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1.
Observations suggest that accretion discs in many X-ray binaries are likely flared. An outer edge of the disc intercepts radiation from the central X-ray source. Part of that radiation is absorbed and re-emitted in the optical/UV spectral ranges. However, a large fraction of that radiation is reflected and appears in the broad-band X-ray spectrum as a Compton reflection bump. This radiation is delayed and variability is somewhat smeared compared with the intrinsic X-ray radiation. We compute response functions for flat and flared accretion discs and for isotropic and anisotropic X-ray sources. A simple approximation for the response function which is valid in the broad range of the disc shapes and inclinations, inner and outer radii, and the plasma bulk velocity is proposed. We also study the impact of the X-ray reprocessing on temporal characteristics of X-ray binaries such as the power spectral density, auto- and cross-correlation functions, and time/phase lags. We propose a reprocessing model which explains the secondary peaks in the phase lag Fourier spectra observed in Cyg X-1 and other Galactic black hole sources. The position of the peaks could be used to determine the size of the accretion disc.  相似文献   

2.
We present a detailed classification of the X-ray states of Cyg X-3 based on the spectral shape and a new classification of the radio states based on the long-term correlated behaviour of the radio and soft X-ray light curves. We find a sequence of correlations, starting with a positive correlation between the radio and soft X-ray fluxes in the hard spectral state, changing to a negative one at the transition to soft spectral states. The temporal evolution can be in either direction on that sequence, unless the source goes into a very weak radio state, from which it can return only following a major radio flare. The flare decline is via relatively bright radio states, which results in a hysteresis loop on the flux–flux diagram. We also study the hard X-ray light curve, and find its overall anticorrelation with the soft X-rays. During major radio flares, the radio flux responds exponentially to the level of a hard X-ray high-energy tail. We also specify the detailed correspondence between the radio states and the X-ray spectral states. We compare our results to those of black hole and neutron star binaries. Except for the effect of strong absorption and the energy of the high-energy break in the hard state, the X-ray spectral states of Cyg X-3 closely correspond to the canonical X-ray states of black hole binaries. Also, the radio/X-ray correlation closely corresponds to that found in black hole binaries, but it significantly differs from that in neutron star binaries. Overall, our results strongly support the presence of a black hole in Cyg X-3.  相似文献   

3.
Discoseismic c modes in accretion discs have been invoked to explain low-frequency variabilities observed in black hole X-ray binaries. These modes are trapped in the innermost region of the disc and have frequencies much lower than the rotation frequency at the disc inner radius. We show that because the trapped waves can tunnel through the evanescent barrier to the corotational wave zone, the c modes are damped due to wave absorption at the corotation resonance. We calculate the corotational damping rates of various c modes using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation. The damping rate varies widely depending on the mode frequency, the black hole spin parameter and the disc sound speed, and is generally much less than 10 per cent of the mode frequency. A sufficiently strong excitation mechanism is needed to overcome this corotational damping and make the mode observable.  相似文献   

4.
We present a general relativistic accretion disc model and its application to the soft-state X-ray spectra of black hole binaries. The model assumes a flat, optically thick disc around a rotating Kerr black hole. The disc locally radiates away the dissipated energy as a blackbody. Special and general relativistic effects influencing photons emitted by the disc are taken into account. The emerging spectrum, as seen by a distant observer, is parametrized by the black hole mass and spin, the accretion rate, the disc inclination angle and the inner disc radius.
We fit the ASCA soft-state X-ray spectra of LMC X-1 and GRO J1655-40 by this model. We find that, having additional limits on the black hole mass and inclination angle from optical/UV observations, we can constrain the black hole spin from X-ray data. In LMC X-1 the constraint is weak, and we can only rule out the maximally rotating black hole. In GRO J1655-40 we can limit the spin much better, and we find 0.68 a 0.88 . Accretion discs in both sources are radiation-pressure dominated. We do not find Compton reflection features in the spectra of any of these objects.  相似文献   

5.
We briefly summarise the observational properties of ultra‐compact binaries called AM CVn stars. We analyse their outbursts originating from the thermal‐viscous instability in helium accretion disc. We present our preliminary results in applying the model of Dwarf Novae outbursts to helium discs. We can calculate models of outbursts of reasonable amplitude of 2 mag with a constant α parameter throughout the calculation. Setting the mass transfer rate close to its upper critical value produces model lightcurves that resemble short superoutbursts (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献   

6.
Precessing accretion discs have long been suggested as explanations for the long periods observed in a variety of X-ray binaries, most notably Her X-1/HZ Her. We show that an instability of the response of the disc to the radiation reaction force from the illumination by the central source can cause the disc to tilt out of the orbital plane and precess in something like the required manner. The rate of precession and disc tilt obtained for realistic values of system parameters compare favourably with the known body of data on X-ray binaries with long periods. We explore other possible types of behaviour than steadily precessing discs that might be observable in systems with somewhat different parameters. At high luminosities, the inner disc tilts through more than 90°, i.e., it rotates counter to the usual direction, which may explain the torque reversals in systems such as 4U 1626−67.  相似文献   

