1,200 research outputs found
Spectral evolution of the microquasar XTE J1550-564 over its entire 2000 outburst
We report on RXTE observations of the microquasar XTE J1550-564 during a ~70
day outburst in April-June 2000. We study the evolution of the PCA+HEXTE
spectra over the outburst. The source transited from an initial Low Hard State
(LS), to an Intermediate State (IS), and then back to the LS. The source shows
an hysteresis effect similar to what is observed in other sources, favoring a
common origin for the state transitions in soft X-ray transients. The first
transition occurs at a ~ constant 2-200 keV flux, which probably indicates a
change in the relative importance of the emitting media. The second transition
is more likely driven by a drop in the mass accretion rate.
In both LS, the spectra are characterized by the presence of a strong
power-law tail (Compton corona) with a variable high energy cut-off. During the
IS, the spectra show the presence of a ~0.8 keV thermal component (accretion
disk). We discuss the apparently independent evolution of the two media, and
show that right after the X-ray maximum on MJD 51662, the decrease of the
source luminosity is due to a decrease of the power-law luminosity, at a
constant disk luminosity. This, together with the detection of radio emission
(with a spectrum typical of optically thin synchrotron emission), may suggest
that the corona is ejected and further detected as a discrete radio ejection.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 9 pages, 4 figures, abstract
abridge
Evaluating Spectral Models and the X-ray States of Neutron-Star X-ray Transients
We propose a hybrid model to fit the X-ray spectra of atoll-type X-ray
transients in the soft and hard states. This model uniquely produces luminosity
tracks that are proportional to T^4 for both the accretion disk and boundary
layer. The model also indicates low Comptonization levels for the soft state,
gaining a similarity to black holes in the relationship between Comptonization
level and the strength of integrated rms variability in the power density
spectrum. The boundary layer appears small, with a surface area that is roughly
constant across soft and hard states. This result may suggestion that the NS
radius is smaller than its inner-most stable circular orbit.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap
Suzaku and BeppoSAX X-ray Spectra of the Persistently Accreting Neutron-Star Binary 4U 1705-44
We present an analysis of the broad-band spectra of 4U~1705--44 obtained with
{\it Suzaku} in 2006--2008 and by {\it BeppoSAX} in 2000. The source exhibits
two distinct states: the hard state shows emission from 1 to 150 keV, while the
soft state is mostly confined to be keV. We model soft-state continuum
spectra with two thermal components, one of which is a multicolor accretion
disk and the other is a single-temperature blackbody to describe the boundary
layer, with additional weak Comptonization represented by either a simple power
law or the SIMPL model by Steiner et al. The hard-state continuum spectra are
modeled by a single-temperature blackbody for the boundary layer plus strong
Comptonization, modeled by a cutoff power law. While we are unable to draw firm
conclusions about the physical properties of the disk in the hard state, the
accretion disk in the soft state appears to approximately follow . The deviation from , as expected from a constant inner
disk radius, might be caused by a luminosity-dependent spectral hardening
factor and/or real changes of the inner disk radius in some part of the soft
state. The boundary layer apparent emission area is roughly constant from the
hard to the soft states, with a value of about 1/11 of the neutron star
surface. The magnetic field on the surface of the NS in 4U~1705--44 is
estimated to be less than about G, assuming that the disk is
truncated by the ISCO or by the neutron star surface. Broad relativistic Fe
lines are detected in most spectra and are modeled with the diskline model. The
strength of the Fe lines is found to correlate well with the boundary layer
emission in the soft state. In the hard state, the Fe lines are probably due to
illumination of the accretion disk by the strong Comptonization emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
A Comparison of Intermediate Mass Black Hole Candidate ULXs and Stellar-Mass Black Holes
Cool thermal emission components have recently been revealed in the X-ray
spectra of a small number of ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) sources with L_X > 1
E+40 erg/s in nearby galaxies. These components can be well fitted with
accretion disk models, with temperatures approximately 5-10 times lower than
disk temperatures measured in stellar-mass Galactic black holes when observed
in their brightest states. Because disk temperature is expected to fall with
increasing black hole mass, and because the X-ray luminosity of these sources
exceeds the Eddington limit for 10 Msun black holes (L_Edd = 1.3 E+39 erg/s),
these sources are extremely promising intermediate-mass black hole candidates
(IMBHCs). In this Letter, we directly compare the inferred disk temperatures
and luminosities of these ULXs, with the disk temperatures and luminosities of
a number of Galactic black holes. The sample of stellar-mass black holes was
selected to include different orbital periods, companion types, inclinations,
and column densities. These ULXs and stellar-mass black holes occupy distinct
regions of a L_X -- kT diagram, suggesting these ULXs may harbor IMBHs. We
briefly discuss the important strengths and weaknesses of this interpretation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 color figures, uses emulateapj.sty and apjfonts.sty, subm.
to ApJ
INTEGRAL spectral variability study of the atoll 4U 1820-30: first detection of hard X-ray emission
We study the 4-200 keV spectral and temporal behaviour of the low mass X-ray
binary 4U 1820-30 with INTEGRAL during 2003-2005. This source as been observed
in both the soft (banana) and hard (island) spectral states. A high energy
tail, above 50 keV, in the hard state has been observed for the first time.
