磁星的观测特性和理论模型

磁星(magnetar)是一类有着极强磁场的致密天体,它们的外部磁场强度是典型中子星磁场强度的100～1 000倍。在过去几十年中,软γ射线复现源(SGR)和反常X射线脉冲星(AXP)被认为是最有可能的磁星候选者。磁星有着独特的能谱性质和光变特征,它的观测现象丰富多彩,其观测波段跨越了射电、红外、光学、X射线和γ射线等。近些年来,多种理论模型也相继被提出来,以解释其独特的性质。以正常脉冲星为例,介绍了磁星与通常中子星的不同性质,详述了磁星在多波段的能谱、光变及周期跃变现象等观测特性,总结了为解释磁星的特殊性质而建立起来的多种理论模型,并详述了中子星框架下的扭曲磁层模型。此外还介绍了其他候选模型。     

中子星的热演化和磁衰减

本研究了中子星的热演化，自转演化和磁场演化的相互影响，考虑了一个自洽模型，中子星因磁偶极辐射而自转减慢，在内部产生某些加热过程，中子星磁场通过壳层的欧姆耗散来衰减。结果表明，磁场衰减提高了加热过程的重要性，相反，加热效应减慢了磁衰减，因此可以得出，中子星的热，自转和磁场也许不是独立演化的，不仅如此，这些演化与初始条件有关，因此，人们也许可以从射电和Ｘ射线观测对脉冲星年龄，初始磁场和周期给出某些限     

中子星的热演化和磁衰减

本文研究了中子星的热演化、自转演化和磁场演化的相互影响．考虑了一个自洽模型：中子星因磁偶极辐射而自转减慢，在内部产生某些加热过程，中子星磁场通过壳层的欧姆耗散来衰减．结果表明，磁场衰减提高了加热过程的重要性；相反，加热效应减慢了磁衰减．因此可以得出，中子星的热、自转和磁场也许不是独立演化的．不仅如此，这些演化与初始条件有关，因此，人们也许可以从射电和Ｘ射线观测对脉冲星年龄、初始磁场和周期给出某些限制．     

小质量X射线双星中中子星自转演化的研究

为解释毫秒脉冲星自转周期的观测数据和理论结果之间的差异,采用数值分析的方法研究了小质量X射线双星中中子星的自转演化.在计算中,分别考虑了辐射压和中子星辐照引起的物质交流的不稳定性对系统的影响.结果如下:(1)吸积盘内的辐射压会使自转周期有小幅增加,中子星辐照导致的物质传输率的变化会缩短演化路径中自转减慢的阶段;(2)同时考虑辐射压和中子星辐照时在物质传输的高态阶段吸积会被辐射压抑制;(3)吸积的质量和快参数影响达到自转平衡的系统数目.     

作为X射线脉冲星的磁星

研究表明，与磁星模型相比较，反常X射线脉冲星的加速模型不能说明所观测到的自转周期的分布。为了解释熟知的最慢X射线脉冲星2S 0114＋650的性质，其磁场强度必须大于10^14Gs，即它诞生时即为一磁体。     

X射线脉冲星周期的变化与吸积盘边界的K-H不稳定性

本文在中子星磁层与吸积盘之间引入了一个速度、密度、压强和磁场都连续变化的有限厚度的剪切层,以代替Anzer理论中的切向间断面,用磁流体力学方法讨论了中子星磁层与吸积盘交界处等离子体可压缩情况下平面波扰动的K-H不稳定性。结果表明,K-H不稳定性依然存在,径向波矢扰动成为不稳定的主要模式。文中特别讨论了剪切层厚度取值对中子星自转的影响,表明适当调节剪切层厚度就可解释X射线脉冲星周期的变化。将此模型应用到脉冲X射线源Her X-1上,得到较好的结果。     

特殊类型脉冲星的研究进展

脉冲星是演化末期的大质量恒星经过核坍缩形成的产物,它们在天体物理学、粒子物理学和卫星导航等方面具有重要的应用。自脉冲星发现50年来,其观测和理论研究取得了巨大进展。脉冲星主要在射电波段被探测到,部分脉冲星也有X射线和γ射线等波段的辐射,它们的信息非常丰富。根据其不同的观测特征可以把脉冲星分为多种类型。主要对射电、X射线以及γ射线波段的特殊类型脉冲星,包括旋转射电暂现源、间歇脉冲星、态转换X射线脉冲星、磁星、暗X射线孤立中子星、中心致密天体以及γ射线脉冲星的基本性质及其研究进展进行综述。     

中子星吸积加速与引力辐射影响

研究了中子星双星系统吸积过程中的中子星自旋加速,得到其周期随着吸积质量的变化关系,并且通过对中子星磁场与周期演化分析,对比脉冲星的观测,获得了理论与观测类似的结果,在此基础上,研究了引力辐射作用对中子星自旋加速过程的影响,并且推导了吸积过程中中子星自旋周期变化率,探讨了吸积与引力辐射影响相当的临界角速度Ω_(cr),评估了中子星的自旋在引力辐射下的影响.     

