1,513 research outputs found
Accretion flow diagnostics with X-ray spectral-timing: the hard state of SWIFT J1753.5-0127
(Abridged) Recent XMM-Newton studies of X-ray variability in the hard states
of black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs) imply that the variability is generated
in the 'standard' optically-thick accretion disc. The variability originates in
the disc as mass-accretion fluctuations and propagates through the disc to
'light up' inner disc regions, eventually modulating the power-law emission
that is produced relatively centrally.
We present a comparative spectral-timing study of XMM-Newton data from the
BHXRB SWIFT J1753.5-0127 in a bright 2009 hard state with that from the
significantly fainter 2006 hard state, to show for the first time the change in
disc spectral-timing properties associated with a global increase in both the
accretion rate and the relative contribution of the disc emission to the
bolometric luminosity.
We show that, although there is strong evidence for intrinsic disc
variability in the more luminous hard state, the disc variability amplitude is
suppressed relative to that of the power-law emission, which contrasts with the
behaviour at lower luminosities where the disc variability is slightly enhanced
when compared with the power-law variations. In the higher-luminosity data, the
disc variability below 0.6 keV becomes incoherent with the power-law and
higher-energy disc emission at frequencies below 0.5 Hz, in contrast with the
coherent variations seen in the 2006 data.
We explain these differences and the associated complex lags in the 2009 data
in terms of the fluctuating disc model. If the variable signals are generated
at small radii in the disc, the variability of disc emission can be naturally
suppressed by the fraction of unmodulated disc emission from larger radii. The
drop in coherence can be produced by disc accretion fluctuations arising at
larger radii which are viscously damped and hence unable to propagate to the
inner, power-law emitting region.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Using the daylight savings clock change to show ambient light conditions significantly influence active travel
This article reports a novel procedure used to investigate whether ambient light conditions affect the number of people who choose to walk or cycle. Pedestrian and cyclist count data were analysed using the biannual daylight-saving clock changes to compare daylight and after-dark conditions whilst keeping seasonal and time-of-day factors constant. Changes in frequencies during a one-hour case period before and after a clock change, when light conditions varied significantly between daylight and darkness, were compared against control periods when the light condition did not change. Odds ratios indicated the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists during the case period were significantly higher during daylight conditions than after-dark, resulting in a 62% increase in pedestrians and a 38% increase in cyclists. These results show the importance of light conditions on the numbers of pedestrian and cyclists, and highlight the potential of road lighting as a policy measure to encourage active travel after-dark
Comparison of time/phase lags in the hard state and plateau state of GRS 1915+105
We investigate the complex behavior of energy- and frequency-dependent
time/phase lags in the plateau state and the radio-quiet hard state of GRS
1915+105. In our timing analysis, we find that when the source is faint in the
radio, QPOs are observed above 2 Hz and typically exhibit soft lags (soft
photons lag hard photons), whereas QPOs in the radio-bright plateau state are
found below 2.2 Hz and consistently show hard lags. The phase lag at the QPO
frequency is strongly anti-correlated with the QPO frequency, changing sign at
2.2 Hz. However, the phase lag at the frequency of the first harmonic is
positive and nearly independent of frequency at at ~0.172 rad, regardless of
the radio emission. The lag-energy dependence at the first harmonic is also
independent of radio flux. However, the lags at the QPO frequency are negative
at all energies during the radio-quiet state, but lags at the QPO frequency
during the plateau state are positive at all energies and show a
'reflection-type' evolution of the lag-energy spectra with respect to the
radio-quiet state. The lag-energy dependence is roughly logarithmic, but there
is some evidence for a break around 4-6 keV. Finally, the Fourier
frequency-dependent phase lag spectra are fairly flat during the plateau state,
but increase from negative to positive during the radio-quiet state. We discuss
the implications of our results in the light of some generic models.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Short term X-ray rms variability of Cyg X-1
A linear dependence of the amplitude of broadband noise variability on flux
for GBHC and AGN has been recently shown by Uttley & McHardy (2001). We present
the long term evolution of this rms-flux-relation for Cyg X-1 as monitored from
1998-2002 with RXTE. We confirm the linear relationship in the hard state and
analyze the evolution of the correlation for the period of 1996-2002. In the
intermediate and the soft state, we find considerable deviations from the
otherwise linear relationship. A possible explanation for the rms-flux-relation
is a superposition of local mass accretion rate variations.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 4th Microquasar Workshop, eds.
