4,452 research outputs found
INTEGRAL and Swift observations of the hard X-ray transient MAXI J1828-249
In this paper we report on the observations performed with INTEGRAL and Swift
of the first outburst detected from the hard X-ray transient MAXI J1828-249.
During the first about two days of the outburst, the source was observed by
MAXI to undergo a very rapid transition from a hard to a softer spectral state.
While the hard state was not efficiently monitored because the transition
occurred so rapidly, the evolution of the source outburst in the softer state
was covered quasi-simultaneously in a broad energy range (0.6-150 keV) by the
instruments on-board INTEGRAL and Swift. During these observations, the spectra
measured from the source displayed both a prominent thermal emission with
temperature kT 0.7 keV and a power-law hard component with a photon index gamma
2.2 extending to 200 keV. The properties of the source in the X-ray domain are
reminiscent of those displayed by black hole transients during the soft
intermediate state, which supports the association of MAXI J1828-249 with this
class of objects.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Accepter for publication in A&
INTEGRAL and Swift observations of IGRJ19294+1816 in outburst
IGRJ19294+1816 was discovered by INTEGRAL in 2009 during a bright X-ray
outburst and was classified as a possible Be X-ray binary or supergiant fast
X-ray transient. On 2010 October 28, the source displayed a second X-ray
outburst and a 2 months-long monitoring with Swift was carried out to follow
the evolution of the source X-ray flux during the event. We report on the
INTEGRAL and Swift observations of the second X-ray outburst observed from
IGRJ19294+1816. We detected pulsations in the X-ray emission from the source at
\sim12.5 s up to 50 keV. The source X-ray flux decreased smoothly during the
two months of observation displaying only marginal spectral changes. Due to the
relatively rapid decay of the source X-ray flux, no significant variations of
the source spin period across the event could be measured. This prevented a
firm confirmation of the previously suggested orbital period of the source at
117 d. This periodicity was also searched by using archival Swift /BAT data. We
detected a marginally significant peak in the periodogram and determined the
best period at 116.2\pm0.6 days (estimated chance probability of a spurious
detection 1%). The smooth decline of the source X-ray flux across the two
months of observations after the onset of the second outburst, together with
its relatively low value of the spin period and the absence of remarkable
changes in the spectral parameters (i.e., the absorption column density),
suggests that IGRJ19294+1816 is most likely another member of the Be X-ray
binaries discovered by INTEGRAL and not a supergiant fast X-ray transient.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 7 pages, 10 figure
A new model for the X-ray continuum of the magnetized accreting pulsars
Accreting highly magnetized pulsars in binary systems are among the brightest
X-ray emitters in our Galaxy. Although a number of high statistical quality
broad-band (0.1-100 keV) X-ray observations are available, the spectral energy
distribution of these sources is usually investigated by adopting pure
phenomenological models, rather than models linked to the physics of accretion.
In this paper, a detailed spectral study of the X-ray emission recorded from
the high-mass X-ray binary pulsars Cen X-3, 4U 0115+63, and Her X-1 is carried
out by using BeppoSAX and joined Suzaku+NuStar data, together with an advanced
version of the compmag model. The latter provides a physical description of the
high energy emission from accreting pulsars, including the thermal and bulk
Comptonization of cyclotron and bremsstrahlung seed photons along the neutron
star accretion column. The compmag model is based on an iterative method for
solving second-order partial differential equations, whose convergence
algorithm has been improved and consolidated during the preparation of this
paper. Our analysis shows that the broad-band X-ray continuum of all considered
sources can be self-consistently described by the compmag model. The cyclotron
absorption features, not included in the model, can be accounted for by using
Gaussian components. From the fits of the compmag model to the data we inferred
the physical properties of the accretion columns in all sources, finding values
reasonably close to those theoretically expected according to our current
understanding of accretion in highly magnetized neutron stars. The updated
version of the compmag model has been tailored to the physical processes that
are known to occur in the columns of highly magnetized accreting neutron stars
and it can thus provide a better understanding of the high energy radiation
from these sources.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Determination of the forward slope in and elastic scattering up to LHC energy
In the analysis of experimental data on (or ) elastic
differential cross section it is customary to define an average forward slope
in the form , where is the momentum transfer. Taking as
working example the results of experiments at Tevatron and SPS, we will show
with the help of the impact picture approach, that this simplifying assumption
hides interesting information on the complex non-flip scattering amplitude, and
that the slope is not a constant. We investigate the variation of this
slope parameter, including a model-independent way to extract this information
from an accurate measurement of the elastic differential cross section. An
extension of our results to the LHC energy domain is presented in view of
future experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to appear in EPJ
Investigating Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients with LOFT
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXT) are a class of High-Mass X-ray
Binaries whose optical counterparts are O or B supergiant stars, and whose
X-ray outbursts are ~ 4 orders of magnitude brighter than the quiescent state.
LOFT, the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing, with its coded mask Wide Field
Monitor (WFM) and its 10 m^2 class collimated X-ray Large Area Detector (LAD),
will be able to dramatically deepen the knowledge of this class of sources. It
will provide simultaneous high S/N broad-band and time-resolved spectroscopy in
several intensity states, and long term monitoring that will yield new
determinations of orbital periods, as well as spin periods. We show the results
of an extensive set of simulations performed using previous observational
results of these sources obtained with Swift and XMM-Newton. The WFM will
detect all SFXT flares within its field of view down to a 15-20 mCrab in 5ks.
