A Hydrogen Atmosphere Spectral Model Applied to the Neutron Star X7 in   the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
  Current X-ray missions are providing high-quality X-ray spectra from neutron stars (NSs) in quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries (qLMXBs). This has motivated us to calculate new hydrogen-atmosphere models, including opacity due to free-free absorption and Thomson scattering, thermal electron conduction, and self-irradiation by photons from the compact object. We have constructed a self-consistent grid of neutron star models covering a wide range of surface gravities as well as effective temperatures, which we make available to the scientific community.   We present multi-epoch Chandra X-ray observations of the qLMXB X7 in the globular cluster 47 Tuc, which is remarkably nonvariable on timescales from minutes to years. Its high-quality X-ray spectrum is adequately fit by our hydrogen-atmosphere model without any hard power-law component or narrow spectral features. If a mass of 1.4 Msol is assumed, our spectral fits require that its radius be in the range R=14.5^{+1.8}_{-1.6} km (90% confidence), larger than expected from currently preferred models of NS interiors. If its radius is assumed to be 10 km, then a mass of M=2.20^{+0.03}_{-0.16} Msol is required. Using models with the appropriate surface gravity for each value of the mass and radius becomes important for interpretation of the highest quality data. 
Craig O. Heinke (Northwestern), George B. Rybicki (CfA), Ramesh   Narayan (CfA), Jonathan E. Grindlay (CfA)