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1.
The galactic black hole candidate Cygnus X-1 is observed to be in one of two X-ray spectral states: either the low/hard (low soft X-ray flux and a flat power-law tail) or high/soft (high blackbody-like soft X-ray flux and a steep power-law tail) state. The physical origin of these two states is unclear. We present here a model of an ionized accretion disc, the spectrum of which is blurred by relativistic effects, and fit it to the ASCA , Ginga and EXOSAT data of Cygnus X-1 in both spectral states. We confirm that relativistic blurring provides a much better fit to the low/hard state data and, contrary to some previous results, find the data of both states to be consistent with an ionized thin accretion disc with a reflected fraction of unity extending to the innermost stable circular orbit around the black hole. Our model is an alternative to those that, in the low/hard state, require the accretion disc to be truncated at a few tens of Schwarzschild radii, within which there is a Thomson-thin, hot accretion flow. We suggest a mechanism that may cause the changes in spectral state.  相似文献   

2.
The X-ray spectra of accreting stellar-mass black hole systems exhibit spectral features due to reflection, especially broad iron Kα emission lines. We investigate the reflection by the accretion disc that can be expected in the high/soft state of such a system. First, we perform a self-consistent calculation of the reflection that results from illumination of a hot, inner portion of the disc with its atmosphere in hydrostatic equilibrium. Then, we present reflection spectra for a range of illumination strengths and disc temperatures under the assumption of a constant-density atmosphere. Reflection by a hot accretion disc differs in important ways from that of a much cooler disc, such as that expected in an active galactic nucleus.  相似文献   

3.
We present a systematic study of GX 339−4 in both its very high and low hard states from simultaneous observations made with XMM–Newton and RXTE in 2002 and 2004. The X-ray spectra of both these extreme states exhibit strong reflection signatures, with a broad, skewed Fe Kα line clearly visible above the continuum. Using a newly developed, self-consistent reflection model which implicitly includes the blackbody radiation of the disc as well as the effect of Comptonization, blurred with a relativistic line function, we were able to infer the spin parameter of GX 339−4 to be  0.935 ± 0.01  (statistical) ±0.01 (systematic) at 90 per cent confidence. We find that both states are consistent with an ionized thin accretion disc extending to the innermost stable circular orbit around the rapidly spinning black hole.  相似文献   

4.
Over the last few years X-ray observations of broad-line radio galaxies (BLRGs) by ASCA , RXTE and BeppoSAX have shown that these objects seem to exhibit weaker X-ray reflection features (such as the iron K α line) than radio-quiet Seyferts. This has lead to speculation that the optically thick accretion disc in radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) may be truncated to an optically thin flow in the inner regions of the source. Here, we propose that the weak reflection features are a result of reprocessing in an ionized accretion disc. This would alleviate the need for a change in accretion geometry in these sources. Calculations of reflection spectra from an ionized disc for situations expected in radio-loud AGN (high accretion rate, moderate-to-high black hole mass) predict weak reprocessing features. This idea was tested by fitting the ASCA spectrum of the bright BLRG 3C 120 with the constant density ionized disc models of Ross & Fabian. A good fit was found with an ionization parameter of   ξ ∼4000 erg cm s-1  and the reflection fraction fixed at unity. If observations of BLRGs by XMM-Newton show evidence for ionized reflection then this would support the idea that a high accretion rate is likely required to launch powerful radio jets.  相似文献   

5.
The X‐ray spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are complex and vary rapidly in time as seen in recent observations. Magnetic flares above the accretion disk can account for the extreme variability of AGN. They also explain the observed iron Kα fluorescence lines. We present radiative transfer modeling of the X‐ray reflection due to emission from magnetic flares close to the marginally stable orbit. The hard X‐ray primary radiation coming from the flare source illuminates the accretion disk. A Compton reflection/reprocessed component coming from the disk surface is computed for different emission directions. We assume that the density structure remains adjusted to the hydrostatic equilibrium without external illumination because the flare duration is only a quarter‐orbit. The model takes into account the variations of the incident radiation across the hot spot underneath the flare source. The integrated spectrum seen by a distant observer is computed for flares at different orbital phases close to the marginally stable orbit of a Schwarzschild black hole and of a maximally rotating Kerr black hole. The calculations include relativistic and Doppler corrections of the spectra using a ray tracing technique. We explore the practical possibilities to map out the azimuthal irradiation pattern of the inner accretion disks and conclude that the next generation of X‐ray satellites should reveal this structure from iron Kα line profiles and X‐ray lightcurves. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献   

