Magnetospheric flows in X-ray pulsars II: Heating, cooling and ionization degree at sub-critical accretion

Alexander A. Mushtukov, Alexander Y. Potekhin, Valery F. Suleimanov +2

Magnetospheric accretion flows in X-ray pulsars shape their spectra, polarization, and variability. We model the thermal balance of the flow enveloping the neutron star magnetosphe…