arXiv subjects

M. Ali Alpar

Publications and source records attributed to M. Ali Alpar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Optical excess of dim isolated neutron stars

The optical excess in the spectra of dim isolated neutron stars (XDINs) is a significant fraction of their rotational energy loss-rate. This is strikingly different from the situation in isolated radio pulsars. We investigate this problem in the framework of the fallback disc model. The optical spectra can be powered by magnetic stresses on the innermost disc matter, as the energy dissipated is emitted as blackbody radiation mainly from the inner rim of the disc. In the fallback disc model, XDINs are the sources evolving in the propeller phase with similar torque mechanisms. In this this model, the ratio of the total magnetic work that heats up the inner disc matter is expected to be similar for different XDINs. Optical luminosities that are calculated consistently with the the optical spectra and the theoretical constraints on the inner disc radii give very similar ratios of the optical luminosity to the rotational energy loss rate for all these sources. These ratios indicate that a significant fraction of the magnetic torque heats up the disc matter while the remaining fraction expels disc matter from the system. For XDINs, the contribution of heating by X-ray irradiation to the optical luminosity is negligible in comparison with the magnetic heating. The correlation we expect between the optical luminosities and the rotational energy loss-rates of XDINs can be a property of the systems with low X-ray luminosities, in particular those in the propeller phase.

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arXiv2016

Magnetar-like X-ray Bursts from a Rotation Powered Pulsar, PSR J1119-6127

Two energetic hard X-ray bursts have recently triggered the Fermi and Swift space observatories from the rotation powered pulsar, PSR J1119-6127. We have performed in depth spectral and temporal analyses of these two events. Our extensive searches in both observatory data for lower luminosity bursts uncovered 10 additional events from the source. We report here on the timing and energetics of the 12 bursts from PSR J1119-6127 during its burst active phase of 2016 July 26 and 28. We also found a spectral softer X-ray flux enhancement in a post burst episode, which shows evidence of cooling. We discuss here the implications of these results on the nature of this unusual high-field radio pulsar, which firmly place it within the typical magnetar population.

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arXiv2016

Microscopic Vortex Velocity in the Inner Crust and Outer Core of Neutron Stars

Treatment of the vortex motion in the superfluids of the inner crust and the outer core of neutron stars is a key ingredient in modeling a number of pulsar phenomena, including glitches and magnetic field evolution. After recalculating the microscopic vortex velocity in the inner crust, we evaluate the velocity for the vortices in the outer core for the first time. The vortex motion between pinning sites is found to be substantially faster in the inner crust than in the outer core, $v_0^{\rm crust} \sim 10^{7}\mbox{\cms} \gg v_0^{\rm core} \sim 1\mbox{\cms}$. One immediate result is that vortex creep is always in the nonlinear regime in the outer core in contrast to the inner crust, where both nonlinear and linear regimes of vortex creep are possible. Other implications for pulsar glitches and magnetic field evolution are also presented.

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arXiv2016

QPO frequency derivative - frequency correlation indicates non-Keplerian boundary layer with a maximum in rotation rate

The correlation between the frequency and the absolute value of the frequency derivative of the kilohertz QPOs observed for the first time from 4U 1636-53 is a simple consequence and indicator of the existence of a non-Keplerian rotation rate in the accretion disk boundary layer. This paper interprets the observed correlation, showing that the observations provide strong evidence in support of the fundamental assumption of disk accretion models around slow rotators, that the boundary layer matches the Keplerian disk to the neutron star magnetosphere.

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arXiv2014

Vortex Creep Against Toroidal Flux Lines, Crustal Entrainment, and Pulsar Glitches

A region of toroidally oriented quantized flux lines must exist in the proton superconductor in the core of the neutron star. This region will be a site of vortex pinning and creep. Entrainment of the neutron superfluid with the crustal lattice leads to a requirement of superfluid moment of inertia associated with vortex creep in excess of the available crustal moment of inertia. This will effect constraints on the equation of state. The toroidal flux region provides the moment of inertia necessary to complement the crust superfluid with postglitch relaxation behavior fitting the observations.

