Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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e-mail:nathaniel.newlands@gmail.com
Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Observations
The transient x-ray pulsar EXO 2030+375 was first discovered by Parmar et al (1989a)
using the EXOSAT Observatory. The variation of observed intensity by factors of
up to 100, together with the extensive 1-20 keV luminosity range of (1.21036 1.01038 ) ergs/s (distance of 5 kpc assumed) for the observations, indicate a highly
variable mass accretion rate in this binary system. The EXOSAT 1-10 keV ME observed
pulse profiles are highly luminosity dependent, showing a variable extent of pulse shape
asymmetry. At high luminosity, the pulse shape was fairly smooth, showing two peaks
in intensity with different maxima, separated by 180 in phase. As the luminosity
decreased, the profile was complicated by the growth of an interpulse, which is the
dominant intensity peak at the lowest observed luminosity of 1.21036 ergs/s. This
feature might be explained by an alteration of the beaming geometry from fan to pencilbeam (perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic axis of the neutron star respectively),
suggesting the presence of a radiative shock, for luminosities greater than 1037 ergs/s.
Recent pulse profile observations of EXO 2030+375 during 12 consecutive outbursts
were made by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE), on the Compton
Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) (Paciesas et al , 1994). The 20-50 keV pulse profiles
were quite symmetric, having a maximum luminosity of 2 1036 ergs/s, close to the
minimum observed luminosity of the EXOSAT observations.
1.2. Pulse profile modelling
The observed pulse profiles of accreting x-ray pulsars are determined primarily by scattering and absorption processes within the neutron star magnetosphere, and act as
important probes for the structure of the magnetosphere and its interaction with the
accreting plasma. The luminosity-dependent pulse profiles of EXO 2030+375, can be
used to establish a general geometrical description of the emission region in neutron
stars, and in turn, to develop an understanding of the effect of mass accretion rate on
the emission regions, preferred beaming direction, and an explanation for the asymmetry of emitted x-rays. Previous work by Parmar et al , (1989b) in modelling the pulse
profiles uses an offset dipole magnetic field to explain the observed asymmetry. The
model considers the contribution of both fan-beam and pencil-beam emission, and uses
analytic functions for the local intensity of the x-ray emission. More recently, Leahy et
al , (1995) has applied a model, comprising two emission rings lying on the surface of
the neutron star and accounting for the effect of light-bending due to general relativity,
to 20 x-ray pulsars, including EXO 2030+375. The relation between the luminosity
and the properties of the emission rings were studied, and it was concluded that effects other than changing emission ring size are responsible for the pulse shape change
observed in EXO 2030+375. Application of these different models also suggests that
the actual beam pattern of emission in this x-ray pulsar is more complex than emission
from simplified geometries used in radiative-transfer calculations.
(2)
(1)
(2)
(2)
FT = FT (Ro, o , d, m , r , 1 , of f , of f , (1)
o , o , L , L , RL , RL , o , )
(1)
3. FITTING PROCEDURE
For an initial set of the 15 model parameters, numerical calculation of the theoretical flux integrals is performed using an IMSL4 routine for multi-dimensional iterated
integral approximation. A nonlinear least-squares routine based on the LevenbergMarquardt method is used to minimize the difference between the theoretical and observed flux to obtain best-fit parameters of the model for each pulse profile.
4. RESULTS
Preliminary results of the least-squares fitting of the BATSE profiles, and the associated
VRML visualization corresponding to the best-fit parameters, are presented in figures
3 and 4. The best-fit parameters for this profile have an opening angle for the emission
regions of o =8.0 , a magnetic axis offset from the rotational axis by m =30 , observer
(1)
(2)
(2)
Figure 2. Profile of emission intensity, I(0 ,), for local emission angle 0 and
frequency , from the surface of the model emission regions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Doug S. Phillips (University Computing Services, University of Calgary) is thanked for
producing the VRML visualization of the emission model.
REFERENCES
Leahy, D.A., and Li, L., 1995, Mon. Not. R. Aston. Soc., 277, 117784.
M
esz
aros, P., Nagel, W., 1985, Astrophys. J. , 299, 13853.
Newlands, N.K., and Leahy, D.A., 1997, in preparation.
Paciesas, W.S., Finger, M.H., Wilson, R.B., Fishman, G.J., 1994, Bull. American Astron.
Soc., 185, 10209.
Parmar, A.N., White, N.E., Stella, L., Izzo, C., Ferri, P., 1989a, Astrophys. J. , 338, 35972.
Parmar, A.N., White, N.E., Stella, L., 1989b, Astrophys. J. , 338, 37380.