Signs of magnetic accretion in X-ray pulsars

Abstract

The spin-down mechanism of accreting neutron stars is discussed with an application to one of the best studied X-ray pulsars GX 301-2. We show that the maximum possible spin-down torque applied to a neutron star from the accretion flow can be evaluated as $K_{\mathrm{sd}}^{(\mathrm{t})}={\mu }^2/(r_{\mathrm{m}}{r}_{\mathrm{cor}}{)}^{3/2}$. The spin-down rate of the neutron star in GX 301-2 can be explained provided the magnetospheric radius of the neutron star is smaller than its canonical value. We calculate the magnetospheric radius considering the mass-transfer in the binary system in the frame of the magnetic accretion scenario suggested by V.F. Shvartsman. The spin-down rate of the neutron star expected within this approach is in a good agreement with that derived from observations of GX 301-2.

accepted for publication in Astronomy Reports

References in corpus (3)

• VLT/UVES spectroscopy of Wray 977, the hypergiant companion to the X-ray pulsar GX301-2
• The origin of long-period X-ray pulsars
• Three-Dimensional Simulations of Spherical Accretion Flows with Small-Scale Magnetic Fields

Cited by in corpus (3)

• A new look at the origin of the 6.67\,hr period X-ray pulsar 1E~161348-5055
• MAD-Accretion Scenario in High-Mass X-Ray Binaries with Neutron Stars
• Accretion into black hole, and formation of magnetically arrested accretion disks