Peter Kretschmar

    Mission Manager and Astronomer

     

    Main Research Fields

    Almost all of my research activities are related to accreting X-ray binaries, mostly accreting X-ray pulsars. Using data from various high-energy missions (XMM-Newton, INTEGRAL, NICER, NuSTAR, RXTE, Suzaku, Swift and others) my colleagues and I study different aspects of these systems: mechanisms of accretion, period evolution, lightcurves, pulse profiles and spectra. One of my specialties is the study of cyclotron resonant scattering features. Other topics of great interest to me include stellar winds and accretion in HMXB and Be X-ray binary outbursts. See also the Be X-ray Binary Monitor project. Other fields of interests are X-ray bursts and their feedback on the accretion disk and gamma-ray binaries.


    Keywords

    • Accreting X-ray pulsars
    • Stellar winds in HMXB systems
    • Be X-ray binaries
    • Cyclotron line studies, physics of the accretion column
    • Accretion column geometry and pulse profiles
    • Accretion mechanisms
    • X-ray bursts and feedback to accretion

    Ongoing collaborations

    ISSI Team Meetings

    2003 + 2004 Multiwavelength investigation of X-/gamma-ray sources
    2007 + 2008 Formation of Cyclotron Lines in Neutron Star Accretion Columns
    2011 + 2012 Physics of the Accretion Column of X-ray pulsars
    2013 + 2014 Unified View of Stellar Winds in Massive X-ray Binaries
    2015 + 2016 Coronae in the X-ray flashlight
    2016 + 2017 A Comprehensive View of Stellar Winds in Massive X-ray Binaries
    2019 + 2020 Understanding and Unifying the Gamma Rays Emitting Scenarios in High Mass and Low Mass X-Ray Binaries
    2021 + 2023 Feeding the spinning top – Spin evolution of accretion-powered pulsars in high-mass X-ray binaries

     

    Publications

    Recent highlighted papers
    ​​​​

    XMM-Newton N. Schartel, R. González-Riestra, P. Kretschmar et al. (arXiv 2022) Invited chapter for Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics, Eds. C. Bambi and A. Santangelo, Springer Singapore
    Common patterns in pulse profiles of high-mass X-ray binaries J. Alonso-Hernández, F. Fürst, F., P. Kretschmar, et al. (A&A 662, A62, 2022) Identified three groups of sources based on the profile shapes, dominant Fourier harmonics and their respective evolution with energy.
    INTEGRAL reloaded: Spacecraft, instruments and ground system E. Kuulkers, C. Ferrigno, P. Kretschmar, et al. (New Astronomy Reviews, 93, article id. 101629, 2021) Mission & science status after more than 18 years of operations
    Revisiting the archetypical wind accretor Vela X-1 in depth. Case study of a well-known X-ray binary and the limits of our knowledge P. Kretschmar, I. El Mellah, S. Martínez-Núñez, et al. (A&A 652, A95, 2021) Compilation and synthesis of the accumulated knowledge about Vela X-1, both observationally and theoretically.
    The X-Ray Pulsar XTE J1858+034 Observed with NuSTAR and Fermi/GBM: Spectral and Timing Characterization plus a Cyclotron Line C. Malacaria, P. Kretschmar, Madsen, K.K., et al. (ApJ, 909, 153, 2021) NuSTAR observation of XTE J1858+034 during its 2019 outburst. Candidate cyclotron line at 48 keV. Single-peaked pulse profile.

     

    Full list of publications in ADS

    Project/mission at ESA

    XMM-Newton, previously also INTEGRAL and Hitomi (ASTRO-H)

    Member of IAU, EAS, SSAA and SEA
    ORCID 0000-0001-9840-2048