Paper detail

Phase dependent view of Cyclotron lines from model accretion mounds on Neutron Stars

In this paper we make a phase dependent study of the effect of the distortion of local magnetic field due to confinement of accreted matter in X-ray pulsars on the cyclotron spectra emitted from the hotspot . We have numerically solved the Grad-Shafranov equation for axisymmetric static MHD equilibria of matter confined at the polar cap of neutron stars. From our solution we model the cyclotron spectra that will be emitted from the region, using a simple prescription and integrating over the entire mound. Radiative transfer through the accretion column overlying the mound may significantly modify the spectra in comparison to those presented here. However we ignore this in the present paper in order to expose the effects directly attributable to the mound itself. We perform a spin phase dependent analysis of the spectra to study the effect of the viewing geometry.