Compact Stellar X-ray Sources


Book Description

X-ray astronomy is the prime available window on astrophysical compact objects: black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs. In this book, prominent experts provide a comprehensive overview of the observations and astrophysics of these objects. This is a valuable reference for graduate students and active researchers.




X-ray Binaries


Book Description

X-ray binaries are some of the most varied and perplexing systems known to astronomers. The compact object which accretes mass from its companion star may be a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole, whereas the donor star can be a 'normal' star or a white dwarf. The various combinations differ widely in their behaviour, and this timely volume provides a unique reference of our knowledge to date of all of them.Fifteen specially written chapters by a team of the world's foremost researchers in the field explore all aspects of the X-ray binaries. They cover the X-ray, ultraviolet, optical and radio properties of these violent systems and address key issues such as: how were these systems formed, and what will be their fate; how can we understand X-ray bursts, and how the quasi-periodic oscillations; what is the connection between millisecond radio pulsars and low-mass X-ray binaries; and how does the magnetic field of a neutron star decay?This long awaited review provides graduate students and researchers with the standard reference on X-ray binaries for many years to come.




Accretion-powered Compact Binaries


Book Description

This book is a well-edited and comprehensive survey of the current research in the field of low-mass accretion powered compact binaries, that is, binary stars containing a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole as the primary star and a Roche-lobe filling low-mass as the secondary star. These stars have reached a stage in their evolution where the transfer of mass from the giant phase onto a dwarf or sub-dwarf star demonstrates many different aspects of physics. The volume is essentially a complete analysis of these stars combining theory and observation, and covering observations of low-mass X-ray binaries and both magnetic and nonmagnetic cataclysmic variables, theories of stellar accretion, novae, and evolution of compact binaries.




The Universe in X-Rays


Book Description

With contributions from leading scientists in the field, and edited by two of the most prominent astronomers of our time, this is a totally authoritative volume on X-ray astronomy that will be essential reading for everyone interested – from students to astrophysicists and physicists. All the aspects of this exciting area of study are covered, from astronomical instrumentation to extragalactic X-ray astronomy.




Rotation and Accretion Powered Pulsars


Book Description

This book is an introduction to pulsars, a key area in high energy astrophysics with continuing potential for fundamental discoveries. Throughout the book runs the unifying thread of the evolutionary link between rotation-powered pulsars and accretion-powered pulsars OCo a milestone of modern astrophysics. Early textbooks on pulsars dealt almost entirely with rotation-powered ones, while accounts of pulsars in volumes on X-ray binaries focused almost exclusively on accretion-powered ones. This is the first textbook to treat these two kinds of pulsars simultaneously with equal importance, stressing the fact that both are rotating, magnetic neutron stars, operating under different conditions during different parts of their lives. It describes the observational properties of both kinds of pulsars, summarizes our physical understanding of these properties, and pays detailed attention to the physics of superdense matter which neutron stars are composed of, as well as to the superfluidity which is expected to occur in neutron stars. Evolution from rotation-power to accretion-power, and vice versa, are carefully described. The effects of the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars on themselves, their emission properties, and their environments are discussed, as are the origin and evolution of such magnetic fields. Also treated is the superbly accurate verification of Einstein''s theory of general relativity through timing studies of binary pulsars, which led to the award of the Nobel Prize to Hulse and Taylor in 1993. On each topic, the book starts with simple, basic physical concepts, and builds up the exposition to the point where the latest and most exciting developments become accessible to the reader."




