Search

Large-scale structure (LSS) surveys will increasingly provide stringent constraints on our cosmological models. Recently, the density-marked correlation function (MCF) has been introduced, offering an easily computable density-correlation statistic. Simulations have demonstrated that MCFs offer additional, independent constraints on cosmological models beyond the standard two-point correlation (2PCF). In this study, we apply MCFs for the first time to SDSS CMASS data, aiming to investigate the statistical information regarding clustering and anisotropy properties in the Universe and assess the performance of various weighting schemes in MCFs. Upon analyzing the CMASS data, we observe that, by combining different weights ($\alpha = [-0.2, 0, 0.2, 0.6]$), the MCFs provide a tight and independent constraint on the cosmological parameter $\Omega_m$, yielding $\Omega_m = 0.293 \pm0.006$ at the $1\sigma$ level, which represents a significant reduction in the statistical error by a factor of 3.4 compared to that from 2PCF. Our constraint is consistent with recent findings from the small-scale clustering of BOSS galaxies \cite{arXiv:2203.08999v2} within the 1$\sigma$ level. However, we also find that our estimate is lower than the Planck measurements by about 2.6$\sigma$, indicating the potential presence of new physics beyond the standard cosmological model if all the systematics are fully corrected. The method outlined in this study can be extended to other surveys and datasets, allowing for the constraint of other cosmological parameters. Additionally, it serves as a valuable tool for forthcoming emulator analysis on the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST)., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures

In this paper, we prove the concavity of the Shannon entropy power for the heat equation associated with the Laplacian or the Witten Laplacian on complete Riemannian manifolds with suitable curvature-dimension condition and on compact super Ricci flows. Under suitable curvature-dimension condition, we prove that the rigidity models of the Shannon entropy power are Einstein or quasi Einstein manifolds with Hessian solitons. Moreover, we prove the convexity of the Shannon entropy power for the conjugate heat equation introduced by G. Perelman on Ricci flow and that the corresponding rigidity models are the shrinking Ricci solitons. As an application, we prove the entropy isoperimetric inequality on complete Riemannian manifolds with non-negative (Bakry-Emery) Ricci curvature and the maximal volume growth condition.

The low braking-index pulsar PSR J1734$-$3333 could be born with superhigh internal magnetic fields $B_{\rm in}\sim10^{15}-10^{16}$ G, and undergo a supercritical accretion soon after its formation in a supernova explosion. The buried multipole magnetic fields will merger into a dipole magnetic field. Since the magnetic flow transfers from the core to the crust of the pulsar, its surface dipole field grows quickly at a power-law form assumed until it saturates at the level of internal dipole field. The increase in surface dipole magnetic field results in the observed low braking index of $n=0.9(2)$. Keeping an average field growth index $\varepsilon=1.34(6)$, this pulsar will become a magnetar with surface dipole magnetic field at the equator $B_{\rm d}\sim 2.6(1)\times 10^{14}$\,G and $\sim 5.3(2)\times 10^{14}$\,G after next 50\,kyrs and 100\,kys, respectively., Comment: 2017 Astron. Nachr. DOI:10.1002/asna.201713436

eXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars, strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA) - a set of 11 X-ray optics for a total effective area of about 0.9 m^2 and 0.6 m^2 at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with Silicon Drift Detectors offering <180 eV spectral resolution; the Large Area Detector (LAD) - a deployable set of 640 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of about 3.4 m^2, between 6 and 10 keV, and spectral resolution <250 eV; the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) - a set of 2 X-ray telescope, for a total effective area of 250 cm^2 at 2 keV, equipped with imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) - a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering a 90 degrees x 90 degrees FoV. The eXTP international consortium includes mostly major institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in China, as well as major institutions in several European countries and the United States. The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been selected and funded as one of the so-called background missions in the Strategic Priority Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2011. The strong European participation has significantly enhanced the scientific capabilities of eXTP. The planned launch date of the mission is earlier than 2025., Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures. Oral talk presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, June 26 to July 1, 2016, Edingurgh, UK

