We re-examine archival Ginga data for the black hole binary system GS 1124-683, obtained when the system was undergoing its 1991 outburst. Our analysis estimates the dimensionless spin parameter a=cJ/GM^2 by fitting the X-ray continuum spectra obtain
ed while the system was in the Thermal Dominant state. For likely values of mass and distance, we find the spin to be a=-0.25 (-0.64, +0.05) (90% confidence), implying that the disk is retrograde (i.e. rotating antiparallel to the spin axis of the black hole). We note that this measurement would be better constrained if the distance to the binary and the mass of the black hole were more accurately determined. This result is unaffected by the model used to fit the hard component of the spectrum. In order to be able to recover a prograde spin, the mass of the black hole would need to be at least 15.25 Msun, or the distance would need to be less than 4.5 kpc, both of which disagree with previous determinations of the black hole mass and distance. If we allow f_col to be free, we obtain no useful spin constraint. We discuss our results in the context of recent spin measurements and implications for jet production.
Broad iron emission lines are observed in many accreting systems from black holes in AGN and X-ray binaries to neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. The origin of the line broadening is often interpreted as due to dynamical broadening and relativisti
c effects. However, alternative interpretations have been proposed, included broadening due to Compton scattering in a wind or accretion disk atmosphere. Here we explore the observational signatures expected from broadening in a wind, in particular that the iron line width should increase with an increase in the column density of the absorber (due to an increase in the number of scatterings). We study the data from three neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries where both a broad iron emission line and absorption lines are seen simultaneously, and show that there is no significant correlation between line width and column density. This favors an inner disk origin for the line broadening rather than scattering in a wind.
We present new results of uniform spectral analysis of Swift/XRT observations of the X-ray binary system 4U 1957+11. This includes 26 observations of the source made between MJD 54282$-$55890 (2007 July 01 $-$ 2011 November 25). All 26 spectra are pr
edominantly thermal, and can be modeled well with emission from an accretion disk around a black hole. We analyze all 26 spectra jointly using traditional chi-squared fitting as well as Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations. The results from both methods agree, and constrains on model parameters like inclination, column density, and black hole spin. These results indicate that the X-ray emitting inner accretion disk is inclined to our line-of-sight by $77.6^{+1.5}_{-2.2}$ degrees. Additionally, the other constraints we obtain on parameters like the column density and black hole spin are consistent with previous X-ray observations. Distances less than 5 kpc are unlikely and not only ruled out based on our analysis but also from other independent observations. Based on model-derived bolometric luminosities, we require the source distance to be >10 kpc if the black holes mass is >10 M$_{Sun}$. If the holes mass is <10 M$_{Sun}$, then the distance could be in the range of 5$-$10 kpc.
We calculate the observable signature of a black hole accretion disk with a gap or hole created by a secondary black hole embedded in the disk. We find that for an interesting range of parameters of black hole masses (~10^6 to 10^9 solar masses), orb
ital separation (~1 AU to ~0.1 pc), and gap width (10 to 190 disk scale heights), the missing thermal emission from a gap manifests itself in an observable decrement in the spectral energy distribution. We present observational diagnostics in terms of power-law forms that can be fit to line-free regions in AGN spectra or in fluxes from sequences of broad filters. Most interestingly, the change in slope in the broken power-law is almost entirely dependent on the width of gap in the accretion disk, which in turn is uniquely determined by mass ratio of the black holes, such that it scales roughly as q^(5/12). Thus one can use spectral observations of the continuum of bright active galactic nuclei to infer not only the presence of a closely separated black hole binary but also the mass ratio. When the black hole merger opens an entire hole (or cavity) in the inner disk, the broad band SED of the AGN or quasar may serve as a diagnostic. Such sources should be especially luminous in optical bands but intrinsically faint in X-rays (i.e., not merely obscured). We briefly note that viable candidates may have already been identified, though extant detailed modeling of those with high quality data have not yet revealed an inner cavity.
