Radio and X-ray properties of relativistic beaming models for ultraluminous X-ray sources     

M. Freeland  Z. Kuncic  R. Soria  G. V. Bicknell 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,372(2):630-638

We calculate the broad-band radio–X-ray spectra predicted by microblazar and microquasar models for ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), exploring the possibility that their dominant power-law component is produced by a relativistic jet, even at near-Eddington mass accretion rates. We do this by first constructing a generalized disc–jet theoretical framework in which some fraction of the total accretion power, P _a, is efficiently removed from the accretion disc by a magnetic torque responsible for jet formation. Thus, for different black hole masses, mass accretion rates and magnetic coupling strength, we self-consistently calculate the relative importance of the modified disc spectrum, as well as the overall jet emission due to synchrotron and Compton processes. In general, transferring accretion power to a jet makes the disc fainter and cooler than a standard disc at the same mass accretion rate; this may explain why the soft spectral component appears less prominent than the dominant power-law component in most bright ULXs. We show that the apparent X-ray luminosity and spectrum predicted by the microquasar model are consistent with the observed properties of most ULXs. We predict that the radio synchrotron jet emission is too faint to be detected at the typical threshold of radio surveys to date. This is consistent with the high rate of non-detections over detections in radio counterpart searches. Conversely, we conclude that the observed radio emission found associated with a few ULXs cannot be due to beamed synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet.  相似文献   

An ultraluminous X-ray microquasar in NGC 5408?     

R. Soria  R. P. Fender  D. C. Hannikainen  A. M. Read  I. R. Stevens 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,368(4):1527-1539

We studied the radio source associated with the ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 5408  ( L _X≈ 10⁴⁰ erg s⁻¹)  . The radio spectrum is steep (index  ≈−1  ), consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission, not with flat-spectrum core emission. Its flux density (≈0.28 mJy at 4.8 GHz, at a distance of 4.8 Mpc) was the same in the March 2000 and December 2004 observations, suggesting steady emission rather than a transient outburst. However, it is orders of magnitude higher than expected from steady jets in stellar-mass microquasar. Based on its radio flux and spectral index, we suggest that the radio source is either an unusually bright supernova remnant, or, more likely, a radio lobe powered by a jet from the black hole (BH). Moreover, there is speculative evidence that the source is marginally resolved with a radius ∼30 pc. A faint H  ii region of similar size appears to coincide with the radio and X-ray sources, but its ionization mechanism remains unclear. Using a self-similar solution for the expansion of a jet-powered electron–positron plasma bubble, in the minimum-energy approximation, we show that the observed flux and (speculative) size are consistent with an average jet power  ≈ 7 × 10³⁸ erg s⁻¹∼ 0.1 L _X∼ 0.1 L _Edd  , an age ≈10⁵ yr, a current velocity of expansion ≈80 km s⁻¹. We briefly discuss the importance of this source as a key to understand the balance between luminosity and jet power in accreting BHs.  相似文献   

Intermediate mass black holes in accreting binaries: formation, evolution and observational appearance     

Simon F. Portegies Zwart  Jasinta Dewi  Tom Maccarone 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,355(2):413-423

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Aligning spinning black holes and accretion discs     

A. R. King  S. H. Lubow  G. I. Ogilvie  J. E. Pringle 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,363(1):49-56

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Erratum: The runaway instability of thick discs around black holes – II. Non-constant angular momentum discs     

Frédéric Daigne  José A. Font 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,351(3):1120-1120

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A completely analytical family of dynamical models for spherical galaxies and bulges with a central black hole   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Maarten Baes  Herwig Dejonghe 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,351(1):18-30

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High-resolution imaging of the He iiλ4686 emission line nebula associated with the ultraluminous X-ray source in Holmberg II     

P. Kaaret  M. J. Ward  A. Zezas 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2004,351(3):L83-L88

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Radiative acceleration in Schwarzschild space–times     

A. J. Keane  †  R. K. Barrett  J. F. L. Simmons ‡ 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,321(4):661-677

We examine the radial motion of a material particle in the intense radiation field of a static spherically symmetric compact object with spherical emitting surface outside the Schwarzschild radius. This paper generalizes previous work which dealt with radial motion in the Thomson limit, where the radiation force is simply proportional to the radiative flux. In the general case the average time component of the 4-momentum transferred to the particle is not negligible compared with its rest mass. Consequently, we find that the frequency dependence of the radiation force owing to Compton scattering for highly energetic photons gives rise to an increase in the effective mass of the test particle. In this work we outline the effects of this frequency dependence and compare these with the results in the Thomson limit. We present the frequency dependent saturation velocity curves for a range of stellar luminosities and radiation frequencies and present the resulting phase-space diagrams corresponding to the radial test particle trajectories. In particular, the stable equilibrium points which exist in the Thomson limit are found to be absent in the general case.  相似文献   

A two-zone model for the broad iron line emission in MCG–6-30-15     

R. Misra 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,320(4):445-450

We reanalyse the ASCA and BeppoSAX data of MCG–6-30-15, using a double-zone model for the iron line profile. In this model, the X-ray source is located around ≈10 Schwarzschild radii and the regions interior and exterior to the X-ray source produce the line emission. We find that this model fits the data with a similar reduced χ ² to the standard single-zone model. Thus we show that the presence of a broad iron line feature does not necessarily require that the X-ray source be located close to the last stable orbit or in the disc rotation axis.
Within the framework of this model, the best-fitting inclination angle of the source     for the intermediate-intensity ASCA data set is compatible with that determined by earlier modelling of optical lines. The observed variability of the line profile with intensity can be explained as variations of the X-ray source size. That several active galactic nuclei with broad lines have the peak centroid near 6.4 keV can be explained under certain conditions.
We also show that the simultaneous broad-band observations of this source by BeppoSAX rule out the Comptonization model which was an alternative to the standard inner-disc one. We thereby strengthen the case that line broadening occurs as a result of the strong gravitational influence of a black hole.  相似文献   

A complete relativistic ionized accretion disc in Cygnus X-1     

A.J. Young †  A.C. Fabian  R.R. Ross  Y. Tanaka 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,325(3):1045-1052

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