7.
Superhumps in low-mass X-ray binaries   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
We propose a mechanism for the superhump modulations observed in optical photometry of at least two black-hole X-ray transients (SXTs). As in extreme mass-ratio cataclysmic variables (CVs), superhumps are assumed to result from the presence of the 3:1 orbital resonance in the accretion disc. This causes the disc to become non-axisymmetric and precess. However, the mechanism for superhump luminosity variations in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) must differ from that in CVs, where it is attributed to a tidally-driven modulation of the disc's viscous dissipation, varying on the beat between the orbital and disc precession period. By contrast in LMXBs, tidal dissipation in the outer accretion disc is negligible: the optical emission is overwhelmingly dominated by reprocessing of intercepted central X-rays. Thus a different origin for the superhump modulation is required. Recent observations and numerical simulations indicate that in an extreme mass-ratio system the disc area changes on the superhump period. We deduce that the superhumps observed in SXTs arise from a modulation of the reprocessed flux by the changing area. Therefore, unlike the situation in CVs, where the superhump amplitude is inclination-independent, superhumps should be best seen in low-inclination LMXBs, whereas an orbital modulation from the heated face of the secondary star should be more prominent at high inclinations. Modulation at the disc precession period (10 s of days) may indicate disc asymmetries such as warping. We comment on the orbital period determinations of LMXBs, and the possibility and significance of possible permanent superhump LMXBs.  相似文献   

8.
We present optical spectroscopy and optical and infrared photometry of the neutron star soft X-ray transient Aql X–1 during its X-ray outburst of 1997 August. By modelling the X-ray, optical and IR light curves, we find a 3-d delay between the IR and X-ray rise times, analogous to the UV–optical delay seen in dwarf novae outbursts and black hole X-ray transients. We interpret this delay as the signature of an 'outside-in' outburst, in which a thermal instability in the outer disc propagates inward. This outburst is the first of this type definitively identified in a neutron star X-ray transient.  相似文献   

9.
We present computed spectra, as seen by a distant observer, from the accretion disc around a rapidly rotating neutron star. Our calculations are carried out in a fully general relativistic framework, with an exact treatment of rotation. We take into account the Doppler shift, gravitational redshift and light-bending effects in order to compute the observed spectrum. We find that light bending significantly modifies the high-energy part of the spectrum. Computed spectra for slowly rotating neutron stars are also presented. These results would be important for modelling the observed X-ray spectra of low-mass X-ray binaries containing fast-spinning neutron stars.  相似文献   

10.
We study X-ray spectra of Cyg X-3 from BeppoSAX , taking into account absorption and emission in the strong stellar wind of its companion. We find the intrinsic X-ray spectra are well modelled by disc blackbody emission, its upscattering by hot electrons with a hybrid distribution, and by Compton reflection. These spectra are strongly modified by absorption and reprocessing in the stellar wind, which we model using the photoionization code cloudy . The form of the observed spectra implies the wind is composed of two phases. A hot tenuous plasma containing most of the wind mass is required to account for the observed features of very strongly ionized Fe. Small dense cool clumps filling ≲0.01 of the volume are required to absorb the soft X-ray excess, which is emitted by the hot phase but not present in the data. The total mass-loss rate is found to be  (0.6–1.6) × 10−5 M⊙ yr−1  . We also discuss the feasibility of the continuum model dominated by Compton reflection, which we find to best describe our data. The intrinsic luminosities of our models suggest that the compact object is a black hole.  相似文献   

11.
Gas falling quasi-spherically on to a black hole forms an inner accretion disc if its specific angular momentum l exceeds l ∗∼ r g c , where r g is the Schwarzschild radius. The standard disc model assumes l ≫ l ∗. We argue that, in many black hole sources, accretion flows have angular momenta just above the threshold for disc formation, l ≳ l ∗, and assess the accretion mechanism in this regime. In a range l ∗< l < l cr, a small-scale disc forms in which gas spirals fast into the black hole without any help from horizontal viscous stresses. Such an 'inviscid' disc, however, interacts inelastically with the feeding infall. The disc–infall interaction determines the dynamics and luminosity of the accretion flow. The inviscid disc radius can be as large as 14 r g, and the energy release peaks at 2 r g. The disc emits a Comptonized X-ray spectrum with a break at ∼100 keV. This accretion regime is likely to take place in wind-fed X-ray binaries and is also possible in active galactic nuclei.  相似文献   