Ph Durouchoux, Y. Fuchs and J. Rodriguez, published by the Center for Space
Physics: Kolkat
A whole-year approach showing that ambient light level influences walking and cycling
Many studies have used surveys to investigate the reactions to changes in lighting from people who walk or cycle. An alternative approach is to use objective data, specifically the number of pedestrians and cyclists present under different lighting conditions, which has been reported previously using a daylight savings transition approach. This article presents a different method for analysing the effect of ambient light conditions in which data from the whole year are examined, rather than only the two weeks either side of the biannual daylight savings clock changes. The results confirm that ambient light has a significant impact: for a given time of day, more people walk or cycle when it is daylight than after dark. While both methods use an odds ratio approach, which should account for environmental changes other than lighting, the results suggest the daylight savings method of analysis better isolates changes in weather from the effects of ambient light on travel choice than does the whole-year method
Road lighting density and brightness linked with increased cycling rates after-dark
Cycling has a range of benefits as is recognised by national and international policies aiming to increase cycling rates. Darkness acts as a barrier to people cycling, with fewer people cycling after-dark when seasonal and time-of-day factors are accounted for. This paper explores whether road lighting can reduce the negative impact of darkness on cycling rates. Changes in cycling rates between daylight and after-dark were quantified for 48 locations in Birmingham, United Kingdom, by calculating an odds ratio. These odds ratios were compared against two measures of road lighting at each location: 1) Density of road lighting lanterns; 2) Relative brightness as estimated from night-time aerial images. Locations with no road lighting showed a significantly greater reduction in cycling after-dark compared with locations that had some lighting. A nonlinear relationship was found between relative brightness at a location at night and the reduction in cyclists after-dark. Small initial increases in brightness resulted in large reductions in the difference between cyclist numbers in daylight and after-dark, but this effect reached a plateau as brightness increased. These results suggest only a minimal amount of lighting can promote cycling after-dark, making it an attractive mode of transport year-round
A comparison of approaches for investigating the impact of ambient light on road traffic collisions
A recent paper proposed a more precise approach for investigating the impact of ambient light (daylight versus after dark) on road traffic collisions. The present paper first repeated that analysis of road traffic collisions in the UK to test reproducibility; it then extended the analysis to determine whether the greater precision affected the outcome of road traffic collision analyses. Results of the previous analysis were reproduced in terms of the direction of the effect, but the repeated analysis found greater differences between daylight and darkness. The odds ratio determined using the new method led to higher odds ratios than the analyses used in some past studies, suggesting that past studies may have underestimated the detrimental effect of darkness on road traffic collision risk
New insights into ultraluminous X-ray sources from deep XMM-Newton observations
The controversy over whether ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) contain a new
intermediate-mass class of black holes (IMBHs) remains unresolved. We present
new analyses of the deepest XMM-Newton observations of ULXs that address their
underlying nature. We examine both empirical and physical modelling of the
X-ray spectra of a sample of thirteen of the highest quality ULX datasets, and
find that there are anomalies in modelling ULXs as accreting IMBHs with
properties simply scaled-up from Galactic black holes. Most notably, spectral
curvature above 2 keV in several sources implies the presence of an
optically-thick, cool corona. We also present a new analysis of a 100 ks
observation of Holmberg II X-1, in which a rigorous analysis of the temporal
data limits the mass of its black hole to no more than 100 solar masses. We
argue that a combination of these results points towards many (though not
necessarily all) ULXs containing black holes that are at most a few 10s of
solar mass in size.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The X-ray
Universe 2005", San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), 26-30 September 200
The Closest Look at 1H0707-495: X-ray Reverberation Lags with 1.3 Ms of Data
Reverberation lags in AGN were first discovered in the NLS1 galaxy,
1H0707-495. We present a follow-up analysis using 1.3 Ms of data, which allows
for the closest ever look at the reverberation signature of this remarkable
source. We confirm previous findings of a hard lag of ~100 seconds at
frequencies v ~ [0.5 - 4] e-4 Hz, and a soft lag of ~30 seconds at higher
frequencies, v ~ [0.6 - 3] e-3 Hz. These two frequency domains clearly show
different energy dependences in their lag spectra. We also find evidence for a
signature from the broad Fe K line in the high frequency lag spectrum. We use
Monte Carlo simulations to show how the lag and coherence measurements respond
to the addition of Poisson noise and to dilution by other components. With our
better understanding of these effects on the lag, we show that the lag-energy
spectra can be modelled with a scenario in which low frequency hard lags are
produced by a compact corona responding to accretion rate fluctuations
propagating through an optically thick accretion disc, and the high frequency
soft lags are produced by short light-travel delay associated with reflection
of coronal power-law photons off the disc.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
A low-luminosity soft state in the short period black hole X-ray binary Swift J1753.5-0127
We present results from the spectral fitting of the candidate black hole
X-ray binary Swift J1753.5-0127 in an accretion state previously unseen in this
source. We fit the 0.7-78 keV spectrum with a number of models, however the
preferred model is one of a multi-temperature disk with an inner disk
temperature keV scattered into a steep
power-law with photon index and an additional
hard power law tail (). We report on the emergence of a
strong disk-dominated component in the X-ray spectrum and we conclude that the
source has entered the soft state for the first time in its ~10 year prolonged
outburst. Using reasonable estimates for the distance to the source ( kpc)
and black hole mass (), we find the unabsorbed luminosity (0.1-100
keV) to be % of the Eddington luminosity, making this one of the
lowest luminosity soft states recorded in X-ray binaries. We also find that the
accretion disk extended towards the compact object during its transition from
hard to soft, with the inner radius estimated to be
or ~, dependent on the boundary
condition chosen, assuming the above distance and mass, a spectral hardening
factor and a binary inclination .Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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