Damping of Type I X-ray Burst Oscillations by Convection

TL;DR

This paper models the convective layer during type I X-ray bursts to show that efficient convection suppresses nonradial oscillations, explaining why oscillations are sometimes not observed at burst peaks.

Contribution

It introduces a simple model analyzing how convection influences the stability of X-ray burst layers to oscillations, highlighting convection's damping effect.

Findings

Convection-dominated layers are stable to oscillations.

Radiation-dominated layers are unstable to oscillations.

Efficient convection dampens nonradial oscillations during bursts.

Abstract

I construct a simple model of the convective burning layer during a type I X-ray burst to investigate the effects convection has on the stability of the layer to nonradial oscillations. A linear perturbation analysis demonstrates that the region is stable to nonradial oscillations when energy transport is convection-dominated, but it is unstable when energy transport is radiation-dominated. Thus, efficient convection always dampens oscillations. These results may explain the nondetection of oscillations during the peak of some X-ray bursts.