12.
We present an exhaustive analysis of five broad-band observations of GRS 1915+105 in two variability states, χ and ω, observed simultaneously by the Proportional Counter Array (PCA) and High-Energy X-ray Timing Experiment (HEXTE) detectors aboard the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer , and the Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE) detector aboard the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory . We find all the spectra well fitted by Comptonization of disc blackbody photons, with very strong evidence for the presence of a non-thermal electron component in the Comptonizing plasma. Both the energy and the power spectra in the χ state are typical of the very high/intermediate state of black hole binaries. The spectrum of the ω state is characterized by a strong blackbody component Comptonized by thermal electrons and a weak non-thermal tail. We then calculate rms spectra (fractional variability as functions of energy) for the PCA data. We accurately model the rms spectra by coherent superposition of variability in the components implied by the spectral fits, namely a less variable blackbody and more variable Comptonization. The latter dominates at high energies, resulting in a flattening of the rms at high energies in most of the data. This is also the case for the spectra of the quasi-periodic oscillations present in the χ state. Then, some of our data require a radial dependence of the rms of the disc blackbody. We also study the distance to the source, and find   d ≃ 11 kpc  as the most likely value, contrary to a recent claim of a much lower value.  相似文献   

13.
Using RXTE /PCA data, we study the fast variability of the reflected emission in the soft spectral state of Cyg X-1 by means of Fourier frequency-resolved spectroscopy. We find that the rms amplitude of variations of the reflected emission has the same frequency dependence as the primary radiation down to time-scales of ≲30–50 ms. This might indicate that the reflected flux reproduces, with nearly flat response, variations of the primary emission. Such behaviour differs notably from that of the hard spectral state, in which variations of the reflected flux are significantly suppressed in comparison with the primary emission, on time-scales shorter than ∼0.5–1 s.
If related to the finite light-crossing time of the reflector, these results suggest that the characteristic size of the reflector, presumably an optically thick accretion disc, in the hard spectral state is larger by a factor of ≳5–10 than in the soft spectral state. Modelling the transfer function of the disc, we estimate the inner radius of the accretion disc to be R in∼100 R g in the hard state and R in≲10 R g in the soft state for a 10-M⊙ black hole.  相似文献   

14.
We study the radiation-driven warping of accretion discs in the context of X-ray binaries. The latest evolutionary equations are adopted, which extend the classical alpha theory to time-dependent thin discs with non-linear warps. We also develop accurate, analytical expressions for the tidal torque and the radiation torque, including self-shadowing.
We investigate the possible non-linear dynamics of the system within the framework of bifurcation theory. First, we re-examine the stability of an initially flat disc to the Pringle instability. Then we compute directly the branches of non-linear solutions representing steadily precessing discs. Finally, we determine the stability of the non-linear solutions. Each problem involves only ordinary differential equations, allowing a rapid, accurate and well-resolved solution.
We find that radiation-driven warping is probably not a common occurrence in low-mass X-ray binaries. We also find that stable, steadily precessing discs exist for a narrow range of parameters close to the stability limit. This could explain why so few systems show clear, repeatable 'superorbital' variations. The best examples of such systems, Her X-1, SS 433 and LMC X-4, all lie close to the stability limit for a reasonable choice of parameters. Systems far from the stability limit, including Cyg X-2, Cen X-3 and SMC X-1, probably experience quasi-periodic or chaotic variability as first noticed recently by Wijers and Pringle. We show that radiation-driven warping provides a coherent and persuasive framework but that it does not provide a generic explanation for the long-term variabilities in all X-ray binaries.  相似文献   

15.
We consider the inward propagation of warping and eccentric disturbances in discs around black holes under a wide variety of conditions. In our calculations, we use secular theories of warped and eccentric discs and assume the deformations to be stationary and propagating in a disc model similar to regions (a) and (b) of Shakura & Sunyaev discs. We find that the propagation of deformations to the innermost regions of the disc is facilitated for low viscous damping and high accretion rate. We relate our results to the possible excitation of trapped inertial modes, and to the observations of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black hole systems in the very high spectral state.  相似文献   

16.
We investigate whether the recently observed population of high-velocity white dwarfs can be derived from a population of binaries residing initially within the thin disc of the Galaxy. In particular, we consider binaries where the primary is sufficiently massive to explode as a Type II supernova. A large fraction of such binaries are broken up when the primary then explodes as a supernova, owing to the combined effects of the mass loss from the primary and the kick received by the neutron star on its formation. For binaries where the primary evolves to fill its Roche lobe, mass transfer from the primary leads to the onset of a common envelope phase during which the secondary and the core of the primary spiral together as the envelope is ejected. Such binaries are the progenitors of X-ray binaries if they are not broken up when the primary explodes. For those systems that are broken up, a large number of the secondaries receive kick velocities ∼100–200 km s−1 and subsequently evolve into white dwarfs. We compute trajectories within the Galactic potential for this population of stars and relate the birth rate of these stars over the entire Galaxy to those seen locally with high velocities relative to the local standard of rest (LSR) . We show that for a reasonable set of assumptions concerning the Galactic supernova rate and the binary population, our model produces a local number density of high-velocity white dwarfs compatible with that inferred from observations. We therefore propose that a population of white dwarfs originating in the thin disc may make a significant contribution to the observed population of high-velocity white dwarfs.  相似文献   