Our simulations describe the outbursts at several intensities
(F_(2-10keV)=5.9x10^-9 to 5.5x10^-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1), the intermediate and most
common state (10^-11 erg cm^-2 s^-1), and the low state (1.2x10^-12 to 5x10^-13
erg cm^-2 s^-1). We also considered large variations of N_H and the presence of
emission lines, as observed by Swift and XMM-Newton.Comment: Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on High-Energy
Gamma-Ray Astronomy (Gamma2012), Heidelberg. 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Is 4U 0114+65 an eclipsing HMXB?
We present the pulsation and spectral characteristics of the HMXB 4U 0114+65
during a \emph{Suzaku} observation covering the part of the orbit that included
the previously known low intensity emission of the source (dip) and the egress
from this state. This dip has been interpreted in previous works as an X-ray
eclipse. Notably, in this Suzaku observation, the count rate during and outside
the dip vary by a factor of only 2-4 at odds with the eclipses of other HMXBs,
where the intensity drops upto two orders of magnitude. The orbital intensity
profile of 4U 0114+65 is characterized by a narrow dip in the RXTE-ASM (2-12
\rm{keV}) light curve and a shallower one in the Swift-BAT (15-50 \rm{keV}),
which is different from eclipse ingress/egress behaviour of other HMXBs. The
time-resolved spectral analysis reveal moderate absorption column density
(N - 2-20 atoms ) and a relatively low
equivalent width ( 30 \rm{eV} \& 12 \rm{eV} of the iron K and
K lines respectively) as opposed to the typical X-ray spectra of HMXBs
during eclipse where the equivalent width is 1 \rm{keV}. Both XIS and
PIN data show clear pulsations during the dip, which we have further confirmed
using the entire archival data of the IBIS/ISGRI and JEM-X instruments onboard
\emph{INTEGRAL}. The results we presented question the previous interpretation
of the dip in the light curve of 4U 0114+65 as an X-ray eclipse. We thus
discuss alternative interpretations of the periodic dip in the light curve of
4U 0114+65.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, Accepted in MNRA
RX J0440.9+4431: a persistent Be/X-ray binary in outburst
The persistent Be/X-ray binary RX J0440.9+4431 flared in 2010 and 2011 and
has been followed by various X-ray facilities Swift, RXTE, XMM-Newton, and
INTEGRAL. We studied the source timing and spectral properties as a function of
its X-ray luminosity to investigate the transition from normal to flaring
activity and the dynamical properties of the system. We have determined the
orbital period from the long-term Swift/BAT light curve, but our determinations
of the spin period are not precise enough to constrain any orbital solution.
The source spectrum can always be described by a bulk-motion Comptonization
model of black body seed photons attenuated by a moderate photoelectric
absorption. At the highest luminosity, we measured a curvature of the spectrum,
which we attribute to a significant contribution of the radiation pressure in
the accretion process. This allows us to estimate that the transition from a
bulk-motion-dominated flow to a radiatively dominated one happens at a
luminosity of ~2e36 erg/s. The luminosity dependency of the size of the black
body emission region is found to be . This
suggests that either matter accreting onto the neutron star hosted in RX
J0440.9+4431 penetrates through closed magnetic field lines at the border of
the compact object magnetosphere or that the structure of the neutron star
magnetic field is more complicated than a simple dipole close to the surfaceComment: Accepted for publication by A&
The accretion environment of Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients probed with XMM-Newton
Supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) are characterized by a remarkable
variability in the X-ray domain, widely ascribed to the accretion from a clumpy
stellar wind. In this paper we performed a systematic and homogeneous analysis
of sufficiently bright X-ray flares from the SFXTs observed with XMM-Newton to
probe spectral variations on timescales as short as a few hundred of seconds.
Our ultimate goal is to investigate if SFXT flares and outbursts are triggered
by the presence of clumps and eventually reveal whether strongly or mildly
dense clumps are required. For all sources, we employ a technique developed by
our group, making use of an adaptive rebinned hardness ratio to optimally
select the time intervals for the spectral extraction. A total of twelve
observations performed in the direction of five SFXTs are reported. We show
that both strongly and mildly dense clumps can trigger these events. In the
former case, the local absorption column density may increase by a factor of
>>3, while in the latter case, the increase is only by a factor of 2-3 (or
lower). Overall, there seems to be no obvious correlation between the dynamic
ranges in the X-ray fluxes and absorption column densities in SFXTs, with an
indication that lower densities are recorded at the highest fluxes. This can be
explained by the presence of accretion inhibition mechanism(s). We propose a
classification of the flares/outbursts from these sources to drive future
observational investigations. We suggest that the difference between the
classes of flares/outbursts is related to the fact that the mechanism(s)
inhibiting accretion can be overcome more easily in some sources compared to
others. We also investigate the possibility that different stellar wind
structures, rather than clumps, could provide the means to temporarily overcome
the inhibition of accretion in SFXTs.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&
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