A Double Outburst from IGR J00291+5934: Implications for Accretion Disk Instability Theory
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Author(s)
Galloway, Duncan K.
Chakrabarty, Deepto
Hartman, Jacob M., Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date Issued
January 2011
Journal
Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
Institute of Physics Publishing
Citation
Hartman, Jacob M., Duncan K. Galloway, and Deepto Chakrabarty. “A DOUBLE OUTBURST FROM IGR J00291+5934: IMPLICATIONS FOR ACCRETION DISK INSTABILITY THEORY.” The Astrophysical Journal 726.1 (2011): 26. Web.
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Final published version
Abstract
The accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 underwent two ~10 day long outbursts during 2008, separated by 30 days in quiescence. Such a short quiescent period between outbursts has never been seen before from a neutron star X-ray transient. X-ray pulsations at the 599 Hz spin frequency are detected throughout both outbursts. For the first time, we derive a pulse phase model that connects two outbursts, providing a long baseline for spin frequency measurement. Comparison with the frequency measured during the 2004 outburst of this source gives a spin-down during quiescence of –(4 ± 1) × 10[superscript –15] Hz s[superscript –1], approximately an order of magnitude larger than the long-term spin-down observed in the 401 Hz accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4–3658. If this spin-down is due to magnetic dipole radiation, it requires a 2 × 10[superscript 8] G field strength, and its high spin-down luminosity may be detectable with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Alternatively, this large spin-down could be produced by gravitational wave emission from a fractional mass quadrupole moment of Q/I = 1 × 10[superscript –9]. The rapid succession of the outbursts also provides a unique test of models for accretion in low-mass X-ray binaries. Disk instability models generally predict that an outburst will leave the accretion disk too depleted to fuel a second outburst after such a brief quiescence. We suggest a modification in which the outburst is shut off by the onset of a propeller effect before the disk is depleted. This model can explain the short quiescence and the unusually slow rise of the light curve of the second 2008 outburst.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/726/1/26
