Hydrodynamical simulation of the structure of the X-ray pulsar accretion channel: accounting for resonant scattering

Abstract

A self-consistent radiation-hydrodynamics model of an accretion channel of subcritical X-ray pulsars is constructed. The influence of the presence of resonance in the scattering cross-section on the accretion process and radiation transfer is taken into account. It is shown that the efficiency of plasma deceleration by radiation depends on the magnitude of the magnetic field $B$. For $B=1.7\times 10^{12}$ G, the spectra and the degree of linear polarization of the radiation of the accretion channel are constructed. In the obtained spectra, the shape of the cyclotron line depends on the direction of the outgoing radiation. The calculated linear polarization degree of the outgoing radiation is $30-40\%$ near the cyclotron resonance, whereas it can be small ($\lesssim 5-10\%$) at energies significantly lower than the resonant one.

8 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Astronomy Letters, Vol.49, No.10 (2023)

References in corpus (7)

• A New Two-Fluid Radiation-Hydrodynamical Model for X-ray Pulsar Accretion Columns
• Dynamical and Radiative Properties of X-ray Pulsar Accretion Columns: Phase-Averaged Spectra
• Cyclotron line formation by reflection on the surface of a magnetic neutron star
• Statistical equilibrium and ion cyclotron absorption/emission in strongly magnetized plasmas
• Dynamical Effects of Magnetic Opacity in Neutron Star Accretion Columns
• Simulating the shock dynamics of a neutron star accretion column
• Three-dimensional modelling of accretion columns: spatial asymmetry and self-consistent simulations

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Cyclotron lines in subcritical X-ray pulsars: Monte Carlo simulations reveal the origin of the observed variability