A New Relativistic Model for Spectral Formation in Accretion-Powered X-ray Pulsars: Pulse Profiles and Phase-Averaged Spectra

Ethan J. Gibson; Peter A. Becker

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arXiv · 2606.30990

A New Relativistic Model for Spectral Formation in Accretion-Powered X-ray Pulsars: Pulse Profiles and Phase-Averaged Spectra

Ethan J. Gibson·Peter A. Becker

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Abstract

We develop a new analytical model describing the radiative and dynamical structure of an accretion-powered X-ray pulsar, including relativistic effects and a detailed representation of the rotational and magnetic geometry of the neutron star and the two accretion columns. The model provides for the first time a simultaneous calculation of both the phase-averaged spectrum and the pulse profile for an accretion-powered X-ray pulsar. The X-ray continuum spectrum is calculated using the analytical model of Becker & Wolff (2022), which assumes a conical accretion column geometry. The trajectory of the radiation escaping from the two columns is tracked through the curved spacetime using the Schwarzschild metric. The angular distribution of the radiation escaping from the surfaces of the columns (the beaming pattern) is represented using a set of "laser-like" emission directions, with associated amplitudes, called weight coefficients, that each contribute "sub-profiles" to the observed pulse profile. The sub-profiles provide basis functions that are used to fit the observed pulse profile. This yields a set of weight coefficients that determine the beaming pattern of the emission from the accretion column. We use the new model to analyze NuSTAR data for Her X-1, allowing the determination of the temperature, accretion rate, and magnetic field strength, as well as the rotational inclination angle and the latitudes of the two magnetic poles. The method also yields the beaming pattern of the emission, hence providing for the first time a self-consistent phenomenological description of the physical and radiative structures of the two accretion columns.

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Ethan J. Gibson, Peter A. Becker. 2026-06-30. A New Relativistic Model for Spectral Formation in Accretion-Powered X-ray Pulsars: Pulse Profiles and Phase-Averaged Spectra. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.30990

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