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arXiv2012

Fallback Disks, Magnetars and Other Neutron Stars

The presence of matter with angular momentum, in the form of a fallback disk around a young isolated neutron star will determine its evolution. This leads to an understanding of many properties of different classes of young neutron stars, in particular a natural explanation for the period clustering of AXPs, SGRs and XDINs. The spindown or spinup properties of a neutron star are determined by the dipole component of the magnetic field. The natural possibility that magnetars and other neutron stars may have different strengths of the dipole and higher multipole components of the magnetic field is now actually required by observations on the spindown rates of some magnetars. This talk gives a broad overview and some applications of the fallback disk model to particular neutron stars. Salient points are: (i) A fallback disk has already been observed around the AXP 4U 0142+61 some years ago. (ii) The low observed spindown rate of the SGR 0418+5729 provides direct evidence that the dipole component of the field is in the $10^{12} G$ range. All properties of the SGR 0418+5729 at its present age can be explained by spindown under torques from a fallback disk. (iii) The anomalous braking index of PSR J1734-3333 can also be explained by the fallback disk model which gives the luminosity, period, period derivative and the period second derivative at the present age. (iv) These and all applications to a variety of other sources employ the same disk physics and evolution, differing only in the initial conditions of the disk.

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arXiv2012

On kHz oscillations and characteristic frequencies of accreting magnetospheres

When an accreting star is close to rotational equilibrium between the dipole component of the stellar magnetic field and the accretion disk, the star's rotation rate is roughly of the order of the Keplerean rotation rate at the inner boundary of the disk, estimated as the conventional Alfven radius. A range of frequencies higher than this equilibrium rotation frequency can naturally arise if the accretion flow is channeled by higher multipoles of the star's magnetic field. The higher multipole components of the magnetic field will balance the material stresses of the accretion flow at radii closer to the star. The Kepler frequencies associated with these generalized Alfven radii increase with the order of the multipole. Other frequency bands, like the epicyclic frequencies associated with the accretion flow, may in turn be higher than the Kepler frequencies. We present expressions for the spectrum of higher frequencies arising due to these effects. Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillation frequencies that are much higher than the rotation rate of the neutron star, as observed from the recently discovered 11 Hz (P = 90 ms) X-ray pulsar IGR J17480-2446 in the globular cluster Terzan 5, may be due to modulation of the accretion rate by the excitation of these modes in the accretion flow. The very high QPO frequencies observed from the soft gamma repeaters SGR 1806-20 (P = 5.2 s) and SGR 1900+14 (P = 7.5 s) may also correspond to these characteristic frequencies if SGRs accrete from fallback disks around them.

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arXiv2008

A New Class of Radio Pulsars - Back in 1982

Basic ideas about the torques on the neutron star and the existence of an equilibrium rotation period followed from the recognition that most X-ray binaries contain accretion powered neutron stars. The evolution of binaries through a phase of accretion onto the neutron star, eventually leading to a post-accretion radio pulsar phase, was initially discussed as a way to understand the scarcity of binaries among the radio pulsars and the relatively short rotation periods of the first discovered binary radio pulsars in terms of magnetic fields that would be smaller than the familiar $10^{12} G$ range. The discovery of the millisecond pulsars made us realize that the fields can be much lower in a new class of radio pulsars that have been spun up by accretion in LMXBs. The predicted spin-down rates of the millisecond pulsar was soon confirmed. The observers' search for millisecond X-ray periods was on, leading first to the discovery of QPOs, and eventually to the discovery of the X-ray millisecond pulsars. The theorists' quest for explanations of why X-ray millisecond pulsations are not observed from LMXBs also started right away.

