A new relativistic model for accretion-powered X-ray pulsars enables simultaneous computation of phase-averaged spectra and pulse profiles, applied to NuSTAR data for Her X-1 to extract physical parameters and beaming patterns.
Discovery of a Cyclotron Resonant Scattering Feature in the RXTE Spectrum of 4U 0352+309 (X Per)
1 Pith paper cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
abstract
We have discovered a ~29 keV Cyclotron Resonant Scattering Feature (CRSF) in the X-Ray spectrum of 4U 0352+309 (X Per) using observations taken with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. 4U 0352+309 is a persistent low luminosity (L_x = 4.2x10^34 ergs/s) X-ray pulsar, with a 837 s period and which accretes material from the Be star X Per. The X-Ray spectrum, unusual when compared to brighter accreting pulsars, may be due to the low mass accretion rate and could be typical of the new class of persistent low luminosity Be/X-Ray binary pulsars. We attempted spectral fits with continuum models used historically for 4U 0352+309, and found that all were improved by the addition of a CRSF at ~29 keV. The model that best fit the observations is a combination of a 1.45+/-0.02 keV blackbody with a 5.4x10^8 cm^2 area, and a power-law with a 1.83+/-0.03 photon index modified by the CRSF. In these fits the CRSF energy is 28.6+1.5-1.7 keV, implying a magnetic field strength of 2.5(1+z)x10^12 G in the scattering region (where z is the gravitational redshift). Phase resolved analysis shows that the blackbody and cyclotron line energies are consistent with being constant through the pulse.
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astro-ph.HE 1years
2026 1verdicts
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A New Relativistic Model for Spectral Formation in Accretion-Powered X-ray Pulsars: Pulse Profiles and Phase-Averaged Spectra
A new relativistic model for accretion-powered X-ray pulsars enables simultaneous computation of phase-averaged spectra and pulse profiles, applied to NuSTAR data for Her X-1 to extract physical parameters and beaming patterns.