Flaring interactions between accretion disk and neutron star magnetosphere.
Abstract
The effect of magnetic reconnections between the magnetosphere of a neutron star and the accretion disk is considered using a model of a neutron-star/disk system, which assumes the existence of magnetic 'loops' anchored in the disk and extending into a corona on both sides of the disk. It is shown that these magnetic links are efficient transmitters of angular momentum. At the disk plane, the linked field is forced to rotate with near-Keplerian velocity, while it corotates with the star at the other end. The magnetic energy is stored in the sheared and expanding field link, which is released upon a transition to a lower energy state again caused by reconnection. This process leads to a release of flaring energy in the magnetosphere and to the transport of angular momentum between the disk and the star. It is proposed that these magnetic flares might be an explanation for quasi-periodic oscillations.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- January 1990
- Bibcode:
- 1990A&A...227..473A
- Keywords:
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- Accretion Disks;
- Neutron Stars;
- Stellar Flares;
- Stellar Magnetospheres;
- X Ray Binaries;
- Angular Velocity;
- Magnetic Field Reconnection;
- Stellar Coronas;
- Stellar Magnetic Fields;
- Stellar Oscillations;
- Astrophysics