Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 1985
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1985apj...293..268f&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 293, June 1, 1985, p. 268-272.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
20
Accretion Disks, Gas Viscosity, Neutron Stars, X Ray Binaries, X Ray Sources, Boundary Layer Plasmas, Entropy, Nuclear Fusion, Photosphere, Radiation Pressure, Radiative Heat Transfer, Reynolds Number, Thermal Conductivity
Scientific paper
The structure of the boundary layer where the accretion disk interacts with an accreting neutron star surface is studied using a one-zone approximation to observe the effects of the accretion on the thermal structure of the surface layers and on the progress of shell burning. The kinematic viscosity is parameterized by means of the critical Reynolds number. It is found that for higher accretion rate, an optically thick boundary layer is formed, where radiation pressure is dominant. As long as it remains optically thick, the observable properties of the boundary layer are rather insensitive to the assumption of viscosity and are determined solely by the accretion rate. The boundary layer lies well inside the stellar photosphere, where the dissipation of kinetic energy plays a critical role in heating the envelope and in leading to the ignition of shell flashes. Results are discussed on the possible modifications of the X-ray burst model from that constructed under spherical symmetry and on their relevance to X-ray observations of low-mass binary systems.
Fujimoto Masayuki Y.
Hōshi Reiun
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