With the discovery of three ULXs pulsars it has become clear that at least some (and perhaps even a large fraction of) ULXs are powered by neutron-stars accreting at super-Eddington accretion rates.
Among the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries there exists a small class of sources that may link 'normal' X-ray binaries and ULXs, the so-called Z sources. These sources accrete close to or above the Eddington luminosity. Although the magnetic field in these systems is probably much weaker than in the neutron-star ULXs, they might still provide clues toward understanding the properties of (highly) super-Eddington accretion flows onto neutron stars. I'll briefly review the observed properties (X-ray continua, variability, winds, and jets) in these luminous neutron-star LMXBs as they start to approach and exceed the Eddington luminosity and will discuss how these compare to ULXs (in particular those on the low-luminosity end).
| Subject : | : | oral |
| Topics | : | Global Evolution of XrB in outburst |
| Topics | : | Unification CV-BH-NS-ULX-AGN |
| Topics | : | Ejections in XRBs (jets and winds) |
| Keywords | : | X ; ray spectra ; variability ; jets ; winds |
| PDF version | : |  PDF version |
