Lewin W.H.G., Van Der Klis M. (Eds.). Compact stellar X-ray sources

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. — 707 p. (Cambridge astrophysics Series, 39).
X-ray astronomy provides the main window onto astrophysical compact objects such as black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs. In the past ten years new observational opportunities have led to an explosion of knowledge in this field. In sixteen chapters, written by leading experts, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the observations and astrophysics of X-ray emitting stellar-mass compact objects. Topics discussed in depth include the various phenomena exhibited by compact objects in binary systems such as X-ray bursts, relativistic jets and quasi-periodic oscillations, as well as gamma-ray burst sources, super-soft and ultra-luminous sources, isolated neutron stars, magnetars and the enigmatic fast transients. The populations of X-ray sources in globular clusters and in external galaxies are discussed in detail. This is an invaluable reference for both graduate students and active researchers.List of contributors pageAccreting neutron stars and black holes: a decade of discoveries
Rapid X-ray variability
New views of thermonuclear bursts
Black hole binaries
Optical, ultraviolet and infrared observations of X-ray binaries
Fast X-ray transients and X-ray flashes
Isolated neutron stars
Globular cluster X-ray sources
Jets from X-ray binaries
X-rays from cataclysmic variables
Super-soft sources
Compact stellar X-ray sources in normal galaxies
Accretion in compact binaries
Soft gamma repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars: magnetar candidates
Cosmic gamma-ray bursts, their afterglows, and their host galaxies
Formation and evolution of compact stellar X-ray sources
Author index
Subject index