Spectral formation in X-ray pulsars: Bulk comptonization in the accretion shock

Accretion-powered X-ray pulsars are among the most luminous X-ray sources in the Galaxy. However, despite decades of theoretical and observational work since their discovery, no satisfactory model for the formation of the observed X-ray spectra has emerged. In particular, the previously available theories are unable to reproduce the power-law variation observed at high energies in many sources. In this paper we present the first self-consistent calculation of the spectrum emerging from a pulsar accretion column that includes an explicit treatment of the energization occurring in the shock. Using a rigorous eigenfunction expansion method based on the exact dynamical solution for the velocity profile in the column, we obtain a closed-form expression for the Green's function describing the upscattering of radiation injected into the column from a monochromatic source located at the top of the thermal mound, near the base of the flow. The Green's function is convolved with a Planck distribution to calculate the radiation spectrum resulting from the reprocessing of blackbody photons emitted by the thermal mound. We demonstrate that the energization of the photons in the shock naturally produces an X-ray spectrum with a power-law shape at high energies and a blackbody shape at low energies, in agreement with many observations of accreting X-ray pulsars.