Energy release during disk accretion onto a rapidly rotating neutron star

Abstract

The energy release Ls on the surface of a neutron star (NS) with a weak magnetic field and the energy release Ld in the surrounding accretion disk depend on two independent parameters that determine its state (for example, mass M and cyclic rotation frequency f) and is proportional to the accretion rate. We derive simple approximation formulas illustrating the dependence of the efficiency of energy release in an extended disk and in a boundary layer near the NS surface on the frequency and sense of rotation for various NS equations of state. Such formulas are obtained for the quadrupole moment of a NS, for a gap between its surface and a marginally stable orbit, for the rotation frequency in an equatorial Keplerian orbit and in the marginally stable circular orbit, and for the rate of NS spinup via disk accretion. In the case of NS and disk counterrotation, the energy release during accretion can reach \(0.67\dot Mc^2 \). The sense of NS rotation is a factor that strongly affects the observed ratio of nuclear energy release during bursts to gravitational energy release between bursts in X-ray bursters. The possible existence of binary systems with NS and disk counterrotation in the Galaxy is discussed. Based on the static criterion for stability, we present a method of constructing the dependence of gravitational mass M on Kerr rotation parameter j and on total baryon mass (rest mass) m for a rigidly rotating neutron star. We show that all global NS characteristics can be expressed in terms of the function M(j, m) and its derivatives. We determine parameters of the equatorial circular orbit and the marginally stable orbit by using M(j, m) and an exact solution of the Einstein equations in a vacuum, which includes the following three parameters: gravitational mass M, angular momentum J, and quadrupole moment Ф2. Depending on Ф2, this solution can also be interpreted as a solution that describes the field of either two Kerr black holes or two Kerr disks.