Exploring jet-launching conditions for SFXTs

Abstract

In the magneto-centrifugal mechanism for jet formation, accreting neutron stars are assumed to produce relativistic jets only if their surface magnetic field is weak enough ($B\sim 10^8$ G). However, the most common manifestation of neutron stars are pulsars, whose magnetic field distribution peaks at $B\sim 10^{12}$ G. If the neutron star magnetic field has at least this strength at birth, it must decay considerably before jets can be launched in binary systems. We study the magnetic field evolution of a neutron star that accretes matter from the wind of a high-mass stellar companion so that we can constrain the accretion rate and the impurities in the crust, which are necessary conditions for jet formation. We solved the induction equation for the diffusion and convection of the neutron star magnetic field confined to the crust, assuming spherical accretion in a simpliflied one-dimensional treatment. We incorporated state-of-the-art microphysics, including consistent thermal evolution profiles, and assumed two different neutron star cooling scenarios based on the superfluidity conditions at the core. We find that in this scenario, magnetic field decay at long timescales is governed mainly by the accretion rate, while the impurity content and thermal evolution of the neutron star play a secondary role. For accretion rates $\dot{M}\gtrsim 10^{-10}$ M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$, surface magnetic fields can decay up to four orders of magnitude in $\sim$10${}^7$ yr, which is the timescale imposed by the evolution of the high-mass stellar companion in these systems. Based on these results, we discuss the possibility of transient jet-launching in strong wind-accreting high-mass binary systems like supergiant fast X-ray transients.

8 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (38)

• Fermi Large Area Telescope Second Source Catalog
• A unified equation of state of dense matter and neutron star structure
• Neutrino Emission from Neutron Stars
• Magneto--thermal evolution of neutron stars
• Are There Magnetars in High Mass X-ray Binaries? The Case of SuperGiant Fast X-Ray Transients
• Models of crustal heating in accreting neutron stars
• 2D Cooling of Magnetized Neutron Stars
• INTEGRAL observations of recurrent fast X-ray transient sources
• Probing clumpy stellar winds with a neutron star
• Chandra observation of the fast X-ray transient IGR J17544-2619: evidence for a neutron star?
• Accretion vs colliding wind models for the gamma-ray binary LS I +61 303: an assessment
• Burial of the polar magnetic field of an accreting neutron star. I. Self-consistent analytic and numerical equilibria
• The Effect of Porosity on X-ray Emission Line Profiles from Hot-Star Winds
• An alternative hypothesis for the outburst mechanism in Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients: the case of IGR J11215-5952
• Monitoring Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients with Swift. I. Behavior outside outbursts
• The INTEGRAL Galactic bulge monitoring program: the first 1.5 years
• The structure of blue supergiant winds and the accretion in supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries
• Unveiling the nature of six HMXBs through IR spectroscopy
• A new code for the Hall-driven magnetic evolution of neutron stars
• Formation of Semi-relativisitc Jets from Magnetospheres of Accreting Neutron Stars: Injection of Hot Bubbles into a Magnetic Tower
• Discovery of a Transient X-Ray Pulsar, AX J1841.0-0536, in the Scutum Arm Region with ASCA
• An asymmetric arcsecond radio jet from Circinus X-1
• Burial of the polar magnetic field of an accreting neutron star. II. Hydromagnetic stability of axisymmetric equilibria
• Infrared identification of high-mass X-ray binaries discovered by INTEGRAL
• A pseudo-planar, periodic-box formalism for modelling the outer evolution of structure in spherically expanding stellar winds
• Screening of the Magnetic Field of Disk Accreting Stars
• Disentangling the system geometry of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J11215-5952 with Swift
• Magnetic Field Upper Limits for Jet Formation
• The Swift-BAT survey reveals the orbital period of three high-mass X-ray binaries
• XMM-Newton observations of four high mass X-ray binaries and IGR J17348-2045
• Dissecting the region of 3EG J1837-0423 and HESS J1841-055 with INTEGRAL
• IGR J17354-3255 as a candidate intermediate SFXT possibly associated with the transient MeV AGL J1734-3310
• XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL study of the SFXT IGR J18483-0311 in quiescence: hint of a cyclotron emission feature?
• Swift/XRT orbital monitoring of the candidate supergiant fast X-ray transient IGR J17354-3255
• Review on latest progress on Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients and future direction
• Hard fast X-ray transients as possible counterparts of unidentified MeV/TeV sources
• IGR J17354-3255 as bench test for investigation of gamma-ray emission from Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients
• Properties of Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients as observed by Swift

Cited by in corpus (3)

• An evolving jet from a strongly-magnetised accreting X-ray pulsar
• Time-dependent search for neutrino emission from x-ray binaries with the ANTARES telescope
• Galactic Electron-Positron Annihilation Emission from X-Ray Binaries with Transient and Persistent Jets