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arXiv2008

Quasi-periodic oscillations as global hydrodynamic modes in the boundary layers of viscous accretion disks

The observational characteristics of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) from accreting neutron stars strongly indicate the oscillatory modes in the innermost regions of accretion disks as a likely source of the QPOs. The inner regions of accretion disks around neutron stars can harbor very high frequency modes related to the radial epicyclic frequency $κ$. The degeneracy of $κ$ with the orbital frequency $Ω$ is removed in a non-Keplerian boundary or transition zone near the magnetopause between the disk and the compact object. We show, by analyzing the global hydrodynamic modes of long wavelength in the boundary layers of viscous accretion disks, that the fastest growing mode frequencies are associated with frequency bands around $κ$ and $κ\pm Ω$. The maximum growth rates are achieved near the radius where the orbital frequency $Ω$ is maximum. The global hydrodynamic parameters such as the surface density profile and the radial drift velocity determine which modes of free oscillations will grow at a given particular radius in the boundary layer. In accordance with the peak separation between kHz QPOs observed in neutron-star sources, the difference frequency between two consecutive bands of the fastest growing modes is always related to the spin frequency of the neutron star. This is a natural outcome of the boundary condition imposed by the rotating magnetosphere on the boundary region of the inner disk.

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arXiv2006

Is the Lack of Pulsations in Low Mass X-Ray Binaries due to Comptonizing Coronae?

The spin periods of the neutron stars in most Low Mass X-ray Binary (LMXB) systems still remain undetected. One of the models to explain the absence of coherent pulsations has been the suppression of the beamed signal by Compton scattering of X-ray photons by electrons in a surrounding corona. We point out that simultaneously with wiping out the pulsation signal, such a corona will upscatter (pulsating or not) X-ray emission originating at and/or near the surface of the neutron star leading to appearance of a hard tail of Comptonized radiation in the source spectrum. We analyze the hard X-ray spectra of a selected set of LMXBs and demonstrate that the optical depth of the corona is not likely to be large enough to cause the pulsations to disappear.

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arXiv2006

Anomalous X-ray pulsars: Persistent States with Fallback Disks

The anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 was recently detected in the mid infrared bands with the SPITZER Observatory (Wang, Chakrabarty & Kaplan 2006). This observation is the first instance for a disk around an AXP. From a reanalysis of optical and infrared data, we show that the observations indicate that the disk is likely to be an active disk rather than a passive dust disk beyond the light cylinder, as proposed in the discovering paper. Furthermore, we show that the irradiated accretion disk model can also account for all the optical and infrared observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsars in the persistent state.

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arXiv2006

Dim Isolated Neutron Stars, Cooling and Energy Dissipation

The cooling and reheating histories of dim isolated neutron stars(DINs) are discussed. Energy dissipation due to dipole spindown with ordinary and magnetar fields, and due to torques from a fallback disk are considered as alternative sources of reheating which would set the temperature of the neutron star after the initial cooling era. Cooling or thermal ages are related to the numbers and formation rates of the DINs and therefore to their relations with other isolated neutron star populations. Interaction with a fallback disk, higher multipole fields and activity of the neutron star are briefly discussed.

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arXiv2005

The Highest Dynamical Frequency in the Inner Region of an Accretion Disk

In the inner regions of accretion disks around compact objects, the orbital frequency of the gas deviates from the local Keplerian value. For long-wavelength modes in this region, the radial epicyclic frequency kappa is higher than the azimuthal frequency Omega. This has significant implications for models of the twin kHz QPOs observed in many neutron-star sources that traditionally identify the frequencies of the two kHz QPOs with dynamical frequencies in the accretion disk. The recognition that the highest frequency in the transition or boundary region of the disk is actually the epicyclic frequency also modifies significantly the constraints imposed by the observation of high-frequency QPOs on the mass and radius of the compact objects.