6.
We analysed simultaneous archival XMM–Newton and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the X-ray binary and black hole candidate Swift J  1753.5−0127  . In a previous analysis of the same data, a soft thermal component was found in the X-ray spectrum, and the presence of an accretion disc extending close to the innermost stable circular orbit was proposed. This is in contrast with the standard picture in which the accretion disc is truncated at large radii in the low/hard state. We tested a number of spectral models and found that several of them fit the observed spectra without the need of a soft disc-like component. This result implies that the classical paradigm of a truncated accretion disc in the low/hard state cannot be ruled out by these data. We further discovered a broad iron emission line between 6 and 7 keV in these data. From fits to the line profile we found an inner disc radius that ranges between ∼6 and 16 gravitational radii, which can be in fact much larger, up to ∼250 gravitational radii, depending on the model used to fit the continuum and the line. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of a fully or partially truncated accretion disc.  相似文献   

7.
We present X-ray/ γ -ray spectra of Cyg X-1 observed during the transition from the hard to the soft state and in the soft state by ASCA , RXTE and CGRO /OSSE in 1996 May and June. The spectra consist of a dominant soft component below ∼2 keV and a power-law-like continuum extending to at least ∼800 keV. We interpret them as emission from an optically thick, cold accretion disc and from an optically thin, non-thermal corona above the disc. A fraction f ≳0.5 of total available power is dissipated in the corona.
We model the soft component by multicolour blackbody disc emission taking into account the torque-free inner-boundary condition. If the disc extends down to the minimum stable orbit, the ASCA RXTE data yield the most probable black hole mass of M X≈10 M and an accretion rate,     , locating Cyg X-1 in the soft state in the upper part of the stable, gas-pressure-dominated, accretion-disc solution branch.
The spectrum of the corona is well modelled by repeated Compton scattering of seed photons from the disc off electrons with a hybrid, thermal/non-thermal distribution. The electron distribution can be characterized by a Maxwellian with an equilibrium temperature of kT e∼30–50 keV, a Thomson optical depth of τ ∼0.3 and a quasi-power-law tail. The compactness of the corona is 2≲ℓh≲7, and a presence of a significant population of electron–positron pairs is ruled out.
We find strong signatures of Compton reflection from a cold and ionized medium, presumably an accretion disc, with an apparent reflector solid angle, Ω/2π∼0.5–0.7. The reflected continuum is accompanied by a broad iron K α line.  相似文献   

8.
We propose a model of magnetic connection (MC) of a black hole with its surrounding accretion disc based on large-scale magnetic field. The MC gives rise to transport of energy and angular momentum between the black hole and the disc, and the closed field lines pipe the hot matter evaporated from the disc, and shape it in the corona above the disc to form a magnetically induced disc–corona system, in which the corona has the same configuration as the large-scale magnetic field. We numerically solve the dynamic equations in the context of the Kerr metric, in which the large-scale magnetic field is determined by dynamo process and equipartition between magnetic pressure and gas pressure. Thus we can obtain a global solution rather than assuming the distribution of large-scale magnetic field beforehand. The main MC effects lie in three aspects. (1) The rotational energy of a fast-spinning black hole can be extracted, enhancing the dissipation in the accretion disc, (2) the closed field lines provide a natural channel for corona matter escaping from disc and finally falling into black hole and (3) the scope of the corona can be bounded by the conservation of magnetic flux. We simulate the high-energy spectra of this system by using Monte Carlo method, and find that the relative hardness of the spectra decreases as accretion rate or black hole spin a * increases. We fit the typical X-ray spectra of three black hole binaries  (GRO J1655−40, XTE 1118+480 and GX 339−4)  in the low/hard or very high state.  相似文献   

