APT5 - Alternative Black Hole Models |
Speaker_ |
Cumming, Andrew |
Talk _ |
Long Type I X-ray Bursts and the Interiors of Accreting Compact Stars |
Abstract _ |
Long term monitoring observations of accreting neutron stars have revealed new types of rare long duration thermonuclear X-ray bursts. These include superbursts, due to unstable carbon ignition in the deep ocean, and long duration bursts resulting from accumulation of thick helium layers. The ignition conditions for these events depend sensitively on the interior physics of the star. This provides a new probe of the cooling properties of accreting neutron stars, complementary to the study of quiescent transients. In this talk, I compare the observations with theoretical expectations, and discuss the constraints on the interior physics. |