Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Apr 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002aps..aprn17062c&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, April Meeting, Jointly Sponsored with the High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American As
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
We present the results of searches for cyclotron lines in phRXTE (2--250 keV) spectra of 12 accreting pulsars. Cyclotron lines are line-like spectral features that arise from resonant scattering of photons on electrons, and whose energies are directly proportional to the magnetic field strength in the scattering region. We describe a method for calculating upper-limits on the allowed optical depth of Gaussian-shaped absorption lines as a function of line energy and width, and give the results of its application to our sample of pulsar spectra. Also, using recent results of fitting pulsar spectra where cyclotron lines are observed, we compare our limits with the energy, width, and optical depth predicted by the shape of the X-Ray continuum. Although we find that in many cases a line is undetectable given the statistical significance of the data, for several sources we can with some certainty rule out the existence of a cyclotron line. The causes for why some pulsar spectra should exhibit cyclotron lines while others do not are unknown, although they may be related to the viewing angle with respect to the magnetic field of the pulsar polar emission regions.
Coburn Wayne
Heindl William
Kretschmar Peter
Kreykenbohm Ingo
Rothschild Richard
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