1 Hz flaring in SAX J1808.4--3658: flow instabilities near the propeller stage

Abstract

We present a simultaneous periodic and aperiodic timing study of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. We analyze five outbursts of the source and for the first time provide a full and systematic investigation of the enigmatic phenomenon of the 1 Hz flares observed during the final stages of some of the outbursts. We show that links between pulsations and 1 Hz flares might exist, and suggest they are related with hydrodynamic disk instabilities that are triggered close to the disk-magnetosphere boundary layer when the system is entering the propeller regime.

Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Updates and referee comments addressed

References in corpus (12)

• Accretion disc viscosity: how big is alpha?
• Accretion to Magnetized Stars through the Rayleigh-Taylor Instability: Global Three-Dimensional Simulations
• "Propeller" Regime of Disk Accretion to Rapidly Rotating Stars
• Broad relativistic iron emission line observed in SAX J1808.4-3658
• Optical spectroscopy and photometry of SAX J1808.4-3658 in outburst
• XMM-Newton detects a relativistically broadened iron line in the spectrum of the ms X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658
• Orbital Evolution of an Accreting Millisecond Pulsar: Witnessing the Banquet of a Hidden Black Widow?
• A decade of timing an accretion-powered millisecond pulsar: The continuing spin down and orbital evolution of SAX J1808.4-3658
• Order in the Chaos: Spin-up and Spin-down during the 2002 Outburst of SAX J1808.4-3658
• Optical Observations of SAX J1808.4-3658 During Quiescence
• Timing of the 2008 Outburst of SAX J1808.4-3658 with XMM-Newton: A Stable Orbital Period Derivative over Ten Years
• Swift observations of SAX J1808.4-3658: monitoring the return to quiescence

Cited by in corpus (52)

• Episodic Accretion on to Strongly Magnetic Stars
• Accretion Discs Trapped Near Corotation
• The gas-to-extinction ratio and the gas distribution in the Galaxy
• The Spin Distribution of Fast Spinning Neutron Stars in Low Mass X-Ray Binaries: Evidence for Two Sub-Populations
• X-ray coherent pulsations during a sub-luminous accretion disk state of the transitional millisecond pulsar XSS J12270-4859
• X-ray states of redback millisecond pulsars
• The neutron star transient and millisecond pulsar in M28: from sub-luminous accretion to rotation-powered quiescence
• Accretion, Outflows, and Winds of Magnetized Stars
• The magnetic field strengths of accreting millisecond pulsars
• Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars
• Propeller outflows from an MRI disc
• Disk-jet coupling in low-luminosity accreting neutron stars
• A propeller scenario for the gamma-ray emission of low-mass X-ray binaries: The case of XSS J12270-4859
• Properties of Strong and Weak Propellers from MHD Simulations
• Accelerated Orbital Expansion And Secular Spin Down of the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658
• A Double Outburst from IGR J00291+5934: Implications for Accretion Disk Instability Theory
• "Hiccup" accretion in the swinging pulsar IGR J18245-2452
• MRI-driven Accretion onto Magnetized stars: Axisymmetric MHD Simulations
• The Reflares and Outburst Evolution in the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658: a Disk Truncated Near Co-rotation?
• Magnetically gated accretion in an accreting 'non-magnetic' white dwarf
• Spin equilibrium with or without gravitational wave emission: the case of XTE J1814-338 and SAX J1808.4-3658
• Discovery of an accreting millisecond pulsar in the eclipsing binary system Swift J1749.4-2807
• A NICER look at the state transitions of the black hole candidate MAXI J1535-571 during its reflares
• Low Frequency (11 mHz) Oscillations in H1743-322: A New Class of Black Hole QPOs?
• Radio pulse search and X-Ray monitoring of SAX J1808.4-3658: What Causes its Orbital Evolution?
• 1 Hz Flaring in the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar NGC 6440 X-2: Disk Trapping and Accretion Cycles
• The Double-Peaked 2008 Outburst of the Accreting Milli-Second X-ray Pulsar, IGR J00291+5934
• Detection of X-ray spectral state transitions in mini-outbursts of black hole transient GRS 1739-278
• On the nature of pulse profile variations and timing noise in accreting millisecond pulsars
• Timing the pulsations of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 during its 2019 outburst
• Varying disc-magnetosphere coupling as the origin of pulse profile variability in SAX J1808.4-3658
• Propeller-Effect Interpretation of MAXI/GSC Light Curves of 4U 1608-52 and AqlX-1 and application to XTE J1701-462
• An Examination of the X-ray Sources in the Globular Cluster NGC 6652
• A re-establishing jet during an X-ray re-brightening of the Be/X-ray binary Swift J0243.6+6124
• The aperiodic X-ray variability of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658
• An accreting white dwarf displaying fast transitional mode switching
• Discovery of a soft X-ray 8 mHz QPO from the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934
• The evolution of a newborn millisecond magnetar with a propeller-recycling disk
• Double-peaked thermonuclear bursts at the soft-hard state transition in the Rapid Burster
• The AstroSat observation of accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 during its 2019 outburst
• On the curious pulsation properties of the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17379-3747
• Discovery of a 7 mHz X-Ray Quasi-periodic Oscillation from the most Massive Stellar-mass Black Hole IC 10 X-1
• MHD Simulations of Magnetospheric Accretion, Ejection and Plasma-field Interaction
• Not an Oxymoron: Some X-ray Binary Pulsars with Enormous Spinup Rates Reveal Weak Magnetic Fields
• Discovery of 1-5 Hz flaring at high luminosity in SAX J1808.4-3658
• Awakening of the fast-spinning accreting Be/X-ray pulsar A0538-66
• Gravitational waves from rapidly rotating neutron stars
• Physical modeling of viscous disc evolution around magnetized neutron star. Aql X-1 2013 outburst decay
• Detection of a strong ~2.5 Hz modulation in the Newly Discovered Millisecond Pulsar MAXI J1816-195
• The radiative efficiency of neutron stars at low-level accretion
• Detection of low-luminosity X-ray pulsations from the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057: An ever-thinning thread between bright accretion and sub-luminous states
• Spectral Analysis of the 2019 and 2022 Outbursts of SAX J1808.4-3658