A SEARCH FOR CYCLOTRON LINES IN THE BURSTING PULSAR, GRO J1744-28

We report a search for cyclotron line absorption in the pulsed spectru m of the ''Bursting Pulsar'', GRO J1744-28 using the Proportional Coun ter Array (PCA) and the High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment (HEXTE) on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). We focus on data obtained aro und the peak of the 1996-1997 outburst. Improvements made in these ana lyses include the use of more accurate PCA and HEXTE detector response matrices, data with a larger overlapping energy band, and a continuum model especially well suited to cyclotron line searches. We find that the spectrum can be adequately fit with a smooth continuum model typi cal of other X-ray pulsars, with no modification for cyclotron absorpt ion required. In fact, the data are inconsistent with cyclotron featur es with depths greater than a few percent of the continuum.