A low mass and radius neutron star candidate in XTE J1810-189?

TL;DR

This study analyzes PRE bursts from XTE J1810-189 to estimate neutron star mass and radius, suggesting it may be a low-mass, small-radius neutron star with composition-dependent properties.

Contribution

It introduces a combined analysis using the direct cooling tail and touchdown methods to constrain neutron star properties considering different atmospheric compositions.

Findings

Neutron star mass <1.3 M_sun with radius <8 km in high-metallicity scenario.

Mass ranges from 0.3 to 2.1 M_sun with radii 7-13 km in low-metallicity, hydrogen-rich case.

Two mass solutions for pure helium atmosphere: ~1.08 M_sun and 2.5-2.9 M_sun.

Abstract

Photosphere radius expansion (PRE) bursts provide a crucial tool for constraining the mass and radius of neutron stars. In this study, we analyze time-resolved spectroscopic data from XTE J1810-189 in 2008, which exhibit evidence of a PRE event. We report here the possibility of a small-size and low-mass neutron star in XTE J1810-189 with use of the advantage of the direct cooling tail method. We obtained three sets of results, which can be broadly divided into high metal abundance (20 $\rm{Z}_{\odot}$ and 40 $\rm{Z}_{\odot}$), low metal abundance and hydrogen-rich (pure hydrogen, $\rm{Z}_{\odot}$, 0.3 $\rm{Z}_{\odot}$, 0.1 $\rm{Z}_{\odot}$, 0.01 $\rm{Z}_{\odot}$), and pure helium. In the high-metallicity scenario, the inferred neutron star mass is $<1.3\,M_{\odot}$ with a radius $<8\,\rm{km}$. In the low-metallicity, hydrogen-rich case, the mass ranges from 0.3 to 2.1 $M_{\odot}$ with radii of 7-13 km. For a pure-helium composition, we find two mass solutions: $1.08_{-0.22}^{+1.32}M_{\odot}$ (with $R>14\,\rm{km}$) and $2.5-2.9\,M_{\odot}$ (above the highest observed neutron star masses). Additionally, we applied the touchdown method combined with an MCMC analysis, the results are consistent with those from the direct cooling tail method, but with a broader range. Our analysis of the time-resolved spectrum of burst suggests a high-metallicity atmosphere, but new observations are required to confirm this result.