Accretion and Winds


Book Description

In order to bring the scientific events of the meetings of the Astronomische Gesellschaft (AG) to the attention of the worldwide astronomical community, an annual publication, Reviews in Modern Astronomy, was established. It is devoted exclusively to . the invited reviews, the Karl Schwarz schild lectures, and the high light contributions from leading scientists reporting on recent progress and scientific achievements at their respective institutes. This third volume continues the yearbook series of publications of the society. It comprises the complete set of contributions presented during the spring meeting of the AG at Berlin in March 1990, which was dedicated to the topic "Accretion and Winds". In addition four latecomers (two review and two highlight papers) delivered at the fall meeting at Graz, Austria in September 1989 close this volume. Heidelberg, September 1990 G: Klare Contents Some New Elements in Accretion Disk Theory By F. Meyer (With 5 Figures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Mass Transfer and Evolution in Close Binaries By A. R. King (With 4 Figures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Radiation Hydrodynamics of the Boundary Layer of Accretion Disks in Cataclysmic Variables By W. Kley (With 6 Figures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Curious Observations of Cataclysmic Variables By F. V. Hessman (With 10 Figures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Accretion in AM Herculis Stars 44 By A. D. Schwope (With 12 Figures) X-ray Diagnostics of Accretion Disks By G. Hasinger (With 12 Figures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Accretion Phenomena at Neutron Stars By A. Rebetzky, H. Herold, U. Kraus, H. -P. Nollert, and H. Ruder (With 13 Figures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




The Evolution of Galactic X-Ray Binaries


Book Description

The idea to hold a conference on the Evolution of Close-Binary X-ray sources grew in the summer of 1984. At that time we were hoping that some new results would be harvested in the months to come which would stimulate further work. We were particularly looking towards the Euro pean X-ray Observatory, EXOSAT, for new contributions. How lucky we were; quite unexpected developments took place. Just prior to the conference, quasi-periodic oscillations (now known as QPO) were discovered in three bright low-mass X-ray binaries: GX 5-1, Sco X-1, and Cyg X-2. They played an important role at the meeting. The possibility that QPOs imply a neutron star magnetic dipole field, and a neutron star rotation period in the millisecond range, received a lot of attention. This is not surprising, as it lends support to the idea, suggested earlier, that the 6-msec binary radio pulsar PSR 1953+29 evolved from a stage in which it was a bright low-mass X-ray binary. There was special interest in the possibility of white dwarf collapse into a neutron star. This is a. particularly attractive way to form the bright low-mass X-ray binaries, often referred to as galactic bulge sources. It would allow for the possibility of a very young neutron star in a very old binary system. The relatively high magnetic fields that one could infer from QPO could then be explained.




General Relativity and Gravitation 1992, Proceedings of the Thirteenth INT Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation, held at Cordoba, Argentina, 28 June - July 4 1992


Book Description

General Relativity and Gravitation 1992 contains the best of 700 papers presented at the tri-annual INT conference, generally recognized as the key conference in the area. The plenary and invited papers are published in full, along with summaries of parallel symposia and workshops. The list of plenary speakers is as impressive as ever, with contributions from Jim Hartle, Roger Penrose, and Lee Smolin among many others.




The Epoch of Galaxy Formation


Book Description

Scientists in the late twentieth century are not the first to view galaxy formation as a phenomenon worthy of explanation in terms of the known laws of physics. Already in 1754 Kant regarded the problem as essentially solved. In his Univerlal Natural Hutory and Theory 0/ the H eaven$ he wrote; "If in the immesurable space in which all the suns of the Milky Way have formed themselves, we assume a point around which, through some cause or other, the first formation of nature out of chaoo began, there the largest mass and a body of extraordinary attraction will have arisen which has thereby become capable of compelling all the systems in the process of being formed within an enormous sphere around it, to fall towards itself as their centre, and to build up a system around it on the great scale . . . . Observation puts this conjecture almost beyond doubt. " More than 200 years later, a similar note of confidence was voiced by Zel'dovicb at an IAU symposium held in Tallin in 1911; "Extrapolating . . . to the next symposium somewhere in the early eighties one can be pretty sure that the question of the formation of galaxies and clusters will be solved in the next few years. " Perhaps few astronomers today would share Kant's near certainty or feel that Zel'dovich's prophecy has been fulfilled, Many, however, will sympathize with the optimistic olltlook of these two statements.