40 research outputs found
Theory of wind accretion
A review of wind accretion in high-mass X-ray binaries is presented. We focus
attention to different regimes of quasi-spherical accretion onto the neutron
star: the supersonic (Bondi) accretion, which takes place when the captured
matter cools down rapidly and falls supersonically toward NS magnetospghere,
and subsonic (settling) accretion which occurs when plasma remains hot until it
meets the magnetospheric boundary. Two regimes of accretion are separated by an
X-ray luminosity of about erg/s. In the subsonic case, which
sets in at low luminosities, a hot quasi-spherical shell must be formed around
the magnetosphere, and the actual accretion rate onto NS is determined by
ability of the plasma to enter the magnetosphere due to Rayleigh-Taylor
instability. We calculate the rate of plasma entry the magnetopshere and the
angular momentum transfer in the shell due to turbulent viscosity appearing in
the convective differentially rotating shell. We also discuss and calculate the
structure of the magnetospheric boundary layer where the angular momentum
between the rotating magnetosphere and the base of the differentially rotating
quasi-spherical shell takes place. We show how observations of equilibrium
X-ray pulsars Vela X-1 and GX 301-2 can be used to estimate dimensionless
parameters of the subsonic settling accretion theory, and obtain the width of
the magnetospheric boundary layer for these pulsars.Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages, 5 figures; submitted to Proc. of Int. Conf. "Physics
at the Magnetspheric Boundary", Geneva, Switzerland, 25-28 June, 201
The nature of the hard state of Cygnus X-3
The X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 (Cyg X-3) is a highly variable X-ray source that displays a wide range of observed spectral states. One of the main states is significantly harder than the others, peaking at ∼20 keV, with only a weak low-energy component. Due to the enigmatic nature of this object, hidden inside the strong stellar wind of its Wolf-Rayet companion, it has remained unclear whether this state represents an intrinsic hard state, with truncation of the inner disc, or whether it is just a result of increased local absorption. We study the X-ray light curves from RXTE/ASM and CGRO/BATSE in terms of distributions and correlations of flux and hardness and find several signs of a bimodal behaviour of the accretion flow that are not likely to be the result of increased absorption in a surrounding medium. Using INTEGRAL observations, we model the broad-band spectrum of Cyg X-3 in its apparent hard state. We find that it can be well described by a model of a hard state with a truncated disc, despite the low cut-off energy, provided the accreted power is supplied to the electrons in the inner flow in the form of acceleration rather than thermal heating, resulting in a hybrid electron distribution and a spectrum with a significant contribution from non-thermal Comptonization, usually observed only in soft states. The high luminosity of this non-thermal hard state implies that either the transition takes place at significantly higher L/LE than in the usual advection models, or the mass of the compact object is ≳20 M⊙, possibly making it the most-massive black hole observed in an X-ray binary in our Galaxy so far. We find that an absorption model as well as a model of almost pure Compton reflection also fit the data well, but both have difficulties explaining other results, in particular the radio/X-ray correlatio
Spectral variability in Cygnus X-3
We model the broad-band X-ray spectrum of Cyg X-3 in all states displayed by
this source as observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. From our models, we
derive for the first time unabsorbed spectral shapes and luminosities for the
full range of spectral states. We interpret the unabsorbed spectra in terms of
Comptonization by a hybrid electron distribution and strong Compton reflection.
We study the spectral evolution and compare with other black hole as well as
neutron star sources. We show that a neutron star accretor is not consistent
with the spectral evolution as a function of Ledd and especially not with the
transition to a hard state. Our results point to the compact object in Cyg X-3
being a massive, ~30 Msun black hole.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A classification of the X-ray and radio states of Cyg X-3 and their long-term correlations
We present a detailed classification of the X-ray states of Cyg X-3 based on
the spectral shape and a new classification of the radio states based on the
long-term correlated behaviour of the radio and soft X-ray light curves. We
find a sequence of correlations, starting with a positive correlation between
the radio and soft X-ray fluxes in the hard spectral state, changing to a
negative one at the transition to soft spectral states. The temporal evolution
can be in either direction on that sequence, unless the source goes into a very
weak radio state, from which it can return only following a major radio flare.
The flare decline is via relatively bright radio states, which results in a
hysteresis loop on the flux-flux diagram. We also study the hard X-ray light
curve, and find its overall anticorrelation with the soft X-rays. During major
radio flares, the radio flux responds exponentially to the level of a hard
X-ray high-energy tail. We also specify the detailed correspondence between the
radio states and the X-ray spectral states. We compare our results to those of
black-hole and neutron-star binaries. Except for the effect of strong
absorption and the energy of the high-energy break in the hard state, the X-ray
spectral states of Cyg X-3 closely correspond to the canonical X-ray states of
black-hole binaries. Also, the radio/X-ray correlation closely corresponds to
that found in black-hole binaries, but it significantly differs from that in
neutron-star binaries. Overall, our results strongly support the presence of a
black hole in Cyg X-3.Comment: MNRAS, in pres