On the X-ray Outbursts of Transient Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the X-ray outbursts of transient anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters can be explained by a fallback disk model involving disk diffusion and instability, unifying transient and persistent sources.

Contribution

The study applies a fallback disk model with a viscous instability to explain both transient and persistent AXPs and SGRs, highlighting the role of disk surface-density profiles and a common instability mechanism.

Findings

Fallback disk model reproduces outburst light curves.

Disk instability at 1300-2800 K explains differences.

Active disk model accounts for both transient and persistent phases.

Abstract

We show that the X-ray outburst light curves of four transient anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), namely XTE J1810-197, SGR 0501+4516, SGR 1627-41 and CXOU J164710.2-455216, can be produced by the fallback disk model that was also applied to the outburst light curves of persistent AXPs and SGRs in our earlier work. The model solves the diffusion equation for the relaxation of a disk which has been pushed back by a soft gamma-ray burst. The sets of main disk parameters used for these transient sources are very similar to each other and to those employed in our earlier models of persistent AXPs and SGRs. There is a characteristic difference between the X-ray outburst light curves of transient and persistent sources. This can be explained by the differences in the disk surface-density profiles of the transient and persistent sources in quiescence indicated by their quiescent X-ray luminosities. Our results imply that a viscous disk instability operating at a critical temperature in ~ 1300 - 2800 K range is a common property of all fallback disks around AXPs and SGRs. The effect of the instability is more pronounced and starts earlier for the sources with lower quiescent luminosities, which leads to the observable differences in the X-ray enhancement light curves of transient and persistent sources. A single active disk model with the same basic disk parameters can account for the enhancement phases of both transient and persistent AXPs and SGRs. We also present a detailed parameter study to show the effects of disk parameters on the evolution of the X-ray luminosity of AXPs and SGRs in the X-ray enhancement phases.