Transonic Magnetic Slim Accretion Disks and kilo-Hertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries

Abstract

The inner regions of accretion disks of weakly magnetized neutron stars are affected by general relativity and stellar magnetic fields. Even for field strengths sufficiently small so that there is no well-defined magnetosphere surrounding the neutron star, there is still a region in the disk where magnetic field stress plays an important dynamical role. We construct magnetic slim disk models appropriate for neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) which incorporate both effects (GR and magnetic fields). The B-field--disk interaction is treated in a phenomenological manner, allowing for both closed and open field configurations. We show that even for surface magnetic fields as weak as $10^7-10^8$ G, the sonic point of the accretion flow can be significantly modified from the pure GR value (near $6M$). We derive an approximate analytical expression for the sonic radius and show that it mainly depends on the surface field strength $B_0$ and mass accretion rate $\dot M$ through the ratio $b^2\propto B_0^2/\dot M$. The sonic radius thus obtained approaches the usual Alfven radius for high $b^2$, and asymptotes to $6M$ as $b^2\to 0$. We therefore suggest that for neutron stars in LMXBs, the distinction between the disk sonic radius and the magnetospheric radius may not exist. We apply our theoretical results to the kHz QPOs observed in the X-ray fluxes of LMXBs. If these QPOs are associated with the orbital frequency at the inner radius of the disk, then the QPO frequencies and their correlation with mass accretion rate can provide useful constraints on the nature of the magnetic field -- disk interactions as well as on the structure of magnetic fields in LMXBs. Current observational data may suggest that the magnetic fields in LMXBs have complex topology.