9.
We present a full set of model atmosphere equations for the accretion disc around a supermassive black hole irradiated by a hard X-ray lamp of power-law spectral distribution. Model equations allow for multiple Compton scattering of radiation on free electrons, and for large relative photon–electron energy exchange at the time of scattering. We present spectra in specific intensities integrated over the disc surface. Theoretical outgoing intensity spectra show soft X-ray excess below 1 keV, and distinct Kα and Kβ fluorescent lines of iron. We demonstrate the existence of the Compton Shoulder and claim that it can contribute to the asymmetry and equivalent widths of some observed Fe Kα lines in active galactic nuclei. Our models exhibit the effect of limb-brightening in reflected X-rays.  相似文献   

10.
We have calculated the relativistic reflection component of the X-ray spectra of accretion disks in active galactic nuclei (AGN). Our calculations have shown that the spectra can be significantly modified by the motion of the accretion flow, and the gravity and rotation of the central black hole. The absorption edges in the spectra suffer severe en- ergy shifts and smearing, and the degree of distortion depends on the system parameters, in particular, the inner radius of the accretion disk and the disk viewing inclination angles. The effects are significant. Fluorescent X-ray emission lines from the inner accretion disk could be a powerful diagnostic of space-time distortion and dynamical relativistic effects near the event horizons of accreting black holes. However, improper treatment of the re- flection component in fitting the X-ray continuum could give rise to spurious line-like features. These features mimic the true fluorescent emission lines and may mask their relativistic signatures. Fully relativistic models for reflection continua together with the emission lines are needed in order to extract black-hole parameters from the AGN X-ray spectra.  相似文献   

11.
The key aspect of the very successful truncated disc model for the low/hard X-ray spectral state in black hole binaries is that the geometrically thin disc recedes from the last stable orbit at the transition to this state. This has recently been challenged by direct observations of the low/hard state disc from CCD data. We reanalyse the Swift and RXTE campaign covering the 2006 outburst of XTE J1817−330, and show that these data actually strongly support the truncated disc model as the transition spectra unambiguously show that the disc begins to recede as the source leaves the disc-dominated soft state. The disc radius inferred for the proper low/hard state is less clear-cut, but we show that the effect of irradiation from the energetically dominant hot plasma leads to an underestimate of the disc radius by a factor of 2–3 in this state. This may also produce the soft excess reported in some hard-state spectra. The inferred radius becomes still larger when the potential difference in stress at the inner boundary, increased colour temperature correction from incomplete thermalization of the irradiation, and loss of observable disc photons from Comptonization in the hot plasma is taken into account. We conclude that the inner disc radius in XTE J1817−330 in the low/hard spectral state is at least six to eight times that seen in the disc-dominated high/soft state, and that recession of the inner disc is the trigger for the soft-hard-state transition, as predicted by the truncated disc models.  相似文献   

12.
We present a model for the short time-scale spectral variability of accreting black holes. It describes the time-averaged spectra well, and also temporal characteristics such as the power-density spectrum, time/phase lags, and coherence function of Cygnus X-1. We assume that X/ γ -rays are produced in compact magnetic flares at radii ≲100 GM c 2 from the central black hole. The tendency for magnetic loops to inflate and detach from the underlying accretion disc causes the spectrum of a flare to evolve from soft to hard because of the decrease of the feedback from the cold disc, so causing time delays between hard and soft photons. We identify the observed time lags with the evolution time-scales of the flares, which are of the order of the Keplerian time-scale. We model the overall temporal variability using a pulse avalanche model in which each flare has a certain probability of triggering a neighbouring flare, thus occasionally producing long avalanches. The duration of the avalanches determines the Fourier frequencies at which most of the power emerges.  相似文献   

