Pavel Abolmasov

Tel Aviv University | TAU · Department of Physics and Astronomy

In this paper we review the basics of magneto-rotational properties of neutron stars focusing on spin-up/spin-down behavior at different evolutionary stages. The main goal is to provide equations for the spin frequency changes in various regimes (radio pulsar, propeller, accretor, etc.). Since presently the spin behavior of neutron stars at all sta...

Accretion onto a highly-magnetised neutron star runs through a magnetospheric flow, where the plasma follows the magnetic field lines in the force-free regime. The flow entering the magnetosphere is accelerated by the gravity of the star and then abruptly decelerated in a shock located above the surface of the star. For large enough mass accretion...

Both the dynamics and the observational properties of relativistic jets are determined by their interaction with the ambient medium. A crucial role is played by the contact discontinuity at the jet boundary, which in the presence of jet collimation may become subject to Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) and Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI). Here...

Both the dynamics and the observational properties of relativistic jets are determined by their interaction with the ambient medium. A crucial role is played by the contact discontinuity at the jet boundary, which in the presence of jet collimation may become subject to Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) and Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI). Here...

Accretion onto a highly-magnetised neutron star runs through a magnetospheric flow, where the plasma follows the magnetic field lines in the force-free regime. The flow entering the magnetosphere is accelerated by the gravity of the star and then decelerated in a shock located above its surface. For a large mass accretion rate, most of the radiatio...

The rotation of a magnetised accreting neutron star (NS) in a binary system is described by its spin period and two angles: spin inclination α with respect to the orbital momentum and magnetic angle χ between the spin and the magnetic moment. Magnetospheric accretion spins the NS up and adjusts its rotation axis, decreasing α to nearly perfect alig...

The rotation of a magnetised accreting neutron star (NS) in a binary system is described by its spin period and two angles: spin inclination $\alpha$ with respect to the orbital momentum and magnetic angle $\chi$ between the spin and the magnetic moment. Magnetospheric accretion spins the NS up and adjusts its rotation axis, decreasing $\alpha$ to...

Kilohertz-scale quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) are a distinct feature of the variability of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. Among all the variability modes, they are especially interesting as a probe for the innermost parts of the accretion flow, including the accretion boundary layer (BL) on the surface of the neutron star. All the e...

Kilohertz-scale quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) are a distinct feature of the variability of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. Among all the variability modes, they are especially interesting as a probe for the innermost parts of the accretion flow, including the accretion boundary layer (BL) on the surface of the neutron star. All the e...

Magnetic fields of strongly magnetized stars can trap conducting matter due to frozen-in condition. In the force-free regime, the motion of the matter along the field lines may be considered in the ‘bead on a wire’ approximation. Such a motion, if gravity and centrifugal forces are taken into account, has equilibrium points, some of which are stabl...

Magnetic fields of strongly magnetized stars can trap conducting matter due to frozen-in condition. In the force-free regime, the motion of the matter along the field lines may be considered in the "bead on a wire" approximation. Such a motion, if gravity and centrifugal forces are taken into account, has equilibrium points, some of which are stabl...

When the accretion disc around a weakly magnetised neutron star (NS) meets the stellar surface, it should brake down to match the rotation of the NS, forming a boundary layer. As the mechanisms potentially responsible for this braking are apparently inefficient, it is reasonable to consider this layer as a spreading layer (SL) with negligible radia...

We report on the analysis of the spin evolution of a slow X-ray pulsar GX 301–2 along the orbit using long-term monitoring by Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. Based on the observationally confirmed accretion scenario and an analytical model for the accretion of angular momentum, we demonstrate that in this system, the neutron star spins retrogradely,...

We report on the analysis of the spin evolution of a slow X-ray pulsar GX 301−2 along the orbit using long-term monitoring by Fermi/GBM. Based on the observationally confirmed accretion scenario and an analytical model for the accretion of angular momentum we demonstrate that in this system, the neutron star spins retrogradely, that is, in a direct...

When the accretion disc around a weakly magnerized neutron star (NS) meets the surface of the star, it should brake down to match the rotation of the NS, forming a boundary layer. As the mechanisms potentially responsible for this braking are apparently inefficient, it is reasonable to consider this layer as a spreading layer (SL) with negligible r...

We present a model for a super-Eddington accretion disc around a magnetized neutron star taking into account advection of heat and the mass loss by the wind. The model is semi-analytical and predicts radial profiles of all the basic physical characteristics of the accretion disc. The magnetospheric radius is found as an eigenvalue of the problem. W...

We present a model for a super-Eddington accretion disc around a magnetized neutron star taking into account advection of heat and the mass loss by the wind. The model is semi-analytical and predicts radial profiles of all basic physical characteristics of the accretion disc. The magnetospheric radius is found as an eigenvalue of the problem. When...

