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Register a new userEmission lines from X-ray illuminated accretion disc in black hole binaries
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X-ray flux from the inner hot region around central compact object in a binary system illuminates the upper surface of an accretion disc and it behaves like a corona. This region can be photoionised by the illuminating radiation, thus can emit different emission lines. We study those line spectra in black hole X-ray binaries for different accretion flow parameters including its geometry. The varying range of model parameters captures maximum possible observational features. We also put light on the routinely observed Fe line emission properties based on different model parameters, ionization rate, and Fe abundances. We find that the Fe line equivalent width $W_{rm E}$ decreases with increasing disc accretion rate and increases with the column density of the illuminated gas. Our estimated line properties are in agreement with observational signatures.
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In this chapter, I present the main X-ray observational characteristics of black-hole binaries and low magnetic field neutron-star binaries, concentrating on what can be considered similarities or differences, with particular emphasis on their fast-timing behaviour.
When the matter from a companion star is accreted towards the central compact accretor, i.e. a black hole (BH) or a neutron star (NS), an accretion disc and a jet outflow will form, providing bight X-ray and radio emission, which is known as X-ray binaries (XRBs). In the low/hard state, there exist disc-jet couplings in XRBs, but it remains uncertain whether the jet power comes from the disc or the central accretor. Moreover, BHXRBs have different properties compared with NSXRBs: quiescent BHXRBs are typically two to three orders of magnitude less luminous than NSXRBs in X-ray, whereas BHXRBs are more radio loud than NSXRBs. In observations, an empirical correlation has been established between radio and X-ray luminosity, $L_{rm R} propto L_{rm X}^b$, where $bsim 0.7$ for BHXRBs and $b sim 1.4$ for non-pulsating NSXRBs. However, there are some outliers of BHXRBs showing unusually steep correlation as NSXRBs at higher luminosities. In this work, under the assumption that the origin of jet power is related to the internal energy of the inner disc, we apply our magnetized, radiatively efficient thin disc model and the well-known radiatively inefficient accretion flow model to NSXRBs and BHXRBs. We find that the observed radio/X-ray correlations in XRBs can be well understood by the disc-jet couplings.
Recurring outbursts associated with matter flowing onto compact stellar remnants (black-holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs) in close binary systems, provide strong test beds for constraining the poorly understood accretion process. The efficiency of angular momentum (and thus mass) transport in accretion discs, which has traditionally been encoded in the $alpha$-viscosity parameter, shapes the light-curves of these outbursts. Numerical simulations of the magneto-rotational instability that is believed to be the physical mechanism behind this transport find values of $alpha sim 0.1-0.2$ as required from observations of accreting white dwarfs. Equivalent $alpha$-viscosity parameters have never been estimated in discs around neutron stars or black holes. Here we report the results of an analysis of archival X-ray light-curves of twenty-one black hole X-ray binary outbursts. Applying a Bayesian approach for a model of accretion allows us to determine corresponding $alpha$-viscosity parameters, directly from the light curves, to be $alpha sim$0.2--1. This result may be interpreted either as a strong intrinsic rate of angular momentum transport in the disc, which can only be sustained by the magneto-rotational instability if a large-scale magnetic field threads the disc, or as a direct indication that mass is being lost from the disc through substantial mass outflows strongly shaping the X-ray binary outburst. Furthermore, the lack of correlation between our estimates of $alpha$-viscosity and accretion state implies that such outflows can remove a significant fraction of disc mass in all black hole X-ray binary accretion states, favouring magnetically-driven winds over thermally-driven winds that require specific radiative conditions.
A thin viscous accretion disc around a Kerr black hole, which is warped due to the Lense-Thirring (LT) effect, was shown to cause the spin axis of the black hole to precess and align with the outer disc. We calculate the total LT torque acting on the black hole, and compute the alignment and precession time-scales for both persistent and transient accretors. In our analysis, we consider the contribution of the inner disc, as it can stay misaligned with the black hole spin for a reasonable range of parameter values. We find that the alignment time-scale increases with a decrease in the Kerr parameter below a critical Kerr parameter value, contrary to earlier predictions. Besides, the time-scales are generally longer for transience than the time-scales calculated for persistent accretion. From our analysis of the transient case, we find that the black hole in the low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) 4U 1543-47 could be misaligned, whereas that in the LMXB XTE J1550-564 has aligned itself with the outer disc. The age of the LMXB H 1743-322 is estimated assuming a misaligned disc. We also find that the black hole in a typical Galactic LMXB can take a significantly longer time to align than what was estimated in the past. This may have an important implication on the measurement of black hole spin using the continuum X-ray spectral fitting method.
In the last decade, X-ray spectroscopy has enabled a wealth of discoveries of photoionised absorbers in X-ray binaries. Studies of such accretion disc atmospheres and winds are of fundamental importance to understand accretion processes and possible feedback mechanisms to the environment. In this work, we review the current observational state and theoretical understanding of accretion disc atmospheres and winds in low-mass X-ray binaries, focusing on the wind launching mechanisms and on the dependence on accretion state. We conclude with issues that deserve particular attention.
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