Timing and spectral studies of the transient X-ray pulsar GX 304-1 during an outburst

TL;DR

This study analyzes the timing and spectral behavior of the transient X-ray pulsar GX 304-1 during its 2010 outburst, revealing complex pulse profile evolution, energy-dependent features, and quasi-periodic oscillations with phase-dependent spectral parameters.

Contribution

It provides detailed timing and spectral analysis of GX 304-1 during an outburst, highlighting pulse profile evolution, energy-dependent features, and QPO characteristics, which are novel insights into this pulsar's behavior.

Findings

Pulse profiles showed complex, evolving structures with energy dependence.

Detected QPO at 0.125 Hz with energy-dependent rms increasing up to 40 keV.

Spectral parameters varied significantly with pulse phase and during outburst decay.

Abstract

We present the timing and spectral properties of the transient X-ray pulsar GX 304-1 during its recent outburst in 2010 August, using observations carried out with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA) instrument on-board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite. We detected strong intensity and energy dependent variations in the pulse profiles during the outburst. The pulse profile showed significant evolution over the outburst. It showed complex structures consisting of a main peak with steps on both sides during the start of the outburst. On some days, a sharp dip like feature was seen which disappeared at the end of the outburst; when the profile evolved into a sinusoidal shape. At low energies, the pulse profiles appeared complex, consisting of multiple peaks and a narrow minimum. The amplitude of the second brightest peak in low energies decreased with energy, and above 12 keV, the shape of the pulse profile changed to a single broad peak with a dip like feature. The dip had energy dependence, both in phase and in width. We detected Quasi-periodic Oscillations (QPO) at 0.125 Hz with a harmonic. The QPO feature had a low rms value of 2.9% and it showed a positive energy dependence up to 40 keV with the rms value increasing to 9% at 40 keV. The QPO frequency decreased from 0.128 Hz to 0.108 Hz in 12 days. During most of the outburst, the 3-30 keV spectrum of GX 304-1 can be well fitted with a partial covering power-law model with a high energy cut-off and iron fluorescent line emission. For a few of the observations carried out during the decay of the outburst, the partial covering absorption component is found to change to single component absorption. We also found that the partial covering and high energy cut-off parameters vary significantly with the pulse phase.