Vacuum polarization and cyclotron resonance effects on radiative transfer and plasma deceleration in subcritical X-ray pulsars
Abstract
We investigate the spectrum and polarization of radiation emerging from a subcritical X-ray pulsar using self-consistent radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of an accretion channel in a strong magnetic field. The polarized radiative transfer in the channel above the hot spot is simulated for the two normal modes, taking into account resonant Compton scattering in a strongly magnetized plasma and the effects of vacuum polarization. We show that the deceleration of the accreting matter in the subcritical regime is mainly governed by resonant scattering. Our simulations provide the velocity profiles of the plasma flow and demonstrate that vacuum polarization dominates over plasma birefringence, enhancing both the cyclotron spectral feature and the radiative deceleration of the plasma. We also find that the energy of the cyclotron feature increases with accretion luminosity, indicating a positive correlation consistent with previous observational results and theoretical interpretation.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{markozov2026vacuum,
title = {{Vacuum polarization and cyclotron resonance effects on radiative transfer and plasma deceleration in subcritical X-ray pulsars}},
author = {I. D. Markozov and A. Y. Potekhin and A. D. Kaminker and A. A. Mushtukov},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.06162},
eprint = {2605.06162},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06162},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Vacuum polarization and cyclotron resonance effects on radiative transfer and plasma deceleration in subcritical X-ray pulsars
AU - I. D. Markozov
AU - A. Y. Potekhin
AU - A. D. Kaminker
AU - A. A. Mushtukov
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/10
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.06162
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06162
AB - We investigate the spectrum and polarization of radiation emerging from a subcritical X-ray pulsar using self-consistent radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of an accretion channel in a strong magnetic field. The polarized radiative transfer in the channel above the hot spot is simulated for the two normal modes, taking into account resonant Compton scattering in a strongly magnetized plasma and the effects of vacuum polarization. We show that the deceleration of the accreting matter in the subcritical regime is mainly governed by resonant scattering. Our simulations provide the velocity profiles of the plasma flow and demonstrate that vacuum polarization dominates over plasma birefringence, enhancing both the cyclotron spectral feature and the radiative deceleration of the plasma. We also find that the energy of the cyclotron feature increases with accretion luminosity, indicating a positive correlation consistent with previous observational results and theoretical interpretation.
ER -