Relation of Cyclotron Resonant Energy and Luminosity in a Strongly Magnetized Neutron Star GRO J1008-57 Observed by Insight-HXMT

Abstract

Abstract Cyclotron line scattering features are detected in a few tens of X-ray pulsars (XRPs) and used as direct indicators of a strong magnetic field at the surface of accreting neutron stars (NSs). In a few cases, cyclotron lines are known to be variable with the accretion luminosity of XRPs. It is accepted that the observed variations of cyclotron line scattering features are related to variations of geometry and dynamics of accretion flow above the magnetic poles of an NS. A positive correlation between the line centroid energy and luminosity is typical for subcritical XRPs, where the accretion results in hot spots at the magnetic poles. The negative correlation was proposed to be a specific feature of bright supercritical XRPs, where radiation pressure supports accretion columns above the stellar surface. The cyclotron line in the spectra of the Be-transient XRP GRO J1008-57 is detected at energies from ∼75 to 90 keV, the highest observed energy of a cyclotron line feature in XRPs. We report the peculiar relation of cyclotron line centroid energies with luminosity in GRO J1008-57 during the Type II outburst in 2017 August observed by Insight-HXMT. The cyclotron line energy was detected to be negatively correlated with the luminosity at 3.2 × 1037 erg s−1 < L < 4.2 × 1037 erg s−1 and positively correlated at L ≳ 5 × 1037 erg s−1. We speculate that the observed peculiar behavior of a cyclotron line would be due to variations of accretion channel geometry.