As early as in 1937, Zwicky wrote about gravitational lenses acting as ‘space telescopes’, allowing the observation of faint and distant objects, the fluxes from which may be considerably enhanced due to the lensing. It is clear today that gravitational lensing may be helpful in performing another important task, one of the main purposes of telesco...

In standard accretion discs, outward angular momentum transfer by viscous forces is compensated by the inward motion of the accreting matter. However, the vertical structure of real accretion discs leads to meridional circulation with comparable amplitudes of poloidal velocities. Using thin-disc approximation, we consider different regimes of disc...

Most of ultraluminous X-ray sources are thought to be objects accreting above their Eddington limits. In the recently identified class of ultraluminous X-ray pulsars, accretor is a neutron star and thus has a fairly small mass with a small Eddington limit. The accretion disc structure around such an object affects important observables such as equi...

Quasar microlensing effects make it possible to measure the accretion disc sizes around distant supermassive black holes that are still well beyond the spatial resolution of contemporary instrumentation. The sizes measured with this technique appear inconsistent with the standard accretion disc model. Not only the measured accretion disc sizes are...

The GeV-range spectra of blazars are shaped not only by non-thermal emission processes internal to the relativistic jet but also by external pair-production absorption on the thermal emission of the accretion disc and the broad-line region (BLR). For the first time, we compute here the pair-production opacities in the GeV range produced by a realis...

Standard accretion disc model relies upon several assumptions, the most important of which is geometrical thinness. Whenever this condition is violated, new physical effects become important such as radial energy advection and mass loss from the disc. These effects are important, for instance, for large mass accretion rates when the disc approaches...

RXTE observations of the X-ray binary systems SXP 138, GX-304, and γ Cas in 1997-2011 have shown for the first time that these objects (X-ray binaries with Be donors) display X-ray flux variations on timescales of ∼1000 days. This timescale is about 10 times longer than their orbital periods, and is comparable to the total time of the observations....

Black holes are spun up by accreting matter and possibly spun down by magnetic fields. In our work we consider the effect on black hole rotation of the two electromagnetic processes, Blandford–Znajek and direct magnetic link, that differ in their magnetic field configuration. The efficiency of these processes varies with mass accretion rate and acc...

If an accretion disc contains weak frozen-in entangled magnetic fields, their dynamical effect may be important inside the last stable orbit because of decompression near the sonic point. Here, I consider the radial and vertical structure of a nearly free-falling flow inside the last stable orbit of a thin disc around a Kerr black hole. The thickne...

Previously unremarkable, the extragalactic radio source GB 1310+487 showed a gamma-ray flare on 2009 November 18, reaching a daily flux of ~10^-6 photons/cm^2/s at energies E>100 MeV and becoming one of the brightest GeV sources for about two weeks. Its optical spectrum is not typical for a blazar, instead, it resembles those of narrow emission-lin...

The influence of disc radiation capture upon black hole rotational evolution is negligible for radiatively inefficient discs. For the standard thin disc model it is a slight but potentially important effect leading to the equilibrium spin parameter value of aeq ≃ 0.998. For optically thin discs, the fraction of disc radiation captured by the black...

Gravitational microlensing by the stellar population of lensing galaxies provides an important opportunity to spatially resolve the accretion disk structure in strongly lensed quasars. Some of the objects (like Einstein's cross) are reasonably consistent with the predictions of the standard accretion disk model. In other cases, the size of the emit...

Microlensing by the stellar population of lensing galaxies provides an important opportunity to spatially resolve the accretion disc structure in strongly lensed quasars. Disc sizes estimated this way are on average larger than the predictions of the standard Shakura-Sunyaev accretion disk model. Analysing the observational data on microlensing var...

Although the bulk of the observed optical flux from the discs of intermediate-redshift lensed quasars is formed well outside the region of strong relativistic boosting and light bending, relativistic effects have an important influence on microlensing curves. The reason lies in the divergent nature of amplification factors near fold caustics, which...

We study and analyse the low-resolution spectra of the unusual late nitrogen-sequence Wolf-Rayet (WN) star FSZ35 in M33. We classify the object as a hydrogen-rich WN8 star. Using the radiative transfer code CMFGEN, we determine the physical parameters of this object and we compare these to the parameters of other WN8 stars, including the luminous b...

We study and analyse low-resolution spectra of the unordinary late WN star FSZ35 in M33. We classify the object as a hydrogen-rich WN8 star. Using the radiative transfer code CMFGEN, we determine the physical parameters of this object and compare them to the parameters of other WN8 stars including the LBV star Romano's star during the minimum of br...

