Equations of state in the Hartle-Thorne model of neutron stars selecting acceptable variants of the resonant switch model of twin HF QPOs in the atoll source 4U 1636-53

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the compatibility of the Resonant Switch model of twin HF QPOs with neutron star equations of state using the Hartle-Thorne model, finding only one variant consistent with observational data and specific EoS.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent test of the RS model within the Hartle-Thorne framework, constraining neutron star parameters and identifying the only compatible model variant with a specific EoS.

Findings

Only two RS model variants fit the data for f_rot~580 Hz.

No variants fit for f_rot~290 Hz.

One RS model variant is consistent with the Hartle-Thorne EoS by Gandolfi et al. (2010).

Abstract

The Resonant Switch (RS) model of twin high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HF QPOs) observed in neutron star binary systems, based on switch of the twin oscillations at a resonant point, has been applied to the atoll source 4U 1636-53 under assumption that the neutron star exterior can be approximated by the Kerr geometry. Strong restrictions of the neutron star parameters M (mass) and a (spin) arise due to fitting the frequency pairs admitted by the RS model to the observed data in the regions related to the resonant points. The most precise variants of the RS model are those combining the relativistic precession frequency relations with their modifications. Here, the neutron star mass and spin estimates given by the RS model are confronted with a variety of equations of state (EoS) governing structure of neutron stars in the framework of the Hartle-Thorne theory of rotating neutron stars applied for the observationally given rotation frequency f_rot~580 Hz (or alternatively f_rot~290 Hz) of the neutron star at 4U 1636-53. It is shown that only two variants of the RS model based on the Kerr approximation are compatible with two EoS applied in the Hartle-Thorne theory for f_rot~580 Hz, while no variant of the RS model is compatible for f_rot~290 Hz. The two compatible variants of the RS model are those giving the best fits of the observational data. However, a self-consistency test by fitting the observational data to the RS model with oscillation frequencies governed by the Hartle-Thorne geometry described by three spacetime parameters M, a and (quadrupole moment) q related by the two available EoS puts strong restrictions. The test admits only one variant of the RS model of twin HF QPOs for the Hartle-Thorne theory with the Gandolfi et al. (2010) EoS predicting the parameters of the neutron star $M \sim 2.10 \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$, $a \sim 0.208$, and $q/a^2 \sim 1.77$.