We report a combined study of the spin resonances and superconducting gaps for underdoped ($T_c=19$ K), optimally doped ($T_c=25$ K), and overdoped ($T_c=19$ K) Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ single crystals with inelastic neutron scattering and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We find a quasi two dimensional spin resonance whose energy scales with the superconducting gap in all three compounds. In addition, anisotropic low energy spin excitation enhancements in the superconducting state have been deduced and characterized for the under and optimally doped compounds. Our data suggest that the quasi two dimensional spin resonance is a spin exciton that corresponds to the spin singlet-triplet excitations of the itinerant electrons. However, the intensity enhancements of the anisotropic spin excitations are dominated by the out-of-plane spin excitations of the ordered moments due to the suppression of damping in the superconducting state. Hence we offer a new interpretation of the double energy scales differing from previous interpretations based on anisotropic superconducting energy gaps, and systematically explain the doping-dependent trend across the phase diagram., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication on Physical Review B

In this paper, we investigate the electron Landau-level stability and its influence on the electron Fermi energy, $E_{\rm F}(e)$, in the circumstance of magnetars, which are powered by magnetic field energy. In a magnetar, the Landau levels of degenerate and relativistic electrons are strongly quantized. A new quantity $g_{n}$, the electron Landau-level stability coefficient is introduced. According to the requirement that $g_{n}$ decreases with increasing the magnetic field intensity $B$, the magnetic-field index $\beta$ in the expression of $E_{\rm F}(e)$ must be positive. By introducing the Dirac$-\delta$ function, we deduce a general formulae for the Fermi energy of degenerate and relativistic electrons, and obtain a particular solution to $E_{\rm F}(e)$ in a superhigh magnetic field (SMF). This solution has a low magnetic-field index of $\beta=1/6$, compared with the previous one, and works when $\rho\geq 10^{7}$~g cm$^{-3}$ and $B_{\rm cr}\ll B\leq 10^{17}$~Gauss. By modifying the phase space of relativistic electrons, a SMF can enhance the electron number density $n_e$, and decrease the maximum of electron Landau level number, which results in a redistribution of electrons. According to Pauli exclusion principle, the degenerate electrons will fill quantum states from the lowest Landau level to the highest Landau level. As $B$ increases, more and more electrons will occupy higher Landau levels, though $g_{n}$ decreases with the Landau level number $n$. The enhanced $n_{e}$ in a SMF means an increase in the electron Fermi energy and an increase in the electron degeneracy pressure. The results are expected to facilitate the study of the weak-interaction processes inside neutron stars and the magnetic-thermal evolution mechanism for megnetars., Comment: One Table and four figures, published in Mod. Phys. Lett. A Volume No.31, Issue No. 11

By introducing Dirac ?-function in superhigh magnetic field, we deduce a general formula for pressure of degenerate and relativistic electrons, Pe, which is suitable for superhigh magnetic fields, discuss the quantization of Landau levels of electrons, and consider the quantum electrodynamic(QED) effects on the equations of states (EOSs) for different matter systems. The main conclusions are as follows: the stronger the magnetic field strength, the higher the electron pressure becomes; compared with a common radio pulsar, a magnetar could be a more compact oblate spheroid-like deformed neutron star due to the anisotropic total pressure; and an increase in the maximum mass of a magnetar is expected because of the positive contribution of the magnetic field energy to the EOS of the star. Since this is an original work in which some uncertainties could exist, to further modify and perfect our theory model should be considered in our future studies., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1312.1442

Due to the lack of long term pulsed emission in quiescence and the strong timing noise, it is impossible to directly measure the braking index $n$ of a magnetar. Based on the estimated ages of their potentially associated supernova remnants (SNRs), we estimate the values of the mean braking indices of eight magnetars with SNRs, and find that they cluster in a range of $1\sim$42. Five magnetars have smaller mean braking indices of $13$ for other three magnetars are attributed to the decay of external braking torque, which might be caused by magnetic field decay. We estimate the possible wind luminosities for the magnetars with $13$ within the updated magneto-thermal evolution models. Although the constrained range of the magnetars' braking indices is tentative, due to the uncertainties in the SNR ages, which come from distance uncertainties and the unknown conditions of the expanding shells, our method provides an effective way to constrain the magnetars' braking indices if the measurements of the SNRs' ages are reliable, which can be improved by future observations., Comment: 11 Pages, 3 figures, 5 tables, accepted by MNRAS

