On Electrostatic Positron Acceleration In The Accretion Flow Onto Neutron Stars

Details On Electrostatic Positron Acceleration In The Accretion Flow Onto Neutron Stars On Electrostatic Positron Acceleration In The Accretion Flow Onto Neutron Stars

1996-11-29

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9612001v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

9 pages plus 3 postscript figures, to be published in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/304137

As first shown by Shvartsman (1970), a neutron star accreting close to the Eddington limit must acquire a positive charge in order for electrons and protons to move at the same speed. The resulting electrostatic field may contribute to accelerating positrons produced near the star surface in conjunction with the radiative force. We reconsider the balance between energy gains and losses, including inverse Compton (IC), bremsstrahlung and non--radiative scatterings. It is found that, even accounting for IC losses only, the maximum positron energy never exceeds $\approx 400$ keV. The electrostatic field alone may produce energies $\approx 50$ keV at most. We also show that Coulomb collisions and annihilation with accreting electrons severely limit the number of positrons that escape to infinity.

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