Sinking of a magnetically confined mountain on an accreting neutron star

We perform ideal-magnetohydrodynamic axisymmetric simulations of magnetically confined mountains on an accreting neutron star, with masses ≲0.12 M⊙. We consider two scenarios, in which the mountain sits atop a hard surface or sinks into a soft, fluid base. We find that the ellipticity of the star, d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2010-02, Vol.402 (2), p.1099-1110
Main Authors: Wette, K., Vigelius, M., Melatos, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
accretion
accretion discs
accretion, accretion discs
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Double stars
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Neutrons
pulsars: general
Simulation
stars: magnetic fields
stars: neutron
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Summary:We perform ideal-magnetohydrodynamic axisymmetric simulations of magnetically confined mountains on an accreting neutron star, with masses ≲0.12 M⊙. We consider two scenarios, in which the mountain sits atop a hard surface or sinks into a soft, fluid base. We find that the ellipticity of the star, due to a mountain grown on a hard surface, approaches ∼2 × 10−4 for accreted masses ≳1.2 × 10−3 M⊙, and that sinking reduces the ellipticity by between 25 and 60 per cent. The consequences for gravitational radiation from low-mass X-ray binaries are discussed.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15937.x