作为X射线脉冲星的磁星

研究表明 ,与磁星模型相比较 ,反常X射线脉冲星的加速模型不能说明所观测到的自转周期的分布。为了解释熟知的最慢X射线脉冲星 2S 0 114+6 5 0的性质 ,其磁场强度必须大于 10 14 Gs ,即它诞生时即为一磁体。     

毫秒脉冲星

毫秒脉冲星PSR1937 214的发现是近几年天体物理学中的一次重要事件。本文介绍了该星的发现史和主要观测事实。该星自转周期为1.557806449023毫秒,是转动最快的脉冲星。周期变率为1.24×10~(-19)秒/秒。在它的周围没有明亮的超新星遗迹。这颗脉冲星的引人注目的特征是磁场低和在P—P图上位置独特。文中还评述了解释这颗脉冲星的四种模型;(1)起源于吸积X射线双星的中子星,通过从伴星吸积物质而加速到毫秒周期;(2)Michel和Dessler提出的盘模型脉冲星中的普通一员;(3)双中子星并合体;(4)辐射年龄小的脉冲星。最后一种可能性是本文作者提出的。根据具有相似特征的脉冲星倾向于分布在同一条PP~(-5)等值线及可按等值线排成演化序列的事实,作者按光速圆柱磁能衰减来定义脉冲星辐射年龄t:B/8π∝PP~(-5)=C_0exp(-2t/τ)(τ为磁能衰减时标),井据此认为PSR1937 214和蟹状星云脉冲星、船帆座脉冲星都是辐射年轻的。     

On the Carbon—Star Status of Five Stars in a New Carbon Star Catalog

We find that five sources listed in the new carbon star catalog are not really carbon-rich objects but oxygen-rich stars, because they all have the prominent 10μm silicate features in absorption and the 1612MHz OH maser emission or/and the SiO molecular features. These objects were considered as carbon stars in the catalog based only on their locations in the infrared two-color diagram. Therefore to use the infrared two-color diagram to distinguish carbon-rich stars from oxygenrich stars must be done with caution, because, in general, it has only a statistical meaning.     

A study of X-ray flares – I. Active late-type dwarfs

We present temporal and spectral characteristics of X-ray flares observed from six late-type G–K active dwarfs (V368 Cep, XI Boo, IM Vir, V471 Tau, CC Eri and EP Eri) using data from observations with the XMM–Newton observatory. All the stars were found to be flaring frequently and altogether a total of 17 flares were detected above the 'quiescent' state X-ray emission which varied from 0.5 to  8.3 × 10²⁹ erg s⁻¹  . The largest flare was observed in a low-activity dwarf XI Boo with a decay time of 10 ks and ratio of peak flare luminosity to 'quiescent' state luminosity of 2. We have studied the spectral changes during the flares by using colour–colour diagram and by detailed spectral analysis during the temporal evolution of the flares. The exponential decay of the X-ray light curves, and time evolution of the plasma temperature and emission measure are similar to those observed in compact solar flares. We have derived the semiloop lengths of flares based on the hydrodynamic flare model. The size of the flaring loops is found to be less than the stellar radius. The hydrodynamic flare decay analysis indicates the presence of sustained heating during the decay of most flares.     

Near-infrared and optical studies of the fast nova V4643 Sgr (Nova Sagittarii 2001)

It is generally accepted that the presence of a hot magnetic corona provides the source of X-ray emission in cool stars. With this connection one could expect to see the variation of magnetic flux in the activity cycle of a star mirrored by a similar variation in the stars X-ray emission. Using magnetic maps produced from flux emergence and transport simulations and assuming a potential field for the corona, we can extrapolate the coronal magnetic field and hence calculate the variation of the X-ray emission. We consider three types of activity cycle that successfully reproduce the pattern of intermingled magnetic flux at high latitudes, a feature observed with Zeeman–Doppler imaging. The three different cycles take the form of (1) an enhanced butterfly pattern where flux emergence is extended to a latitude of 70°, (2) an extended emergence profile as before but with an overlap of 4 yr in the butterfly diagram and (3) where no butterfly diagram is used. The cyclic variation in the X-ray emission is around two orders of magnitude for cases (1) and (3), but less than one order of magnitude for case (2). For all three cases, the rotational modulation of the X-ray emission is greatest at cycle minimum, but the emission measure weighted density varies little over the cycle. For cases (1) and (2) the fraction of the total flux that is open (along which a wind can escape) varies little over the cycle, but for case (3) this is three times larger at cycle minimum than at maximum. Our results clearly show that although magnetic cycles may exist for stars they are not necessarily observable in the X-ray emission.     