We consider the luminous blue variable (LBV) star V532 in M33, also known as Romano's star, in two different spectral states: in the optical minimum of 2007/2008 and during a local brightening in 2005. Optical spectra of low and moderate resolution are modelled using the non-LTE model atmosphere code CMFGEN. All the observed properties of the objec...

Using the archives of the American Association of Variable Stars Observers and our own data, we analyse the long-term variability of several well-studied Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) aiming on a general picture of stochastic variability of these objects. The power density spectra of all the selected objects may be generally described by a single...

V532, known as Romano's star, is an interesting variable star located in the M33 galaxy. We study its spectral variability and the optical spectrum in minimum brightness. Using the non-LTE radiative transfer code CMFGEN we model the structure of its expanding atmosphere and stellar wind. The calculations show that all the observed properties of the...

For a long time, the well-known supercritically accreting binary SS433 is being proposed as a prototype for a class of hypothetical bright X-ray sources that may be identified with the so-called Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in nearby galaxies or at least with part of them. Like SS433, these objects should be associated with optical nebulae, p...

Combinamos observaciones espectroscópicas de archivo de la estrella LBV V532 (conocida como Estrella de Romano) con fotometría en la banda B. Los datos espectroscópicos cubren un intervalo de 15 años, desde 1992 hasta 2007. Mostramos que en máximo de brillo el objeto se comporta como una supergigante con líneas de emisión, mientras que en mínimo V5...

We present new spectral (FPI and long-slit) data on the Eastern optical filament of the well known radionebula W50 associated with SS433. We find that on sub-parsec scales different emission lines are emitted by different regions with evidently different physical conditions. Kinematical properties of the ionized gas show evidence for moderately hig...

In this short paper we show that making turbulence two-rather than three-dimensional may increase the effective turbulent viscosity by about 40 %. Dimensionless hydrodynamical viscosity parameters up to αmax = 0.25 Mt2 may be obtained in this approach, which are in better agreement with the observational data on non-stationary accretion than the va...

Highly supercritical accretion discs are probable sources of dense optically thick axisymmetric winds. We introduce a new approach based on diffusion approximation radiative transfer in a funnel geometry and obtain an analytical solution for the energy density distribution inside the wind assuming that all the mass, momentum and energy are injected...

Optical photometric and spectroscopic data are presented that show an association of an ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 7331 with a young star cluster of mass M = (1.1 ± 0.2) × 105 M☉ and age tc = 4.25 ± 0.25 Myr. If the ULX is part of the bright stellar cluster, then the mass of the progenitor of the compact accretor must have been 40-50 M☉ in o...

We discuss a new type of X-ray sources discovered in galaxies -- ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). They are of two order of magnitude brighter in X-rays than the brightest Galactic black holes. Two mod- els of ULXs are discussed: "intermediate mass" black holes, 100 - 10000 solar masses, with standard accretion disks, and "stellar mass" black hol...

We present the results of optical panoramic and long-slit spectroscopy of the nebula MF16 associated with the Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC6946 ULX-1. More than 20 new emission lines are identified in the spectra. Using characteristic line ratios we find the electron density n_e ~ 600cm^{-3}, electron temperature in the range from ~9000K to ~20 00...

One of the interesting features of Ultraluminous X-ray sources is that many of them are surrounded by luminous nebulae exhibiting diverse observational properties. In different cases the nebulae are photoionized or shock-powered. Generally, the two energy sources appear to coexist. ULX bubble nebulae may be considered a new class of shock-powered n...

We report the results of our observations of the nebular complex MH9/10/11, associated with the ULX HoIX X-1, with a scanning Fabry-Pérot Interferometer. Two regions differing by their kinematics and line ratios may be distinguished, roughly corresponding to the bubble nebula MH9/10 and the fainter HII-region MH11. For MH9/10 we find an expansion r...

Five well-known LBV stars in M33 were observed with the Multi-Pupil Fiber Spectrograph (MPFS) on the 6-m Russian telescope. We observed LBVs varA, var B, varC, var 2 and var 83. In three of them, var 2, var 83, varB, largescale nebulae were found with sizes from 15 pc and larger. The nebula shapes are complex, like one-side tails or conical nebulae...

SS433 is the only known persistent supercritical accretor, it may be very important for understanding ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) located in external galaxies. We describe main properties of the SS433 supercritical accretion disk and jets. Basing on observational data of SS433 and published 2D simulations of supercritical accretion disks we...

We derive the luminosity–temperature relation for the supercritically accreting black holes (BHs) and compare it to the data on ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). At super-Eddington accretion rates, an outflow forms within the spherization radius. We construct the accretion disc model accounting for the advection and the outflow, and compute chara...

