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Abstract
Runaway thermonuclear burning of a layer of accumulated fuel on the surface of a compact star provides a brief but intense display of stellar nuclear processes. For neutron stars accreting from a binary companion, these events manifest as thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts, and recur on typical timescales of hours to days. We measured the burst rate as a function of accretion rate, from seven neutron stars with known spin rates, using a burst sample accumulated over several decades. At the highest accretion rates, the burst rate is lower for faster spinning stars. The observations imply that fast (>400 Hz) rotation encourages stabilization of nuclear burning, suggesting a dynamical dependence of nuclear ignition on the spin rate. This dependence is unexpected, because faster rotation entails less shear between the surrounding accretion disk and the star. Large-scale circulation in the fuel layer, leading to enhanced mixing of the burst ashes into the fuel layer, may explain this behavior; further numerical simulations are required to confirm this.
Original language | English |
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Article number | L24 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal Letters |
Volume | 857 |
Issue number | 2 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISSN | 2041-8205 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Keywords
- Nuclear reactions
- Nucleosynthesis
- Abundances
- Stars: neutron
- Stars: rotation
- X-rays: bursts
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Dive into the research topics of 'The Influence of Stellar Spin on Ignition of Thermonuclear Runaways'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
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JEM-X: The JEM-X X-ray monitor on INTEGRAL
Brandt, S. (PI), Chenevez, J. (Project Participant), Westergaard, N. J. S. (Project Participant), Oxborrow, C. A. (Project Participant), Budtz-Jørgensen, C. (Project Participant), Lund, N. (Project Participant), Rasmussen, I. L. (Project Participant) & Villa, G. P. (Project Participant)
17/10/2002 → …
Project: Research