Ian Jones (University of Southampton, United Kingdom)

Gravitational wave instabilities in low-mass X-ray binaries

In this talk I will discuss the role that gravitational wave instabilities may play in low-mass X-ray binary
systems, paying careful attention to what happens when the star first approaches the critical spin frequency
at which the instability becomes active. I will describe how a complex combination of burst physics, the
interior equation of state, and gravitational radiation reaction may conspire to determine the equilibrium spin
frequencies of these objects, and describe how accurate X-ray timing data, of the sort that would be provided
by LOFT, will enable us to test the proposed model.