There is a remarkable correlation between the spin periods of the accreting neutron stars in Be/X-ray binaries (BeXBs) and their orbital periods . Recently Knigge et al. (2011) showed that the distribution of the spin periods contains two distinct subpopulations peaked at $\sim 10$ s and $\sim 200$ s respectively, and suggested that they may be related to two types of supernovae for the formation of the neutron stars, i.e., core-collapse and electron-capture supernovae. Here we propose that the bimodal spin period distribution is likely to be ascribed to different accretion modes of the neutron stars in BeXBs. When the neutron star tends to capture material from the warped, outer part of the Be star disk and experiences giant outbursts, a radiatively-cooling dominated disk is formed around the neutron star, which spins up the neutron star, and is responsible for the short period subpopulation. In BeXBs that are dominated by normal outbursts or persistent, the accretion flow is advection-dominated or quasi-spherical. The spin-up process is accordingly inefficient, leading to longer periods of the neuron stars. The potential relation between the subpopulations and the supernova mechanisms is also discussed., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

SMC X-1 is a high-mass X-ray binary with an orbital period of 3.9 days. The mass of the neutron star is as low as $\sim 1 M_{\sun}$, suggesting that it was likely to be formed through an electron-capture supernova rather an iron-core collapse supernova. From the present system configurations, we argue that the orbital period at the supernova was $\lesssim 10$ days. Since the mass transfer process between the neutron star's progenitor and the companion star before the supernova should have increased the orbital period to tens of days, a mechanism with efficient orbit angular momentum loss and relatively small mass loss is required to account for its current orbital period. We have calculated the evolution of the progenitor binary systems from zero-age main-sequence to the pre-supernova stage with different initial parameters and various mass and angular momentum loss mechanisms. Our results show that the outflow from the outer Langrangian point or a circumbinary disk formed during the mass transfer phase may be qualified for this purpose. We point out that these mechanisms may be popular in binary evolution and significantly affect the formation of compact star binaries., Comment: 32 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables, accepted by ApJ

This work aims to present our current best physical understanding of common-envelope evolution (CEE). We highlight areas of consensus and disagreement, and stress ideas which should point the way forward for progress in this important but long-standing and largely unconquered problem. Unusually for CEE-related work, we mostly try to avoid relying on results from population synthesis or observations, in order to avoid potentially being misled by previous misunderstandings. As far as possible we debate all the relevant issues starting from physics alone, all the way from the evolution of the binary system immediately before CEE begins to the processes which might occur just after the ejection of the envelope. In particular, we include extensive discussion about the energy sources and sinks operating in CEE, and hence examine the foundations of the standard energy formalism. Special attention is also given to comparing the results of hydrodynamic simulations from different groups and to discussing the potential effect of initial conditions on the differences in the outcomes. We compare current numerical techniques for the problem of CEE and also whether more appropriate tools could and should be produced (including new formulations of computational hydrodynamics, and attempts to include 3D processes within 1D codes). Finally we explore new ways to link CEE with observations. We compare previous simulations of CEE to the recent outburst from V1309 Sco, and discuss to what extent post-common-envelope binaries and nebulae can provide information, e.g. from binary eccentricities, which is not currently being fully exploited., Comment: 83 pages (11 chapters, 2 appendixes), 10 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics Review format. This version contains revisions as a response to community comments

The origin of the 6.67 hr period X-ray source, 1E161348-5055, in the young supernova remnant RCW 103 is puzzling. We propose that it may be the descendant of a Thorne-Zytkow Object (TZO). A TZO may at its formation have a rapidly spinning neutron star as a core, and a slowly rotating envelope. We found that the core could be braked quickly to an extremely long spin period by the coupling between its magnetic field and the envelope, and that the envelope could be disrupted by some powerful bursts or exhausted via stellar wind. If the envelope is disrupted after the core has spun down, the core will become an extremely long-period compact object, with a slow proper motion speed, surrounded by a supernova-remnant-like shell. These features all agree with the observations of 1E161348-5055. TZOs are expected to have produced extraordinary high abundances of lithium and rapid proton process elements that would remain in the remnants and could be used to test this scenario., Comment: 6 pages

