Boundary layer on the surface of a neutron star

Abstract

In an attempt to model the accretion onto a neutron star in low-mass X-ray binaries, we present two-dimensional hydrodynamical models of the gas flow in close vicinity of the stellar surface. First we consider a gas pressure dominated case, assuming that the star is non-rotating. For the stellar mass we take $M_{\rm star}=1.4 \times 10^{-2} \msun$ and for the gas temperature $T=5 \times 10^6$ K. Our results are qualitatively different in the case of a realistic neutron star mass and a realistic gas temperature of $T\simeq 10^8$ K, when the radiation pressure dominates. We show that to get the stationary solution in a latter case, the star most probably has to rotate with the considerable velocity.

7 pages, 7 figures