X-ray reflection in accreting stellar-mass black hole systems |
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| Authors: | R R Ross A C Fabian |
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| Institution: | Physics Department, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA 01610, USA;Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | accretion accretion discs black hole physics line: formation radiative transfer X-rays: binaries |
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