New insights from a global view of X-ray bursts

Details New insights from a global view of X-ray bursts New insights from a global view of X-ray bursts

Dec 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987apj...323l..55f&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters to the Editor (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 323, Dec. 1, 1987, p. L55-L60.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

83

Neutron Stars, Stellar Mass Accretion, Stellar Temperature, X Ray Sources, Astronomical Models, Nuclear Fuels, Nuclear Reactions

Scientific paper

It is shown here that the behavior of nuclear burning on accreting neutron stars depends on the mass accretion rate per unit area sigma-dot, the temperature T, and the column density of accreted matter sigma, and is thus intrinsically a three-dimensional problem. The concepts of a nuclear fuel surface and an ignition surface in (sigma-dot, T, sigma) space is introduced. It is shown that certain cuts taken through the ignition surface correspond to particular physical situations. It is found that at high temperatures a succession of hydrogen flashes leads eventually to a pure helium flash. At low temperatures, compressional heating completely determines the burst behavior. Burst sources are expected to show highly erratic behavior if they lie near the boundaries of the H and He ignition surfaces, resolving a major discrepancy between the thermonuclear flash model and observations.

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