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A Study on the Pulse Profiles of the HMXB 4U 1901+03

A Study on the Pulse Profiles of the HMXB 4U 1901+03

Authors :
Shu Zhang
Guobao Zhang
Fan Zhang
Wei Chen
Jin-lu Qu
Source :
Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics. 32:241-252
Publication Year :
2008
Publisher :
Elsevier BV, 2008.

Abstract

After a silence of some 32 years, the high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) 4U1901+03 produced an outburst in Feb. 2003. With the observed data of RXTE (Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer) over a 5 month duration, we have made a systematic study of the pulse profile of this source, and obtained its time evolution and its correlation with the photon energy. It is found that the variations of the pulse profile and the pulse fraction with the accretion rate of the binary system exhibit a stepwise evolution, and that the pulse fraction reaches its peak at energies under ten KeV. The complex variation of the pulse profile indicates that the pulse profile can not be explained by a single geometrical or physical model, rather, it must be related with both the viewing angle and the radiation mechanism. The observed features are here discussed in terms of the standard radiation model of pulsars.

Details

ISSN :
02751062
Volume :
32
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........0d50a45488a18cb502af725b47db9fc0
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chinastron.2008.07.012