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Neutron star (NS) masses and radii can be estimated from observations ofphotospheric radius-expansion X-ray bursts, provided the chemical compositionof the photosphere, the spectral colour-correction factors in the observedluminosity range, and the emission area during the bursts are known. Byanalysing 246 X-ray bursts observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer from 11low-mass X-ray binaries, we find a dependence between the persistent spectralproperties and the time evolution of the black body normalisation during thebursts. All NS atmosphere models predict that the colour-correction factordecreases in the early cooling phase when the luminosity first drops below thelimiting Eddington value, leading to a characteristic pattern of variability inthe measured blackbody normalisation. However, the model predictions agree withthe observations for most bursts occurring in hard, low-luminosity, 'island'spectral states, but rarely during soft, high-luminosity, 'banana' states. Theobserved behaviour may be attributed to the accretion flow, which influencescooling of the NS preferentially during the soft state bursts. This resultimplies that only the bursts occurring in the hard, low-luminosity spectralstates can be reliably used for NS mass and radius determination.

The influence of accretion geometry on the spectral evolution during thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts