2025/06/03 by Yves Kini, Kini, Yves, Anna L. Watts +23 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #High-pressure geophysics and materials
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/staf908
ABSTRACT Modelling the coherent pulsations observed during thermonuclear bursts offers a valuable method to probe the poorly understood equation of state of dense and cold matter. Here we apply the pulse profile modelling technique to the pulsations observed with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer during the 2001 superburst of 4U 1636−536. By employing a single, uniform-temperature hotspot model with varying size and temperature, along with various assumptions for background/accretion contribution, we find that each assumption leads to different inferred mass, radius, and compactness constraints. This highlights the critical need to better understand the mass accretion rate enhancement/reduction during thermonuclear bursts to accurately model burst oscillation sources using pulse profile modelling.