67 research outputs found
Testing the cooling flow model in the intermediate polar EX Hydrae
We use the best available X-ray data from the intermediate polar EX Hydrae to
study the cooling-flow model often applied to interpret the X-ray spectra of
these accreting magnetic white dwarf binaries. First, we resolve a
long-standing discrepancy between the X-ray and optical determinations of the
mass of the white dwarf in EX Hya by applying new models of the inner disk
truncation radius. Our fits to the X-ray spectrum now agree with the white
dwarf mass of 0.79 Msun determined using dynamical methods through
spectroscopic observations of the secondary. We use a simple isobaric cooling
flow model to derive the emission line fluxes, emission measure distribution,
and H-like to He-like line ratios for comparison with the 496 ks Chandra High
Energy Transmission Grating observation of EX Hydrae. We find that the H/He
ratios are not well reproduced by this simple isobaric cooling flow model and
show that while H-like line fluxes can be accurately predicted, fluxes of
lower-Z He-like lines are significantly underestimated. This discrepancy
suggests that some extra heating mechanism plays an important role at the base
of the accretion column, where cooler ions form. We thus explored more complex
cooling models including the change of gravitational potential with height in
the accretion column and a magnetic dipole geometry. None of these
modifications to the standard cooling flow model are able to reproduce the
observed line ratios. While a cooling flow model with subsolar (0.1 )
abundances is able to reproduce the line ratios by reducing the cooling rate at
temperatures lower than K, the predicted line-to-continuum
ratios are much lower than observed. We discuss and discard mechanisms such as
photoionization, departures from constant pressure, resonant scattering,
different electron-ion temperatures, and Compton cooling. [Abridged]Comment: Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics, modified version after referee
comments and proof correction
X-ray Light Curves and Accretion Disk Structure of EX Hydrae
We present X-ray light curves for the cataclysmic variable EX Hydrae obtained
with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer and the Extreme
Ultraviolet Explorer Deep Survey photometer. We confirm earlier results on the
shape and amplitude of the binary light curve and discuss a new feature: the
phase of the minimum in the binary light curve, associated with absorption by
the bulge on the accretion disk, increases with wavelength. We discuss several
scenarios that could account for this trend and conclude that, most likely, the
ionization state of the bulge gas is not constant, but rather decreases with
binary phase. We also conclude that photoionization of the bulge by radiation
originating from the white dwarf is not the main source of ionization, but that
it is heated by shocks originating from the interaction between the inflowing
material from the companion and the accretion disk. The findings in this paper
provide a strong test for accretion disk models in close binary systems.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap
Reprocessing of Soft X-ray Emission Lines in Black Hole Accretion Disks
By means of a Monte Carlo code that accounts for Compton scattering and
photoabsorption followed by recombination, we have investigated the radiation
transfer of Ly alpha, He alpha, and recombination continua photons of H- and
He-like C, N, O, and Ne produced in the photoionized atmosphere of a
relativistic black hole accretion disk. We find that photoelectric opacity
causes significant attenuation of photons with energies above the O VIII
K-edge; that the conversion efficiencies of these photons into lower-energy
lines and recombination continua are high; and that accounting for this
reprocessing significantly (by factors of 21% to 105%) increases the flux of
the Ly alpha and He alpha emission lines of H- and He-like C and O escaping the
disk atmosphere.Comment: 4 pages including 4 encapsulated postscript figures; LaTeX format,
uses aastex.cls and emulateapj5.sty; accepted on 2004 January 13 for
publication in The Astrophysical Journa
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High Spectral Resolution X-ray Observation of Magnetic CVs: EX Hya
In magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs) the primary is a highly magnetized white dwarf (WD) whose field controls the accretion flow close to the WD, leading to a shock and accretion column that radiate chiefly in X-rays. We present preliminary results from a 500 ks Chandra HETG observation of the brightest magnetic CV EX Hya. From the observational dataset we are able to measure the temperature and density at different points of the cooling accretion column using sensitive line ratios. We also construct line-based light curves to search for rotational modulation of the X-ray emission
Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from AE Aquarii with Seven Years of Fermi-LAT Observations
AE Aquarii (AE Aqr) is a cataclysmic binary hosting one of the fastest
rotating (P = 33.08 s) white dwarfs known. Based on seven years of
Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) Pass 8 data, we report on a deep search for
gamma-ray emission from AE Aqr. Using X-ray observations from ASCA, XMM-Newton,
Chandra, Swift, Suzaku, and NuSTAR, spanning 20 years, we substantially extend
and improve the spin ephemeris of AE Aqr. Using this ephemeris, we searched for
gamma-ray pulsations at the spin period of the white dwarf. No gamma-ray
pulsations were detected above 3 significance. Neither phase-averaged
gamma-ray emission nor gamma-ray variability of AE Aquarii is detected by
Fermi-LAT. We impose the most restrictive upper limit to the gamma-ray flux
from AE Aqr to date: erg cm s in the 100
MeV-300 GeV energy range, providing constraints on models.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in Ap
ORFEUS II and IUE Spectroscopy of EX Hydrae
Using ORFEUS-SPAS II FUV spectra, IUE UV spectra, and archival EUVE deep
survey photometry, we present a detailed picture of the behavior of the
magnetic cataclysmic variable EX Hydrae. Like HUT spectra of this source, the
FUV and UV spectra reveal broad emission lines of He II, C II-IV, N III and V,
O VI, Si III-IV, and Al III superposed on a continuum which is blue in the UV
and nearly flat in the FUV. Like ORFEUS spectra of AM Her, the O VI doublet is
resolved into broad and narrow emission components. Consistent with its
behavior in the optical, the FUV and UV continuum flux densities, the FUV and
UV broad emission line fluxes, and the radial velocity of the O VI broad
emission component all vary on the spin phase of the white dwarf, with the
maximum of the FUV and UV continuum and broad emission line flux light curves
coincident with maximum blueshift of the broad O VI emission component. On the
binary phase, the broad dip in the EUV light curve is accompanied by strong
eclipses of the UV emission lines and by variations in both the flux and radial
velocity of the O VI narrow emission component. The available data are
consistent with the accretion funnel being the source of the FUV and UV
continuum and the O VI broad emission component, and the white dwarf being the
source of the O VI narrow emission component.Comment: 21 pages, 10 Postscript figures; LaTeX format, uses aaspp4.sty;
table2.tex included separately because it must be printed sideways - see
instructions in the file; accepted on 1999 Feb 20 for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Accretion column structure of magnetic cataclysmic variables from X-ray spectroscopy
Using Chandra HETG data we present light curves for individual spectral lines
of Mg XI and Mg XII for EX Hydrae, an intermediate-polar type cataclysmic
variable. The Mg XI light curve, folded on the white dwarf spin period, shows
two spikes that are not seen in the Mg XII or broad-band light curves.
Occultation of the accretion column by the body of the white dwarf would
produce such spikes for an angle between the rotation axis and the accretion
columns of alpha = 18 degrees and a height of the Mg XI emission above the
white dwarf surface of < 0.0004 white dwarf radii or < 4 km. The absence of
spikes in the Mg XII and broad-band light curves could then be explained if the
bulk of its emission forms at much larger height, > 0.004 white dwarf radii or
> 40 km, above the white dwarf surface, although this is not consistent with
the predictions of the standard Aizu model of the accretion column.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ Letter
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