Recent observations show that supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) spend most of their lifetime at an intermediate level luminosity $\sim 10^{33}-10^{34}$ ergs$^{-1}$, and, when a blackbody model for the spectra is adopted, the resulting radii of the emission region are always only a few hundred meters, supporting the idea that during the intermediate state SFXTs are accreting matter from the companion star. From these observational phenomena we derive possible constraints on the magnetic field strengths of the neutron stars in four SFXTs with known spin periods. While IGR J11215$-$5952, IGR J16465$-$4507, and IGR J18483$-$0311 may have magnetic fields (up to a few $10^{11}-10^{12}$ G) similar to those of normal X-ray pulsars, the magnetic field of AX J1841.0$-$0536 is considerably low ($\la 10^{10}$ G). The high-mass companion stars in SFXTs implies that the neutron stars are relatively young objects, with age less than $\sim 10^7$ yr. Analysis of the spin evolution shows that neutron stars like AX J1841.0$-$0536 should be born with relatively long spin periods ($\la 1$ s). Considering the fact that among the four SFXTs only AX J1841.0$-$0536 is a "proper" one, and the other three are either "intermediate" SFXTs or have peculiar characteristics, we suggest that the neutron stars in some of SFXTs may have similar characteristics as several young central compact objects in supernova remnants called "anti-magnetars". These features, combining with accretion from clumpy winds, could make them distinct from standard supergiant X-ray binaries -- the low fields and relatively long spin periods guarantee accretion at very low level, resulting in a large dynamic range ($10^4-10^5$) of X-ray luminosity., Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS

In this paper we investigate the relation between the maximal luminosity of X-ray outburst and the orbital period in transient low mass X-ray binaries (or soft X-ray transients) observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in the past decade. We find that the maximal luminosity (3-200 keV) in Eddington unit generally increases with increasing orbital period, which does not show a luminosity saturation but in general agrees with theoretical prediction. The peak luminosities in ultra-compact binaries might be higher than those with orbital period of 2-4 h, but more data are needed to make the claim. We also find that there is no significant difference in the 3-200 keV outburst peak luminosity between neutron star systems and black hole systems with orbital periods above 4 h; however, there might be significant difference at smaller orbital period where only neutron star systems are observed and radiatively ineffcient accretion flow is expected to work at the low luminosities for black hole accreters., Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ

Several X-ray pulsars have been observed to experience torque reversals, which provide important observational clues to the interaction between the neutron star magnetic field and the accretion disk. We review the current models proposed for the torque reversals and discuss their viability based on the observations of the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in 4U 1626-67. Most of these models seem to be incompatible with the evolution of the QPO frequencies if they are interpreted in terms of the beat frequency model. We suggest that winds or outflows from the neutron star and the accretion disk may play an important role in accounting for the spin-down in disk-fed neutron stars., Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in A&A

The binary YY Gem shows many interesting properties, one of which is the periodicity in its flaring rate. The period, which is about $48 \pm 3$ min, was ever interpreted in terms of the oscillation of a filament. In this paper, we propose a new model to explain this phenomenon by means of 2.5-dimensional MHD numerical simulations. It is found that magnetic reconnection is induced as the coronal loops rooted on both stars inflate and approach each other, which is driven by the differential stellar rotation. The magnetic reconnection is modulated by fast-mode magnetoacoustic waves which are trapped between the surfaces of the two stars, so that the reconnection rate presents a periodic behaviour. With the typical parameters for the binary system, the observed period can be reproduced. We also derive an empirical formula to relate the period of the flaring rate to the coronal temperature and density, as well as the magnetic field., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted by MNRAS

With the possible detection of the fastest spinning nuclear-powered pulsar XTE J1739-285 of frequency 1122 Hz (0.8913 ms), it arouses us to constrain the mass and radius of its central compact object and to imply the stellar matter compositions: neutrons or quarks. Spun-up by the accreting materials to such a high rotating speed, the compact star should have either a small radius or short innermost stable circular orbit. By the empirical relation between the upper kHz quasi-periodic oscillation frequency and star spin frequency, a strong constraint on mass and radius is obtained as 1.51 solar masses and 10.9 km, which excludes most equations of states (EOSs) of normal neutrons and strongly hints the star promisingly to be a strange quark star. Furthermore, the star magnetic field is estimated to be about $4\times10^{7} (G) < B < 10^{9} (G) $, which reconciles with those of millisecond radio pulsars, revealing the clues of the evolution linkage of two types of astrophysical objects., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted by PASP 2007

