Breakdown of self-similar evolution in homogeneous perfect fluid collapse

The stability analysis of self-similar solutions is an important approach to confirm whether they act as an attractor in general non-self-similar gravitational collapse. Assuming that the collapsing matter is a perfect fluid with the equation of state $P=\alpha\rho$, we study spherically symmetric non-self-similar perturbations in homogeneous self-similar collapse described by the flat Friedmann solution. In the low pressure approximation $\alpha \ll 1$, we analytically derive an infinite set of the normal modes and their growth (or decay) rate. The existence of one unstable normal mode is found to conclude that the self-similar behavior in homogeneous collapse of a sufficiently low pressure perfect fluid must terminate and a certain inhomogeneous density profile can develop with the lapse of time.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, references added, published in Physical Review

Stability analysis of self-similar behaviors in perfect fluid gravitational collapse

Stability of self-similar solutions for gravitational collapse is an important problem to be investigated from the perspectives of their nature as an attractor, critical phenomena and instability of a naked singularity. In this paper we study spherically symmetric non-self-similar perturbations of matter and metrics in spherically symmetric self-similar backgrounds. The collapsing matter is assumed to be a perfect fluid with the equation of state $P=\alpha\rho$. We construct a single wave equation governing the perturbations, which makes their time evolution in arbitrary self-similar backgrounds analytically tractable. Further we propose an analytical application of this master wave equation to the stability problem by means of the normal mode analysis for the perturbations having the time dependence given by $\exp{(i\omega\log|t|)}$, and present some sufficient conditions for the absence of non-oscillatory unstable normal modes with purely imaginary $\omega$.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, matched to the published versio

Detection of Iron Emission Line from the Galaxy Cluster Including the Radio Galaxy 3C220.1 at z=0.62

We have detected an emission line feature at 4 keV in the X-ray emission from a sky region including the distant radio galaxy 3C220.1(z=0.62) obtained with ASCA. The line energy is 6.1 - 7.0 keV (90% confidence) in the rest frame of 3C220.1. Within the present statistics, the observed spectra are consistent with two different models: a non-thermal model consisting of a power-law continuum plus a 6.4 keV iron emission line, and a Raymond-Smith thin-thermal emission model of kT ~6 keV with a metal abundance of ~0.5 solar. However, because of the large (~ 500 eV) equivalent width of the line, a significant fraction of the X-ray emission is likely to arise from the hot intracluster gas associated with the galaxy cluster that includes 3C220.1. The spectral parameters of the thermal emission are consistent with the luminosity-temperature relation of nearby clusters.Comment: 15 pages, 5 ps figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

No periodicity revealed for an "eclipsing" ultraluminous supersoft X-ray source in M81

Luminous supersoft X-ray sources found in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds are likely white dwarfs that steadily or cyclically burn accreted matter on their surface, which are promising type Ia supernova progenitors. Observations of distant galaxies with Chandra and XMM-Newton have revealed supersoft sources that are generally hotter and more luminous, including some ultraluminous supersoft sources (ULSs) that are possibly intermediate mass black holes of a few thousand solar masses. In this paper we report our X-ray spectral and timing analysis for M81-ULS1, an ultraluminous supersoft source in the nearby spiral galaxy M81. M81-ULS1 has been persistently supersoft in 17 Chandra ACIS observations spanning six years, and its spectrum can be described by either a $kT_{bb}\approx70$ eV blackbody for a $\sim1.2M_\odot$ white dwarf, or a $kT_{in} \approx 80$ eV multicolor accretion disk for a $\gtrsim10^3M_\odot$ intermediate mass black hole. In two observations, the light curves exhibited dramatic flux drop/rise on time scales of $10^3$ seconds, reminiscent of eclipse ingress/egress in eclipsing X-ray binaries. However, the exhaustive search for periodicity in the reasonable range of 50 ksec to 50 days failed to reveal an orbital period. The failure to reveal any periodicity is consistent with the long period ($\ge30$ yrs) predicted for this system given the optical identification of the secondary with an asymptotic giant star. Also, the eclipse-like dramatic flux changes in hours are hard to explain under the white dwarf model, but can in principle be explained by disk temperature changes induced by accretion rate variations under the intermediate mass black hole model.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, to appear in ApJ

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

A Grid of Relativistic, non-LTE Accretion Disk Models for Spectral Fitting of Black Hole Binaries

Self-consistent vertical structure models together with non-LTE radiative transfer should produce spectra from accretion disks around black holes which differ from multitemperature blackbodies at levels which may be observed. High resolution, high signal-to-noise observations warrant spectral modeling which both accounts for relativistic effects, and treats the physics of radiative transfer in detail. In Davis et al. (2005) we presented spectral models which accounted for non-LTE effects, Compton scattering, and the opacities due to ions of abundant metals. Using a modification of this method, we have tabulated spectra for black hole masses typical of Galactic binaries. We make them publicly available for spectral fitting as an Xspec model. These models represent the most complete realization of standard accretion disk theory to date. Thus, they are well suited for both testing the theory's applicability to observed systems and for constraining properties of the black holes, including their spins.Comment: 7 pages, emulate ApJ, accepted to Ap