No Arabic abstract
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 discs response 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 degrees, i.e. it rotates counter to the usual direction, which may explain the torque reversals in systems such as 4U 1626-67.
The properties of wind accretion in symbiotic X-ray binaries (SyXBs) consisting of red-giant and magnetized neutron star (NS) are discussed. The spin-up/spin-down torques applied to NS are derived based on a hydrodynamic theory of quasi-spherical accretion onto magnetized NSs. In this model, a settling subsonic accretion proceeds through a hot shell formed around the NS magnetosphere. The accretion rate onto the NS is determined by the ability of the plasma to enter the magnetosphere.Due to large Reynolds numbers in the shell, the interaction of the rotating magnetosphere with plasma initiates a subsonic turbulence. The convective motions are capable of carrying the angular momentum through the shell. We carry out a population synthesis of SyXBs in the Galaxy with account for the spin evolution of magnetized NS. The Galactic number of SyXBs with bright (M_v<1) low-mass red-giant companion is found to be from sim 40 to 120, and their birthrate is sim 5times 10^{-5}-10^{-4} per year. According to our model, among known SyXBs, Sct X-1 and IRXS J180431.1-273932 are wind-fed accretors. GX 1+4 lies in the transition from the wind-fed SyXBs to SyXBs in which the giants overflow their Roche lobe. The model successfully reproduces very long NS spins (such as in IGR J16358-4724 and 4U 1954+31) without the need to invoke very strong magnetic fields.
We aim to examine the detailed disc structure that arises in a misaligned binary system as a function of the disc aspect ratio h, viscosity parameter alpha, disc outer radius R, and binary inclination angle gamma_F. We also aim to examine the conditions that lead to an inclined disc being disrupted by strong differential precession. We use a grid-based hydrodynamic code to perform 3D simulations. This code has a relatively low numerical viscosity compared with the SPH schemes that have been used previously to study inclined discs. This allows the influence of viscosity on the disc evolution to be tightly controlled. We find that for thick discs (h=0.05) with low alpha, efficient warp communication in the discs allows them to precess as rigid bodies with very little warping or twisting. Such discs are observed to align with the binary orbit plane on the viscous evolution time. Thinner discs with higher viscosity, in which warp communication is less efficient, develop significant twists before achieving a state of rigid-body precession. Under the most extreme conditions we consider (h=0.01, alpha=0.005 and alpha=0.1), we find that discs can become broken or disrupted by strong differential precession. Discs that become highly twisted are observed to align with the binary orbit plane on timescales much shorter than the viscous timescale, possibly on the precession time. We find agreement with previous studies that show that thick discs with low viscosity experience mild warping and precess rigidly. We also find that as h is decreased substantially, discs may be disrupted by strong differential precession, but for disc thicknesses that are significantly less (h=0.01) than those found in previous studies (h=0.03).
We discuss two important instability mechanisms that may lead to the limit-cycle oscillations of the luminosity of the accretion disks around compact objects: ionization instability and radiation-pressure instability. Ionization instability is well established as a mechanism of X-ray novae eruptions in black hole binary systems but its applicability to AGN is still problematic. Radiation pressure theory has still very weak observational background in any of these sources. In the present paper we attempt to confront the parameter space of these instabilities with the observational data. At the basis of this simple survey of sources properties we argue that the radiation pressure instability is likely to be present in several Galactic sources with the Eddington ratios above 0.15, and in AGN with the Eddington ratio above 0.025. Our results favor the parameterization of the viscosity through the geometrical mean of the radiation and gas pressure both in Galactic sources and AGN. More examples of the quasi-regular outbursts in the timescales of 100 seconds in Galactic sources, and hundreds of years in AGN are needed to formulate firm conclusions. We also show that the disk sizes in the X-ray novae are consistent with the ionization instability. This instability may also considerably influence the lifetime cycle and overall complexity in the supermassive black hole environment.
we study the long-term evolution of the accretion disk around the neutron star in Be/X-ray binaries. We confirm the earlier result by Hayasaki & Okazaki (2004) that the disk evolves via a two-stage process, which consists of the initial developing stage and the later developed stage. The peak mass-accretion rate is distributed around apastron after the disk is fully developed. This indicates that the modulation of the mass accretion rate is essentially caused by an inward propagation of the one-armed spiral wave. The X-ray luminosity peak around the apastron could provide circumstatial evidence for an persistent disk around the neutron star in Be/X-ray binaries.
From hot, tenuous gas dominated by Compton processes, to warm, photoionized emission-line regions, to cold, optically thick fluorescing matter, accreting gas flows in X-ray binaries span a huge portion of the parameter space accessible to astrophysical plasmas. The coexistence of such diverse states of material within small volumes (10^33-10^36 cm^3) leaves X-ray spectroscopists with a challenging set of problems, since all such matter produces various X-ray spectral signatures when exposed to hard X rays. Emission-line regions in X-ray binaries are characterized by high radiation energy densities, relatively high particle densities, and velocities ~1000 km/s. In this article, we describe some recent efforts to generate detailed X-ray line spectra from models of X-ray binaries, whose aims are to reproduce spectra acquired with the ASCA, Chandra, and XMM-Newton observatories. With emphasis on the global nature of X-ray line emission in these systems, the article includes separate treatments of high-mass and low-mass systems, as well as summaries of continuum spectroscopy