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On the origin of Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 December 2019

Swetlana Hubrig ,
Lara Sidoli ,
Konstantin A. Postnov ,
Markus Schöller ,
Alexander F. Kholtygin  and
Silva P. Järvinen
Swetlana Hubrig
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany email: shubrig@aip.de
Lara Sidoli
Affiliation:
INAF, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Via E. Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy
Konstantin A. Postnov
Affiliation:
Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
Markus Schöller
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
Alexander F. Kholtygin
Affiliation:
Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskij pr. 28, 198504 Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Silva P. Järvinen
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany email: shubrig@aip.de
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Abstract

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. A fraction of high-mass X-ray binaries are supergiant fast X-ray transients. These systems have on average low X-ray luminosities, but display short flares during which their X-ray luminosity rises by a few orders of magnitude. The leading model for the physics governing this X-ray behaviour suggests that the winds of the donor OB supergiants are magnetized. In agreement with this model, the first spectropolarimetric observations of the SFXT IGR J11215-5952 using the FORS 2 instrument at the Very Large Telescope indicate the presence of a kG longitudinal magnetic field. Based on these results, it seems possible that the key difference between supergiant fast X-ray transients and other high-mass X-ray binaries are the properties of the supergiant’s stellar wind and the physics of the wind’s interaction with the neutron star magnetosphere.

Keywords

stars: magnetic fieldsstars: individual (IGR J08408–4503IGR J11215-5952)(stars:) supergiants(stars:) binaries: generalX-rays: stars

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