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P.C. Fragile, G.J. Mathews (Notre Dame), J.R. Wilson (LLNL)
The association of the nearly coherent brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts from neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries with the rotation period of these neutron stars raises the possibility that these stars are spinning fast enough to become unstable to gravity wave radiation. In such cases, the surface deformations caused by the gravity wave instability may be sufficient to create a secondary brightness oscillation of a few hundred hertz in the X-ray spectrum. So far, no positive identification of such a secondary oscillation frequency has been made, but we review some tantalizing hints from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer measurements of Aql X-1.