Physical Environment of Accreting Neutron Stars

Abstract

Neutron stars (NSs) powered by accretion, which are known as accretion-powered NSs, always locate in binary systems and manifest themselves as X-ray sources. Physical process during accreting material from their companions is a challenging and appealing topic, because of the strong magnetic field of NSs. In this article, we review the physical process of accretion onto magnetized NS in X-ray binary systems. We, firstly, give an introduction to accretion-powered NSs and review the accretion mechanism in X-ray binaries. This review will be mostly focused on accretion-induced evolution of NSs. Finally, we extend the accretion to cosmic scheme and discuss that the NS accretion can be a potential promising tool to constrain dark matter candidates and investigate the nature of dark energy.