This places the source in the category of X-ray bursters showing high-energy
emission. The tail can be modeled as a soft power law component, with the
photon index of ~2.4, on top of thermal Comptonization emission from a plasma
with the electron temperature of kT_e~6 keV and optical depth of \tau~4.
Alternatively, but at a lower goodness of the fit, the hard-state broad band
spectrum can be accounted for by emission from a hybrid, thermal-nonthermal,
plasma. During this monitoring the source spent most of the time in the soft
state, usual for this source, and the >~4 keV spectra are represented by
thermal Comptonization with kT_e~3 keV and \tau~6-7.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication by Ap
High Magnetic Field Behaviour of the Triangular Lattice Antiferromagnet, CuFeO_2
The high magnetic field behaviour of the triangular lattice antiferromagnet
CuFeO_2 is studied using single crystal neutron diffraction measurements in a
field of up to 14.5 T and also by magnetisation measurements in a field of up
to 12 T. At low temperature, two well-defined first order magnetic phase
transitions are found in this range of applied magnetic field (H // c): at
H_c1=7.6(3)/7.1(3) T and H_c2=13.2(1)/12.7(1) T when ramping the field up/down.
In a field above H_c2 the magnetic Bragg peaks show unusual history dependence.
In zero field T_N1=14.2(1) K separates a high temperature paramagnetic and an
intermediate incommensurate structure, while T_N2=11.1(3) K divides an
incommensurate phase from the low-temperature 4-sublattice ground state. The
ordering temperature T_N1 is found to be almost field independent, while T_N2
decreases noticeably in applied field. The magnetic phase diagram is discussed
in terms of the interactions between an applied magnetic field and the highly
frustrated magnetic structure of CuFeO_2Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures in ReVTeX. To appear in PR
Boundary layer on the surface of a neutron star
In an attempt to model the accretion onto a neutron star in low-mass X-ray
binaries, we present two-dimensional hydrodynamical models of the gas flow in
close vicinity of the stellar surface. First we consider a gas pressure
dominated case, assuming that the star is non-rotating. For the stellar mass we
take M_{\rm star}=1.4 \times 10^{-2} \msun and for the gas temperature K. Our results are qualitatively different in the case of a
realistic neutron star mass and a realistic gas temperature of
K, when the radiation pressure dominates. We show that to get the stationary
solution in a latter case, the star most probably has to rotate with the
considerable velocity.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
The 1996 Soft State Transitions of Cygnus X-1
We report continuous monitoring of Cygnus X-1 in the 1.3 to 200 keV band
using ASM/RXTE and BATSE/CGRO for about 200 days from 1996 February 21 to 1996
early September. During this period Cygnus X-1 experienced a hard-to-soft and
then a soft-to-hard state transition. The low-energy X-ray (1.3-12 keV) and
high-energy X-ray (20-200 keV) fluxes are strongly anti-correlated during this
period. During the state transitions flux variations of about a factor of 5 and
15 were seen in the 1.3-3.0 keV and 100-200 keV bands, respectively, while the
average 4.8-12 keV flux remains almost unchanged. The net effect of this
pivoting is that the total 1.3-200 keV luminosity remained unchanged to within
about 15%. The bolometric luminosity in the soft state may be as high as 50-70%
above the hard state luminosity, after color corrections for the luminosity
below 1.3 keV. The blackbody component flux and temperature increase in the
soft state is probably caused by a combination of the optically thick disk mass
accretion rate increase and a decrease of the inner disk radius.Comment: 18 pages, 1 PostScript figure. Accepted for ApJ
Kilohertz QPO Peak Separation Is Not Constant in Scorpius X-1
We report on a series of twenty ~10^5 c/s, 0.125 msec time-resolution RXTE
observations of the Z source and low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1. Twin
kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) peaks are obvious in nearly all
observations. We find that the peak separation is not constant, as expected in
some beat-frequency models, but instead varies from ~310 to ~230 Hz when the
centroid frequency of the higher-frequency peak varies from ~875 to ~1085 Hz.
We detect none of the additional QPO peaks at higher frequencies predicted in
the photon bubble model (PBM), with best-case upper limits on the peaks' power
ratio of 0.025. We do detect, simultaneously with the kHz QPO, additional QPO
peaks near 45 and 90 Hz whose frequency increases with mass accretion rate. We
interpret these as first and second harmonics of the so-called
horizontal-branch oscillations well known from other Z sources and usually
interpreted in terms of the magnetospheric beat-frequency model (BFM). We
conclude that the magnetospheric BFM and the PBM are now unlikely to explain
the kHz QPO in Sco X-1. In order to succeed in doing so, any BFM involving the
neutron star spin (unseen in Sco X-1) will have to postulate at least one
additional unseen frequency, beating with the spin to produce one of the kHz
peaks.Comment: 6 pages including 3 figure
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