The impact of meridional circulation on stellar butterfly diagrams and polar caps

Observations of rapidly rotating solar-like stars show a significant mixture of opposite-polarity magnetic fields within their polar regions. To explain these observations, models describing the surface transport of magnetic flux demand the presence of fast meridional flows. Here, we link subsurface and surface magnetic flux transport simulations to investigate (i) the impact of meridional circulations with peak velocities of  ≤125 m s⁻¹  on the latitudinal eruption pattern of magnetic flux tubes and (ii) the influence of the resulting butterfly diagrams on polar magnetic field properties. Prior to their eruption, magnetic flux tubes with low field strengths and initial cross-sections below  ∼300 km  experience an enhanced poleward deflection through meridional flows (assumed to be polewards at the top of the convection zone and equatorwards at the bottom). In particular, flux tubes which originate between low and intermediate latitudes within the convective overshoot region are strongly affected. This latitude-dependent poleward deflection of erupting magnetic flux renders the wings of stellar butterfly diagrams distinctively convex. The subsequent evolution of the surface magnetic field shows that the increased number of newly emerging bipoles at higher latitudes promotes the intermingling of opposite polarities of polar magnetic fields. The associated magnetic flux densities are about 20 per cent higher than in the case disregarding the pre-eruptive deflection, which eases the necessity for fast meridional flows predicted by previous investigations. In order to reproduce the observed polar field properties, the rate of the meridional circulation has to be of the order of 100 m s⁻¹, and the latitudinal range from which magnetic flux tubes originate at the base of the convective zone (≲50°) must be larger than in the solar case (≲35°).     

Matching the frequency spectrum of pre-main sequence stars by means of standard and rotating models

We applied the aton evolutionary code to the computation of detailed grids of standard (non-rotating) and rotating pre-main sequence (PMS) models and computed their adiabatic oscillation spectra, with the aim of exploring the seismic properties of young stars. As, until now, only a few frequencies have been determined for ∼40 PMS stars, the way of approaching the interpretation of the oscillations is not unique. We adopt a method similar to the matching mode method by Guenther and Brown making use, when necessary, also of our rotating evolutionary code to compute the models for PMS stars. The method is described by a preliminary application to the frequency spectrum of two PMS stars (85 and 278) in the young open cluster NGC 6530. For the Star 85, we confirm with self-consistent rotating models, previous interpretation of the data, attributing three close frequencies to the mode   n = 4, l = 1  and   m = 0  , +1 and −1. For the Star 278, we find a different fit for the frequencies, corresponding to a model within the original error box of the star, and dispute the possibility that this star has a T _eff much cooler that the red boundary of the radial instability strip.     

The broad-band noise characteristics of selected anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters

We present the broad-band noise structure of selected anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) in the 2–60 keV energy band. We have analysed Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array archival light curves for four AXPs and one SGR. We detect that the persistent emission of these sources shows band-limited noise at low frequencies in the range 0.005–0.05 Hz varying from 2.5 to 70 per cent integrated rms in times of prolonged quiescence and following outbursts. We discovered band-limited red noise in 1E 2259+586 only for ∼2 yr after its major 2002 outburst. The system shows no broad-band noise otherwise. Although this rise in noise in 1E 2259+586 occurred following an outburst which included a rotational glitch, the other glitching AXPs showed no obvious change in broad-band noise, thus it does not seem that this noise is correlated with glitches. The only source that showed significant variation in broad-band noise was 1E   1048.1−5937  , where the noise gradually rose for 1.95 yr at a rate of ∼3.6 per cent per year. For this source the increases in broad-band noise was not correlated with the large increases in persistent and pulsed flux, or its two short SGR-like bursts. This rise in noise did commence after a long burst, however, given the sparsity of this event, and the possibility that similar bursts went unnoticed the trigger for the rise is noise in 1E   1048.1−5937  is not as clear as for 1E 2259+586. The other three sources indicate a persistent band-limited noise at low levels in comparison.     

X-ray emission from stellar coronae

Summary Stars of nearly all spectral types and luminosity classes are surrounded by tenuous high-temperature (T10⁶-10⁷K) coronae, which emit most of their radiation in the soft X-ray part of the spectrum. This paper reviews our present observational knowledge and theoretical understanding of stellar coronae, as has emerged from the extensive observations carried out with theEinstein and EXOSAT Observatories. We argue that different physical mechanisms are likely to be responsible for coronal emission in different parts of the HR diagram and we discuss the principal scenarios that have been proposed to account for the data. We show that in spite of the enormous progress made during the past decade, our understanding of stellar coronal emission remains incomplete and largely phenomenological. We outline major unsolved problems to be addressed by future space missions.     

High Resolution Spectroscopy of Halo Stars in the Near UV and Blue Region I. Spectra in the Wavelength Region 3550-5000 A

An atlas of high resolution (R = 60 000) CCD-spectra in the wavelength range 3500-5000A is presented for four objects in metallicity range -3.0 < [Fe/H] < -0.6, temperature range 4750 < Teff < 5900 K, and surface gravity range 1.6 < lgg < 5.0. We describe the calibration of the stellar atmospheric parameters using Alonso's formula based on the method of infrared flux and outline the determination of the abundances of a total number of 25 chemical elements. An analysis of the abundance determination errors for different chemical elements is carried out, and a method is provided for the observations and reduction of spectral material. Properties of the method of producing an atlas of spectra and line identifications are described.