Scientific Colloquium
January 13, 2006
RXTE TENTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
FRED LAMB
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
"The
Impact of RossiXTE on General Relativistic and High Energy Astrophysics"
Using RossiXTE, astronomers have
discovered that accreting neutron
stars and black holes produce
several types of very high frequency X-ray
oscillations. These oscillations are powered by energy released
deep in the strong gravitational
fields of neutron stars and black
holes. They are being used to
explore fundamental physics, such
strong-field gravity and the
properties of matter under extreme
conditions, and important
astrophysical questions, such as the
formation and evolution of neutron
stars and black holes. Study of
these oscillations has greatly
narrowed the possible descriptions of
ultradense matter, indicated that
some black holes in binary systems
are rapidly spinning, and revealed
that dozens of neutron stars have
very high spin rates and magnetic
fields strong enough to become
millisecond radio-emitting pulsars
when accretion ceases. Analysis of
the kilohertz oscillations has
provided the first evidence for the
existence of the innermost stable
circular orbit around compact
massive objects predicted by
strong-field general relativity.