+53, which I fit with a new physics-based model for the accretion column. These fits allow me to constrain the size and temperature of the accretion column, as well as the relative contributions of different processes in the column to the overall observed spectrum.
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The stages that follow the merging of two neutron stars are discussed. It is shown that if a rapidly rotating grav- itationally bound object is formed after the merging (a spinar or a massive neutron star), then the characteristic time of its evolution is determined by a fundamental value tspin =3 k m p e 2 h 1 = 2 m 3 c 5 = 2 G 1 = 2 10 3 s ; where the dimensionless value = 100 1000 depends on the exact equation of state of nuclear matter. The hypothesis is discussed as to whether the residual optical emission of the gamma-rayburstsispulsar-likeanditsevolutiondrivenbymag- netodipole energy losses. It is shown that binary neutron star mergings can be accompanied by two gravitational wave burst separatedeitherbythetimeofspinar'scollapsetspin orneutron star cooling time ( 10 s), depending on the masses of neutron stars.
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A neutron star low-mass binary is a binary stellar system with a neutron star and a low-mass companion star rotating around each other. In this system the neutron star accretes mass from the companion, and as this matter falls into the deep potential well of the neutron star, the gravitational potential energy is released primarily in the wavelengths. Such a source was first discovered in X-rays in 1962, and this discovery formally gave birth to the X-ray astronomy. In the subsequent decades, our knowledge of these sources has increased enormously by the observations with several space missions. Here we give a brief overview of our current understanding of the observational aspects of these systems.
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