Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Mar 1991
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991apj...369..179b&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 369, March 1, 1991, p. 179-190.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
23
Cyclotron Radiation, Pulsars, Radiative Transfer, Stellar Mass Accretion, Thomson Scattering, X Ray Sources, Compton Effect, Optical Thickness, Scattering Cross Sections
Scientific paper
A resonant scattering model for photon reprocessing in a pulsar accretion column is presented. The accretion column is optically thin to Thomson scattering and optically thick to resonant scattering at the cyclotron frequency. Radiation from the neutron star surface propagates freely through the column until the photon energy equals the local cyclotron frequency, at which point the radiation is scattered, much of it back toward the star. The radiation pressure in this regime is insufficient to stop the infall. Some of the scattered radiation heats the stellar surface around the base of the column, which adds a softer component to the spectrum. The partial blocking by the accretion column of X-rays from the surface produces a fan beam emission pattern. X-rays above the surface cyclotron frequency freely escape and are characterized by a pencil beam. Gravitational light bending produces a pencil beam pattern of column-scattered radiation in the antipodal direction, resulting in a strongly angle-dependent cyclotron feature.
Brainerd Jerome J.
Meszaros Peter
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