We investigate the highest-frequency kHz QPOs previously detected with RXTE in six neutron star (NS) low mass X-ray binaries. We find that the highest-frequency kHz QPO detected in 4U 0614+09 has a 1267 Hz 3σ confidence lower limit on its centroid frequency. This is the highest such limit reported to date, and of direct physical interest as it can be used to constrain QPO models and the supranuclear density equation of state (EoS). We compare our measured frequencies to maximum orbital frequencies predicted in full GR using models of rotating neutron stars with a number of different modern EoS and show that these can accommodate the observed QPO frequencies.Orbital motion constrained by NS and ISCO radii is therefore a viable explanation of these QPOs. In the most constraining case of 4U 0614+09 we find the NS mass must be M<2.1 M . From our measured QPO frequencies we can constrain the NS radii for five of the six sources we studied to narrow ranges (±0.1-0.7 km) different for each source and each EoS.

We analyze all available RXTE data on a sample of 13 low mass X-ray binaries with known neutron star spin that are not persistent pulsars. We carefully measure the correlations between the centroid frequencies of the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs). We compare these correlations to the prediction of the relativistic precession model (RPM) that, due to frame dragging, a QPO will occur at the Lense-Thirring precession frequency ν LT of a test particle orbit whose orbital frequency is the upper kHz QPO frequency ν u . Contrary to the most prominent previous studies, we find two different oscillations in the range predicted for ν LT that are simultaneously present over a wide range of ν u . Additionally, one of the low frequency noise components evolves into a (third) QPO in the ν LT range when ν u exceeds 600 Hz. The frequencies of these QPOs all correlate to ν u following power laws with indices between 0.4-3.3, significantly exceeding the predicted value of 2.0 in 80% of the cases (at 3 to >20σ ). Also, there is no evidence that the neutron star spin frequency affects any of these three QPO frequencies as would be expected for frame dragging. Finally, the observed QPO frequencies tend to be higher than the ν LT predicted for reasonable neutron star specific moment of inertia. In the light of recent successes of precession models in black holes, we briefly discuss ways in which such precession can occur in neutron stars at frequencies different from test particle values and consistent with those observed. A precessing torus geometry and other torques than frame dragging may allow precession to produce the observed frequency correlations, but can only explain one of the three QPOs in the ν LT range.

Whilst astronomy as a science is historically founded on observations at optical wavelengths, studying the Universe in other bands has yielded remarkable discoveries, from pulsars in the radio, signatures of the Big Bang at submm wavelengths, through to high energy emission from accreting, gravitationally-compact objects and the discovery of gamma-ray bursts. Unsurprisingly, the result of combining multiple wavebands leads to an enormous increase in diagnostic power, but powerful insights can be lost when the sources studied vary on timescales shorter than the temporal separation between observations in different bands. In July 2015, the workshop "Paving the way to simultaneous multi-wavelength astronomy" was held as a concerted effort to address this at the Lorentz Center, Leiden. It was attended by 50 astronomers from diverse fields as well as the directors and staff of observatories and spaced-based missions. This community white paper has been written with the goal of disseminating the findings of that workshop by providing a concise review of the field of multi-wavelength astronomy covering a wide range of important source classes, the problems associated with their study and the solutions we believe need to be implemented for the future of observational astronomy. We hope that this paper will both stimulate further discussion and raise overall awareness within the community of the issues faced in a developing, important field.Comment: 52 pages, 15 figures, accepted, invited review (to appear in New Astronomy Reviews), v3: updated figure and tex

We investigate frequency correlations of low frequency (LF, <80 Hz) and kHz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) using the complete RXTE data sets on six accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars (AMXPs) and compare them to those of non-pulsating neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries with known spin. For the AMXPs SAX J1808.4−3658 and XTE J1807−294, we find frequency-correlation power-law indices that, surprisingly, are significantly lower than in the non-pulsars, and consistent with the relativistic precession model (RPM) prediction of 2.0 appropriate to test-particle orbital and Lense–Thirring precession frequencies. As previously reported, power-law normalizations are significantly higher in these AMXPs than in the non-pulsating sources, leading to requirements on the NS specific moment of inertia in this model that cannot be satisfied with realistic equations of state. At least two other AMXPs show frequency correlations inconsistent with those of SAX J1808.4−3658 and XTE J1807−294, and possibly similar to those of the non-pulsating sources; for two AMXPs no conclusions could be drawn. We discuss these results in the context of a model that has had success in black hole (BH) systems involving a torus-like hot inner flow precessing due to (prograde) frame dragging, and a scenario in which additional (retrograde) magnetic and classical precession torques not present in BH systems are also considered. We show that a combination of these interpretations may accommodate our results.