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Title:
Modelling the outburst profile of X-ray millisecond pulsars
Authors:
Falanga, M.
Affiliation:
CEA Saclay, DSM/IRFU/Service d'Astrophysique, F-91191, Gif sur Yvette, France
Publication:
A DECADE OF ACCRETING MILLISECOND X-RAY PULSARS. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1068, pp. 103-114 (2008). (AIPC Homepage)
Publication Date:
10/2008
Origin:
AIP
PACS Keywords:
Pulsars, X-ray binaries, Novae, dwarf novae, recurrent novae, and other cataclysmic variables
DOI:
10.1063/1.3031180
Bibliographic Code:
2008AIPC.1068..103F

Abstract

The outbursts of low mass X-ray binaries are prolonged relative to those of dwarf nova cataclysmic variables as a consequence of X-ray irradiation of the disk. We show that the time-scale of the decay light curve and its luminosity at a characteristic time are linked to the radius of the accretion disk. Hence a good X-ray light curve permits two independent estimates of the disk radius. In the case of the millisecond pulsars SAX J1808.4-3658 and XTE J0929-314 the agreement between these estimates is very strong. Our analysis allows new determinations of distances and accretion disk radii. Our analysis will allow determination of accretion disk radii for sources in external galaxies, and hence constrain system parameters where other observational techniques are not possible. We also use the X-ray light curves to estimate the mass transfer rate. The broken exponential decay observed in the 2002 outburst of SAX J1808.4-3658 may be caused by the changing self-shadowing of the disk.
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