We propose to determine the mass and the radius of a neutron star (NS) using three measurable mass-radius relationships, namely the ``apparent'' radius inferred from neutron star thermal emission, the gravitational redshift inferred from the absorption lines, as well as the averaged stellar mass density inferred from the orbital Keplerian frequency derived from the kilohertz quasi periodic oscillation (kHz QPO) data. We apply the method to constrain the NS mass and the radius of the X-ray sources, 1E 1207.4-5209, Aql X-1 and EXO 0748-676., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRAS

In this letter we discuss two possible reasons which cause the observed braking indices n of young radio pulsars to be smaller than 3: (a) the evolving spin-down model of the magnetic field component $B_{\perp}$ increases with time; (b) the extrinsic braking torque model in which the tidal torques exerted on the pulsar by the fallback disk, and carries away the spin angular momentum from the pulsar. Based on some simple assumptions, we derive the expression of the braking indices, and calculate the spin-down evolutionary tracks of pulsars for different input parameters., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letters

Context. Recent Chandra observations of the Galactic center region (GCR) have uncovered a population of faint discrete X-ray sources. A few theoretical works have been made to investigate the nature of these sources. Aims. We examine the contributions and luminosity functions of various kinds of candidate objects which are proposed either by previous authors or by ourselves. Methods. We conduct a population synthesis calculation based on Hurley et al.'s rapid binary evolution code. Several candidate models, i.e. wind-accreting neutron stars, intermediate polars, low mass X-ray binaries, young pulsars and massive stars with strong winds, are incorporated into our calculation. We also take the geometric effect of the accretion disk into account for Roche lobe overflow X-ray binaries. Results. Our results show that neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries contribute significantly to the observed sources. We also point out that wind-accreting neutron stars contribute negligibly to these sources due to propeller effect, and the intermediate polars play a minor role in accounting for the faint X-ray sources in both Wang et al. and Muno et al. survey. It should be mentioned that the majority of the sources in the survey field of Wang et al. are still beyond our expectation., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, language correction in process

We suggest a plausible interpretation for the twin kiloHertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. We identify the upper kHz QPO frequencies to be the rotational frequency and the lower kHz QPOs the standing kink modes of loop oscillations at the inner edge of the accretion disk, respectively. Taking into account the interaction between the neutron star magnetic field and the disk, this model naturally relates the twin QPO frequencies with the star's spin frequencies. We have applied the model to four X-ray sources with kHz QPOs detected simultaneously and known spin frequencies., Comment: 12 pages including 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

In situ high-pressure energy dispersive x-ray diffraction experiments on polycrystalline powder TiN with NaCl-type structure have been conducted with the pressure up to 30.1 GPa by using the diamond anvil cell instrument with synchrotron radiation at room tempearture. The experimental results suggested that an isostructural phase transition might exist at about 7 GPa as revealed by the discontinuity of V/V0 with pressure., Comment: submitted

We apply the tidal truncation model proposed by Negueruela & Okazaki(2001) to arbitrary Be/compact star binaries to study the truncation efficiency dependance on the binary parameters. We find that the viscous decretion disks around the Be stars could be truncated very effectively in narrow systems. Combining this with the population synthesis results of Podsiadlowski, Rappaport and Han (2003) that binary black holes are most likely to be born in systems with orbital periods less than about 30 days, we suggest that most of the Be/black-hole binaries may be transient systems with very long quiescent states. This could explain the lack of observed Be/black-hole X-ray binaries. We also discuss the evolution of the Be/black-hole binaries and their possible observational features., Comment: 14 pages,3 figures, ApJ accepted

We have carried out numerical evolutionary calculations of binary systems to investigate the formation of binary millisecond pulsars (pulsars with white dwarf companions). We apply the ``standard scenario'' in which the binary pulsars are formed from low-mass and intermediate-mass X-ray binaries as well the alternative scenario in which the neutron stars are formed by accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of white dwarfs. The mass transfer processes are carefully followed by taking into account a number of binary interactions. Assuming that the magnetic fields of the neutron stars decay due to the accretion, we calculate the pulsar surface dipole magnetic field strength at the end of the mass transfer as a function of the final orbital period. We find that while the observed data of the majority of pulsars are compatible with the derived relations, we fail to produce binary pulsars with relatively high magnetic fields and short orbital periods (such as PSR B0655+64). We conclude that those systems are most likely formed through common-envelope phase., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in A&A