We analysed high S/N ratio spectra in the range of lambda3970-5730Å taken with 6-m BTA telescope in 2004 and 2005. BTA spectra of V838 Mon and V4332 Sgr have little in common except oxygen-rich abundance of these stars. We identified [Fe II] lines in our spectra of V838 Mon which are seen also in the June 1994 MMT spectrum of V4332 Sgr. The nature...

A radio-IR-optical-X-ray observation campaign of SS 433 has been performed in April 2006, when the jet axis is almost perpendicular to the line of sight. Five flares have been detected during the campaign by radio monitoring observation with RATAN-600. The X-ray astronomical satellite Suzaku observed the source in and out of eclipse. In the X-ray d...

Here we present the results of panoramic and long-slit observations of eight ULX nebular counterparts performed with the 6m SAO telescope. In two ULX nebulae (ULXNe) we detected for the first time signatures of high excitation ([O III]λ5007 / Hβ > 5). Two of the ULXs were identified with young (T ∼ 5–10 Myr) massive star clusters. Four of the eight...

We present a study of a peculiar nebula MF16 associated with an Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC6946 ULX-1. We use integral-field and long-slit spectral data obtained with the 6-m telescope (Russia). The nebula was for a long time considered powered by strong shocks enhancing both high-excitation and low-excitation lines. However, kinematical propert...

V838 Mon is a peculiar nova which showed a red K-M type spectrum in its outburst in 2002. Along with two similar objects, V4332 Sgr and M31 V1006/7, it forms a new class of eruptive variable stars. We report spectral observations obtained with the Russian 6-m BTA telescope (Special Astrophysical Observatory). In our spectrum taken on 2005 December...

Properties of the objects present in ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), basic models proposed for ULXs, and ideas that could help in understanding the nature of ULXs from analysis by observational methods, are discussed. ULXs are distant objects present in galaxies lying at distances of 3 Mpc and beyond. The principal property of ULXs is their loc...

The ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) were isolated in external galaxies for the last 5 years. Their X-ray luminosities exceed 100-10000 times those of brightest Milky Way black hole binaries and they are extremely variable. There are two models for the ULXs, the best black hole candidates. 1. They are supercritical accretion disks around a stella...

We present a study of a peculiar Supernova Remnant MF16, associated with the Ultraluminous X-ray Source (ULX) NGC6946 ULX-1. Observations were taken with the MultiPupil Fiber Spectrograph (MPFS) with 6-m telescope on January 2005. The nebula is found to be highly asymmetric, one of the parts being much denser and colder. The two-component structure...

Five well-known LBV stars in M33 were observed with the Multi-Pupil Fiber Spectrograph (MPFS) on the 6-m Russian telescope. We observed LBVs varA, varB, varC, var2 and var83. In three of them, var2, var83, varB, large-scale nebulae were found with sizes from 15 pc and larger. The nebula shapes are complex, like one-side tails or conical nebulae. Th...

We derive the luminosity-temperature relation for the accreting black holes (BHs). At the accretion rates below the critical Eddington, the BHs are described by the standard Shakura-Sunyaev model resulting in the L ∝ T 4 ∝ ˙ M relation. At super-Eddington rates, ˙ m = ˙ M / ˙ M Edd ≫ 1, a strong outflow forms within the spherization radius R sp ∝ ˙...

Photometric and spectroscopic observations of the nearby type-IIP supernova 2004dj are presented. The 56Ni mass in the envelope of SN 2004dj was estimated from the light curve to be ≈0.02M ⊙. This estimate is confirmed by modeling the Hα luminosity. The Hα emission line exhibits a strong asymmetry characterized by the presence of a blue component i...

We suggest that the ultraluminous X-ray sources located in external galaxies (ULXs) are supercritical accretion disks like that in SS433, observed close to the disk axis. We estimate parameters of the SS433 funnel, where the relativistic jets are formed. Emergent X-ray spectrum in the proposed model of the multicolor funnel (MCF) is calculated. The...

We present broad band power spectra of variations of SS433 in radio, optical and X-ray spectral bands. We show that at frequencies lower than 1e-5 Hz the source demonstrates the same variability pattern in all these bands. The broad band power spectrum can be fitted by one power law down to frequencies ~1e-7 Hz with flattening afterwards. Such a fl...

A peculiar nova-like MV Lyr was investigated. The CCD-observations of MV Lyr were continued in Crimea during the outbursts and quiescent states. Last year its behavior became non-typical for “anti-dwarf novae”. The length of its first deep minimum was 10 years. A modern state is characterized by very strong outbursts and very often changes of the s...

The cataclysmic variable MV Lyr is nova-like variable, or ``anti-dwarf nova''. In 1979-1989 years this star similar to other ``anti-dwarf novae'' spent its time in a high brightness state (B~= 12.5m) getting fainter by 2m-8m sometimes and returning to the ``on'' stage. But later its behaviour became non-typical for these stars. The length of its fi...