13.
The broad X-ray iron line, detected in many active galactic nuclei, is likely to be produced by fluorescence from the X-ray-illuminated central parts of an accretion disc close to a supermassive black hole. The time-averaged shape of the line can be explained most naturally by a combination of special and general relativistic effects. Such line profiles contain information about the black hole spin and the accretion disc, as well as the geometry of the emitting region, and may help to test general relativity in the strong gravity regime. In this paper we embark on the computation of the temporal response of the line to the illuminating flux. Previous studies concentrated on the calculation of reverberation signatures from static sources illuminating the disc. In this paper we focus on the more physically justified case of flares located above the accretion disc and corotating with it. We compute the time-dependent iron line, taking into account all general relativistic effects, and show that its shape is of a very complex nature, and we also present light curves accompanying the iron line variability. We suggest that present and future X-ray satellites like XMM or Constellation-X may be capable of detecting features present in the computed reverberation maps.  相似文献   

14.
The fluorescent iron K α emission-line profile provides an excellent probe of the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei. Fe  xxv and Fe  xxvi in diffuse plasma above the accretion disc can affect the X-ray spectrum by iron K α resonant absorption. This in turn can influence the interpretation of the data and the estimation of the accretion disc and black hole parameters. We embark on a fully relativistic computation of this effect and calculate the iron line profile in the framework of a specific model in which rotating, highly ionized and resonantly absorbing plasma occurs close to the black hole. This can explain the features seen in the iron K α line profile recently obtained by Nandra et al. for the type 1 Seyfert galaxy NGC 3516. We show that the redshift of this feature can be mainly gravitational in origin and accounted for without the need to invoke fast accretion of matter on to the black hole. New X-ray satellites such as XMM , ASTRO-E and Chandra provide excellent opportunities to test the model against high-quality observational data.  相似文献   

15.
The power of jets from black holes is expected to depend on both the spin of the black hole and the structure of the accretion disc in the region of the last stable orbit. We investigate these dependencies using two different physical models for the jet power: the classical Blandford–Znajek (BZ) model and a hybrid model developed by Meier. In the BZ case, the jets are powered by magnetic fields directly threading the spinning black hole while in the hybrid model, the jet energy is extracted from both the accretion disc as well as the black hole via magnetic fields anchored to the accretion flow inside and outside the hole's ergosphere. The hybrid model takes advantage of the strengths of both the Blandford–Payne and BZ mechanisms, while avoiding the more controversial features of the latter. We develop these models more fully to account for general relativistic effects and to focus on advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) for which the jet power is expected to be a significant fraction of the accreted rest mass energy.
We apply the models to elliptical galaxies, in order to see if these models can explain the observed correlation between the Bondi accretion rates and the total jet powers. For typical values of the disc viscosity parameter  α∼ 0.04 –0.3  and mass accretion rates consistent with ADAF model expectations, we find that the observed correlation requires   j ≳ 0.9  ; that is, it implies that the black holes are rapidly spinning. Our results suggest that the central black holes in the cores of clusters of galaxies must be rapidly rotating in order to drive jets powerful enough to heat the intracluster medium and quench cooling flows.  相似文献   

16.
We investigate the process of synchrotron radiation from thermal electrons at semirelativistic and relativistic temperatures. We find an analytic expression for the emission coefficient for random magnetic fields with an accuracy significantly higher than those derived previously. We also present analytic approximations to the synchrotron turnover frequency, treat Comptonization of self-absorbed synchrotron radiation, and give simple expressions for the spectral shape and the emitted power. We also consider modifications of the above results by bremsstrahlung.
We then study the importance of Comptonization of thermal synchrotron radiation in compact X-ray sources. We first consider emission from hot accretion flows and active coronae above optically thick accretion discs in black hole binaries and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We find that for plausible values of the magnetic field strength, this radiative process is negligible in luminous sources, except for those with hardest X-ray spectra and stellar masses. Increasing the black hole mass results in a further reduction of the maximum Eddington ratio from this process. Then, X-ray spectra of intermediate-luminosity sources, e.g. low-luminosity AGNs, can be explained by synchrotron Comptonization only if they come from hot accretion flows, and X-ray spectra of very weak sources are always dominated by bremsstrahlung. On the other hand, synchrotron Comptonization can account for power-law X-ray spectra observed in the low states of sources around weakly magnetized neutron stars.  相似文献   