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arXiv2005

Neutron Star Superfluidity, Dynamics and Precession

Basic rotational and magnetic properties of neutron superfluids and proton superconductors in neutron stars are reviewed. The modes of precession of the neutron superfluid are discussed in detail. We emphasize that at finite temperature, pinning of superfluid vortices does not offer any constraint on the precession. Any pinning energies can be surmounted by thermal activation and there exists a dynamical steady state in which the superfluid follows the precession of the crust at a small lag angle between the crust and superfluid rotation velocity vectors. At this small lag the system is far from the critical conditions for unpinning, even if the observed precession of the crust may entail a large angle between the figure axis and the crust's rotation velocity vector. We conclude that if long period modulations of pulse arrival times and pulse shapes observed in a pulsar like the PSR B1828-11 are due to the precession of the neutron star, this does not have any binding implications about the existence of pinning by flux lines or the existence of Type II superconductivity in the neutron star.

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arXiv2004

On the Rotational Dynamics of Magnetically Threaded Disks around Neutron Stars

We investigate the rotational dynamics of disk accretion around a strongly magnetized neutron star with an aligned dipole field. The magnetospheric field is assumed to thread the disk plasma both inside and outside the corotation radius. As a result of disk-star interaction, the magnetic torque on the disk affects the structure of accretion flow to yield the observed spin-up or spin-down rates for a source of given fastness, magnetic field strength, and mass accretion rate. Within the model we obtain a prescription for the dynamical viscosity of such magnetically modified solutions for a Keplerian disk. We then use this prescription to find a model solution for the rotation rate profile throughout the entire disk including the non-Keplerian inner disk. We find that the non-Keplerian angular velocity transition region is not necessarily narrow for a source of given spin state. The boundary layer approximation, as in the standard magnetically threaded disk model, holds only in the case of dynamical viscosity decreasing all the way to the innermost edge of the disk. These results are applied to several observed disk-fed X-ray pulsars that have exhibited quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs). The QPO frequencies provide a constraint on the fastness parameter and enable one to determine uniquely the width of the angular velocity transition zone for each source within model assumptions. We discuss the implications of these results on the value of the critical fastness parameter for a magnetized star in spin equilibrium. Applications of our model are also made with relevant parameters from recent numerical simulations of quasi-stationary disk-magnetized star interactions.

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arXiv2003

Thin Disk Models of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars

We discuss the options of the fall-back disk model of Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs). We argue that the power-law index of the mass inflow rate during the propeller stage can be lower than those employed in earlier models. We take into account the effect of the super-critical mass inflow at the earliest stages on the inner radius of the disk and argue that the system starts as a propeller. Our results show that, assuming a fraction of the mass inflow is accreted onto the neutron star, the fall-back disk scenario can produce AXPs for acceptable parameters.

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arXiv2003

Can Thin Disks Produce Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars?

We investigate whether young neutron stars with fall-back disks can produce Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs) within timescales indicated by the ages of associated supernova remnants. The system passes through a propeller stage before emerging as an AXP or a radio pulsar. The evolution of the disk is described by a diffusion equation which has self-similar solutions with either angular momentum or total mass of the disk conserved. We associate these two types of solutions with accretor and propeller regimes, respectively. Our numerical calculations of thin disk models with changing inner radius take into account the super-critical accretion at the early stages, and electron scattering and bound-free opacities with rich metal content. Our results show that, assuming a fraction of the mass inflow is accreted onto the neutron star, the fall-back disk scenario can produce AXPs for acceptable parameters.

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arXiv2003

On the Enhanced X-ray Emission from SGR 1900+14 after the August 27 Giant Flare

We show that the giant flares of soft-gamma ray repeaters (E~10^44 ergs) can push the inner regions of a fall-back disk out to larger radii by radiation pressure, while matter remains bound to the system for plausible parameters. The subsequent relaxation of this pushed-back matter can account for the observed enhanced X-ray emission after the August 27 giant flare of SGR 1900+14. Based on the results of our models, we estimate that the ratio of the fluences of the enhanced X-ray emissions to that of the preceding bursts remains constant for a particular SGR with similar preburst inner disk conditions, which is consistent with the four different burst observations of SGR 1900+14.

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