One of the most important questions in the study of compact objects is the nature of pulsars, including whether they are composed of $\beta$-stable nuclear matter or strange quark matter. Observations of the newly discovered millisecond X-ray pulsar \sax with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer place firm constraint on the radius of the compact star. Comparing the mass - radius relation of \sax with the theoretical mass - radius relation for neutron stars and for strange stars, we find that a strange star model is more consistent with SAX J1808.4-3658, and suggest that it is a likely strange star candidate., Comment: 5 pages, Latex, 1 figure, corrected for some typos

The nature of the 5-12 s "anomalous" X-ray pulsars remains a mystery. Among the models that have been proposed to explain the properties of AXPs, the most likely ones are: (1) isolated accreting neutron stars evolved from the Thorne-\.{Z}ytkow objects due to complete spiral-in during the common envelope evolution of high-mass X-ray binaries, and (2) magnetars, which are neutron stars with ultra-high ($\sim 10^{14}-10^{15}$ G) surface magnetic fields. We have critically examined the predicted change of neutron star's spin in the accretion model, and found that it is unable to account for the steady spin-down observed in AXPs. A simple analysis also shows that any accretion disk around an isolated neutron star has extremely limited lifetime. A more promising explanation for such objects is the magnetar model., Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ

We report observations of SMC X-1 in three new high-intensity states with ROSAT HRI in December 1995, May 1997, and March 1998 in which pulsations with a period of 0.70769+/-0.00006 sec, 0.70706+/-0.00001 sec, and 0.706707+/-0.00001 sec respectively were detected. Combining the pulse periods from observations with ROSAT PSPC in high-intensity states in October 1991 and March 1998, respectively, we obtain the spin-up rate of the pulsar in recent 6.5 years, -dP/dt = 1.18+/-0.06 10^-11 s s^-1, consistent with the average spin-up rate -dP/dt = 1.2 10^-11 s s^-1 determined from previous measurements indicating that the stable spin-up has continued. Pulsations with a period of 0.709103+/-0.000003 sec were also detected ~2 weeks after an X-ray turn-off during an X-ray low-intensity state in October 1991, and the period derivative derived within ~10 days is -dP/dt ~ (1.1+/-0.7) 10^-11 s s^-1. This is consistent with a constant accretion torque in sign and magnitude. The magnitude of the magnetic moment of the pulsar is discussed based on different description of the apparent spin-up behavior., Comment: 4 pages, accepted by A&A February 9th 1999

We investigate the spin evolution of the binary X-ray pulsar 2S 0114+650, which possesses the slowest known spin period of $\sim 2.7$ hours. We argue that, to interpret such long spin period, the magnetic field strength of this pulsar must be initially $\gsim 10^{14}$ G, that is, it was born as a magnetar. Since the pulsar currently has a normal magnetic field $\sim 10^{12}$ G, our results present support for magnetic field decay predicted by the magnetar model., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in ApJL

It is well known that the accretion disk around a magnetized compact star can penetrate inside the magnetospheric boundary, so the magnetospheric radius $\ro$ does not represent the true inner edge $\rin$ of the disk; but controversies exist in the literature concerning the relation between $\ro$ and $\rin$. In the model of Ghosh & Lamb, the width of the boundary layer is given by $\delta=\ro-\rin\ll\ro$, or $\rin\simeq\ro$, while Li & Wickramasinghe recently argued that $\rin$ could be significantly smaller than $\ro$ in the case of a slow rotator. Here we show that if the star is able to absorb the angular momentum of disk plasma at $\ro$, appropriate for binary X-ray pulsars, the inner disk radius can be constrained by $0.8\lsim \rin/\ro\lsim 1$, and the star reaches spin equilibrium with a relatively large value of the fastness parameter ($\sim 0.7-0.95$). For accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), $\ro$ is generally close to the stellar radius $\rs$ so that the toroidal field cannot transfer the spin-up torque efficiently to the star. In this case the critical fastness parameter becomes smaller, but $\rin$ is still near $\ro$., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in ApJ