17.
We review how the recent increase in X-ray and radio data from black hole and neutron star binaries can be merged together with theoretical advances to give a coherent picture of the physics of the accretion flow in strong gravity. Both long term X-ray light curves, X-ray spectra, the rapid X-ray variability and the radio jet behaviour are consistent with a model where a standard outer accretion disc is truncated at low luminosities, being replaced by a hot, inner flow which also acts as the launching site of the jet. Decreasing the disc truncation radius leads to softer spectra, as well as higher frequencies (including quasi periodic oscillations, QPOs) in the power spectra, and a faster jet. The collapse of the hot flow when the disc reaches the last stable orbit triggers the dramatic decrease in radio flux, as well as giving a qualitative (and often quantitative) explanation for the major hard–soft spectral transition seen in black holes. The neutron stars are also consistent with the same models, but with an additional component due to their surface, giving implicit evidence for the event horizon in black holes. We review claims of observational data which conflict with this picture, but show that these can also be consistent with the truncated disc model. We also review suggested alternative models for the accretion flow which do not involve a truncated disc. The most successful of these converge on a similar geometry, where there is a transition at some radius larger than the last stable orbit between a standard disc and an inner, jet dominated region, with the X-ray source associated with a mildly relativistic outflow, beamed away from the disc. However, the observed uniformity of properties between black holes at different inclinations suggests that even weak beaming of the X-ray emission may be constrained by the data. After collapse of the hot inner flow, the spectrum in black hole systems can be dominated by the disc emission. Its behaviour is consistent with the existence of a last stable orbit, and such data can be used to estimate the black hole spin. By contrast, these systems can also show very different spectra at these high luminosities, in which the disc spectrum (and probably structure) is strongly distorted by Comptonization. The structure of the accretion flow becomes increasingly uncertain as the luminosity approaches (and exceeds) the Eddington luminosity, though there is growing evidence that winds may play an important role. We stress that these high Eddington fraction flows are key to understanding many disparate and currently very active fields such as ULX, Narrow Line Seyfert 1’s, and the growth of the first black holes in the Early Universe.  相似文献   

18.
We present the results of both analytical and numerical calculations of the amplitude of the reflection component in X-ray spectra of galactic black hole systems. We take into account the anisotropy of Compton scattering and the systematic relativistic bulk motion of the hot plasma. In the case of the single scattering approximation, the reflection from the disc surface is significantly enhanced owing to the anisotropy of Compton scattering. On the other hand, the calculations of multiple scattering obtained using the Monte Carlo method show that the anisotropy effect is much weaker in that case. Therefore, the enhanced back-scattered flux may affect the observed spectra only if the disc surface is highly ionized, which reduces the absorption in the energy band corresponding to the first Compton scattering.  相似文献   

19.
The broad X-ray iron line observed in many active galactic nuclei spectra is thought to originate from the accretion disc surrounding the putative supermassive black hole. We show here how to perform the analytical integration of the geodesic equations that describe the photon trajectories in the general case of a rotating black hole (Kerr metric), in order to write a fast and efficient numerical code for modelling emission line profiles from accretion discs.  相似文献   

20.
Using a Monte Carlo method, we derive spectra arising from Comptonization taking place close to a Kerr black hole. We consider a model consisting of a hot thermal corona Comptonizing seed photons emitted by a cold accretion disc. We find that general relativistic effects are crucial for the emerging spectra in models, which involve significant contribution of radiation produced in the black hole ergosphere. As a result of this contribution, spectra of hard X-ray emission produced in the vicinity of a rapidly rotating black hole strongly depend on the inclination of the line of sight, with larger inclinations corresponding to harder spectra. Remarkably, such anisotropy could be responsible for properties of the X-ray spectra of Seyfert galaxies, which appear to be intrinsically harder in type 2 objects than in type 1, as reported recently.  相似文献   

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