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Register a new userTwo major constraints on the inner radii of accretion disks
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Added by
Andrzej A. Zdziarski
Publication date
2020
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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The Stefan-Boltzmann law yields a fundamental constraint on the geometry of inner accretion disks in black-hole X-ray binaries. It follows from considering the irradiating flux and the effective temperature of the inner parts of the disk, which implies that a strong quasi-thermal component with the average energy higher than that of a blackbody at the effective temperature has to be present whenever relativistic Fe K fluorescence and reflection features are observed. The apparent absence of such quasi-thermal component with the color temperature of $sim$1 keV in high-luminosity hard states is not compatible with a strongly irradiated disk extending close to the innermost stable circular orbit. Instead, the disk should be either truncated at a relatively large radius or irradiated by a corona at a large height, which would reduce the effective temperature and bring it to an agreement with the data. We also study constraints on disk/corona models following from comparing the disk densities fitted in literature using variable-density reflection codes with those calculated by us from the ionization parameter, the luminosity and the disk inner radius. We find that the fitted densities are much higher/lower in the hard/soft state of binaries, implying significant problems with the used assumptions and methods.
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The magnetic fields of accretion disks play an important role in studying their evolution. We may assume that its generation is connected to the dynamo mechanism, which is similar with that in the galactic disks. Here, we propose a model of the magnetic field of the accretion disk that uses the same approaches that have been used for galaxies. It is necessary to obtain the field, which is expected to be less than the equipartition value, and without destroying the disk. To do so, it is necessary to formulate the basic properties of the ionized medium and to estimate the parameters governing the dynamo. We used the no-z approximation that has been developed for thin disks. We also take different boundary conditions that can change the value of the field significantly. We show that the magnetic field strictly depends on the boundary conditions. Taking zero conditions and the fixed magnetic field condition on the inner boundary, which are connected to the physical properties of the accretion disk, we can avoid solutions that are greater than the equipartition field.
We report on an observation of the Galactic black hole candidate GRS 1739-278 during its 2014 outburst, obtained with NuSTAR. The source was captured at the peak of a rising low/hard state, at a flux of ~0.3 Crab. A broad, skewed iron line and disk reflection spectrum are revealed. Fits to the sensitive NuSTAR spectra with a number of relativistically blurred disk reflection models yield strong geometrical constraints on the disk and hard X-ray corona. Two models that explicitly assume a lamppost corona find its base to have a vertical height above the black hole of h = 5 (+7, -2) GM/c^2 and h = 18 +/-4 GM/c^2 (90% confidence errors); models that do not assume a lamppost return emissivity profiles that are broadly consistent with coronae of this size. Given that X-ray microlensing studies of quasars and reverberation lags in Seyferts find similarly compact coronae, observations may now signal that compact coronae are fundamental across the black hole mass scale. All of the models fit to GRS 1739-278 find that the accretion disk extends very close to the black hole - the least stringent constraint is r = 5 (+3,-4) GM/c^2. Only two of the models deliver meaningful spin constraints, but a = 0.8 +/-0.2 is consistent with all of the fits. Overall, the data provide especially compelling evidence of an association between compact hard X-ray coronae and the base of relativistic radio jets in black holes.
A number of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries have recently been discovered to show broad, asymmetric Fe K emission lines in their X-ray spectra. These lines are generally thought to be the most prominent part of a reflection spectrum, originating in the inner part of the accretion disk where strong relativistic effects can broaden emission lines. We present a comprehensive, systematic analysis of Suzaku and XMM-Newton spectra of 10 neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries, all of which display broad Fe K emission lines. Of the 10 sources, 4 are Z sources, 4 are atolls and 2 are accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars (also atolls). The Fe K lines are well fit by a relativistic line model for a Schwarzschild metric, and imply a narrow range of inner disk radii (6 - 15 GM/c^2) in most cases. This implies that the accretion disk extends close to the neutron star surface over a range of luminosities. Continuum modeling shows that for the majority of observations, a blackbody component (plausibly associated with the boundary layer) dominates the X-ray emission from 8 - 20 keV. Thus it appears likely that this spectral component produces the majority of the ionizing flux that illuminates the accretion disk. Therefore, we also fit the spectra with a blurred reflection model, wherein a blackbody component illuminates the disk. This model fits well in most cases, supporting the idea that the boundary layer is illuminating a geometrically thin disk.
We report on an observation of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1, made with NuSTAR. The extraordinary sensitivity afforded by NuSTAR facilitated the detection of a clear, robust, relativistic Fe K emission line from the inner disk. A relativistic profile is required over a single Gaussian line from any charge state of Fe at the 5-sigma level of confidence, and any two Gaussians of equal width at the same confidence. The Compton back-scattering hump peaking in the 10-20 keV band is detected for the first time in a neutron star X-ray binary. Fits with relativistically-blurred disk reflection models suggest that the disk likely extends close to the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) or stellar surface. The best-fit blurred reflection models constrain the gravitational redshift from the stellar surface to be z > 0.16. The data are broadly compatible with the disk extending to the ISCO; in that case, z > 0.22 and R < 12.6 km (assuming M = 1.4 Msun and a=0, where a = cJ/GM^2). If the star is as large or larger than its ISCO, or if the effective reflecting disk leaks across the ISCO to the surface, the redshift constraints become measurements. We discuss our results in the context of efforts to measure fundamental properties of neutron stars, and models for accretion onto compact objects.
We present arcsecond-scale Submillimeter Array observations of the CO(3-2) line emission from the disks around the young stars HD 163296 and TW Hya at a spectral resolution of 44 m/s. These observations probe below the ~100 m/s turbulent linewidth inferred from lower-resolution observations, and allow us to place constraints on the turbulent linewidth in the disk atmospheres. We reproduce the observed CO(3-2) emission using two physical models of disk structure: (1) a power-law temperature distribution with a tapered density distribution following a simple functional form for an evolving accretion disk, and (2) the radiative transfer models developed by DAlessio et al. that can reproduce the dust emission probed by the spectral energy distribution. Both types of models yield a low upper limit on the turbulent linewidth (Doppler b-parameter) in the TW Hya system (<40 m/s), and a tentative (3-sigma) detection of a ~300 m/s turbulent linewidth in the upper layers of the HD 163296 disk. These correspond to roughly <10% and 40% of the sound speed at size scales commensurate with the resolution of the data. The derived linewidths imply a turbulent viscosity coefficient, alpha, of order 0.01 and provide observational support for theoretical predictions of subsonic turbulence in protoplanetary accretion disks.
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