Physics
Scientific paper
Aug 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006iaujd...6e..20s&link_type=abstract
Neutron Stars and Black Holes in Star Clusters, 26th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion 6, 17-18 August 2006, Prague, Czech Re
Physics
Scientific paper
The thermal instability of an accretion disk is thought to play a large role in the activity of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). Our analysis of the neutron star LMXB KS1731-260 using the ASM/RXTE observations shows how a large decrease of the mass transfer rate leads to the transition between a thermally stable and unstable disk. On this remarkable system we show that the transition from a persistent X-ray source to quiescence (or even hibernation) goes through a series of outbursts similar to soft X-ray transients (SXTs). These outbursts displayed a trend of a steady decrease of the peak intensity, but not of the total energy radiated during a given outburst. We also show that this peak intensity lied on the extrapolation of the decaying level of the persistent emission prior to the onset of the instability. We bring arguments that, however, the state of the long-term activity of the "classical" SXTs is not the same as in KS1731-260. Especially the well-observed neutron star SXTs (e.g. Aql X-1, 4U1608-52) display outbursting activity in which the disk alternates between the cold and hot state. On the contrary, the disk in KS1731-260 appears to be depleted during a short time interval and the system may be in a hibernation state now. In addition, we find that already when KS1731-260 was a persistent X-ray source, its spectrum in the 1.5-12 keV passband underwent a gradual evolution, only loosely related to the current luminosity.
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