Physics – High Energy Physics – High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Scientific paper
2002-11-14
Astrophys.J. 589 (2003) 481-486
Physics
High Energy Physics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
7 pages, 5 figures. Updates to match accepted version in Astrophys. J
Scientific paper
10.1086/374551
The magnetospheres of accreting neutron stars develop electrostatic gaps with huge potential drops. Protons and ions, accelerated in these gaps along the dipolar magnetic field lines to energies greater than 100 TeV, can impact onto a surrounding accretion disc. A proton-induced cascade so develops, and $\nu$-emission is produced from charged pion decays. Using GEANT4, a computer code that tracks particles produced in high energy collisions, we have calculated the resulting $\nu$-spectrum with extensive disc shower simulations. We show that the $\nu$-spectrum produced out of the proton beam is a power law. We use this result to propose accretion-powered X-ray binaries (with highly magnetized neutron stars) as a new population of point-like $\nu$-sources for km-scale detectors, such as ICECUBE. As a particular example we discuss the case of A0535+26. We show that ICECUBE should find A0535+26 to be a periodic $\nu$-source: one for which the formation and loss of its accretion disc can be fully detected. Finally, we briefly comment on the possibility that smaller telescopes, like AMANDA, could also detect A0535+26 by folding observations with the orbital period.
Aharonian Felix A.
Anchordoqui Luis A.
McCauley Thomas P.
Romero Gustavo E.
Torres Diego F.
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