17.
We report on the properties of a 99.3-d periodic modulation in the X-ray transient XTE J1716−389. We associate this source with the transient KS J1716−389, first detected by the Mir /Kvant module in 1994. The spectral characteristics of XTE J1716−389, a high intrinsic absorption column, strong emission features and a power-law spectrum, make it very similar to the class of highly absorbed X-ray binaries detected by INTEGRAL . We associate the 99.3-d periodic behaviour with the geometrical obscuration that results from a precessing circumbinary disc that is moving in and out of the field of view, comparable to what has been proposed for SS 433. We therefore propose that XTE J1716−389 is a high-mass X-ray binary with a supergiant companion that is similar not only to SS 433, but also to the new class of highly obscured X-ray binaries, suggesting that SS 433 is a member of much wider population that is now being detected by INTEGRAL .  相似文献   

18.
We present the first of two papers describing an in-depth study of multiwaveband phase-resolved spectroscopy of the unusual dwarf nova WZ Sge. In this paper we present an extensive set of Doppler maps of WZ Sge covering optical and infrared emission lines, and describe a new technique for studying the accretion discs of cataclysmic variables using ratioed Doppler maps. Applying the ratioed Doppler map technique to our WZ Sge data shows that the radial temperature profile of the disc is unlike that predicted for a steady state α disc. Time-averaged spectra of the accretion disc line flux (with the bright spot contribution removed) show evidence in the shapes of the line profiles for the presence of shear broadening in a quiescent non-turbulent accretion disc. From the positions of the bright spots in the Doppler maps of different lines, we conclude that the bright spot region is elongated along the ballistic stream, and that the density of the outer disc is low. The velocity of the outer edge of the accretion disc measured from the H α line is found to be 723±23 km s−1. Assuming that the accretion disc reaches to the 3:1 tidal resonance radius, we derive a value for the primary star mass of 0.82 M⊙. We discuss the implications of our results on the present theories of WZ Sge type dwarf nova outbursts.  相似文献   

19.
We build a simple model of the optical/ultraviolet (UV) emission from irradiation of the outer disc by the inner disc and coronal emission in black hole binaries. We apply this to the broad-band Swift data from the outburst of the black hole binary XTE J1817−330 to confirm previous results that the optical/UV emission in the soft state is consistent with a reprocessing a constant fraction of the bolometric X-ray luminosity. However, this is very surprising as the disc temperature drops by more than a factor of 3 in the soft state, which should produce a marked change in the reprocessing efficiency. The easiest way to match the observed constant reprocessed fraction is for the disc skin to be highly ionized (as suggested 30 yr ago by van Paradijs), so that the bulk of the disc flux is reflected and only the hardest X-rays heat the disc. The constant reprocessed fraction also favours direct illumination of the disc over a scattering origin as the optical depth/solid angle of any scattering material (wind/corona) over the disc should decrease as the source luminosity declines. By contrast, the reprocessed fraction increases very significantly (by a factor of ∼6) as the source enters the hard state. This dramatic change is not evident from X-ray/UV flux correlations as it is masked by bandpass effects. However, it does not necessarily signal a change in emission, for example, the emergence of the jet dominating the optical/UV flux as the reflection albedo must change with the dramatic change in spectral shape.  相似文献   

20.
We have observed the eclipsing low-mass X-ray binary MS 1603.6+2600 with Chandra for 7 ks. The X-ray spectrum is well fit with a single absorbed power law with an index of ∼2. We find a clear sinusoidal modulation in the X-ray light curve with a period of  1.7 ± 0.2 h  , consistent with the period of 1.85 h found before. However, no (partial) eclipses were found. We argue that if the X-ray flare observed in earlier X-ray observations was a type I X-ray burst, then the source can only be an accretion disc corona source at a distance of ∼11–24 kpc (implying a height above the Galactic disc of ∼8–17 kpc). It has also been proposed in the literature that MS 1603.76+2600 is a dipper at ∼75 kpc. We argue that, in this dipper scenario, the observed optical properties of MS 1603.6+2600 are difficult to reconcile with the optical properties one would expect on the basis of comparisons with other high-inclination, low-mass X-ray binaries, unless the X-ray flare was not a type I X-ray burst. In that case, the source can be a nearby soft X-ray transient accreting at a quiescent rate, as was proposed by Hakala et al., or a high-inclination source at ∼15–20 kpc.  相似文献   

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