We present a study of the mechanical power generated by both winds and jets across the black hole mass scale. We begin with the study of ionized X-ray winds and present a uniform analysis using Chandra grating spectra. The high quality grating spectr
a facilitate the characterization of the outflow velocity, ionization and column density of the absorbing gas. We find that the kinetic power of the winds scales with increasing bolometric luminosity as log(L_wind) propto (1.58 pm 0.07) log(L_Bol). This means that SMBH may be more efficient than stellar-mass black holes in launching winds. In addition, the simplicity of the scaling may suggest common driving mechanisms across the mass scale. For comparison, we next examine jet production, estimating jet power based on the energy required to inflate local bubbles. The jet relation is log(L_Jet)propto (1.18pm0.24) log(L_Bol). The energetics of the bubble associated with Cygnus X-1 are particularly difficult to determine, and the bubble could be a background SNR. If we exclude Cygnus X-1, then the jets follow a consistent relation to the winds within errors but with a higher normalization, log(L_Jet) propto (1.34 pm 0.50) log(L_Bol). The formal consistency in the wind and jet scaling relations suggests that a common launching mechanism may drive both flows; magnetic processes are viable possibilities. We also examine winds with especially high velocities, v > 0.01c. These ultra-fast outflows tend to resemble the jets more than the winds, indicating we may be observing a regime in which winds become jets. This study allows for the total power from black hole accretion, both mechanical and radiative, to be characterized in a simple manner and suggests a possible connection between winds and jets. Finally, we find at low Eddington fractions, the jet power is dominant, and at high Eddington fractions the wind power is dominant.
We present Chandra observations of 12 galaxies that contain supermassive black holes with dynamical mass measurements. Each galaxy was observed for 30 ksec and resulted in a total of 68 point source detections in the target galaxies including superma
ssive black hole sources, ultraluminous X-ray sources, and extragalactic X-ray binaries. Based on our fits of the X-ray spectra, we report fluxes, luminosities, Eddington ratios, and slope of the power-law spectrum. Normalized to the Eddington luminosity, the 2--10 keV band X-ray luminosities of the SMBH sources range from $10^{-8}$ to $10^{-6}$, and the power-law slopes are centered at $sim2$ with a slight trend towards steeper (softer) slopes at smaller Eddington fractions, implying a change in the physical processes responsible for their emission at low accretion rates. We find 20 ULX candidates, of which six are likely ($>90%$ chance) to be true ULXs. The most promising ULX candidate has an isotropic luminosity in the 0.3--10 keV band of $1.0_{-0.3}^{+0.6} times 10^{40}$ erg/s.
We present both phenomenological and more physical photoionization models of the Chandra HETG spectra of the Seyfert-1 AGN NGC 4051. We detect 40 absorption and emission lines, encompassing highly ionized charge states from O, Ne, Mg, Si, S and the F
e L-shell and K-shell. Two independent photoionization packages, XSTAR and Cloudy, were both used to self-consistently model the continuum and line spectra. These fits detected three absorbing regions in this system with densities ranging from 10^{10} to 10^{11} cm^{-3}. In particular, our XSTAR models require three components that have ionization parameters of log xi = 4.5, 3.3, & 1.0, and are located within the BLR at 70, 300, and 13,000 R_g, respectively, assuming a constant wind density. Larger radii are inferred for density profiles which decline with radius. The Cloudy models give a similar set of parameters with ionization parameters of log xi = 5.0, 3.6, & 2.2 located at 40, 200, and 3,300 R_g. We demonstrate that these regions are out-flowing from the system, and carry a small fraction of material out of the system relative to the implied mass accretion rate. The data suggest that magnetic fields may be an important driving mechanism.
{it Chandra} spectroscopy of transient stellar-mass black holes in outburst has clearly revealed accretion disk winds in soft, disk--dominated states, in apparent anti-correlation with relativistic jets in low/hard states. These disk winds are observ
ed to be highly ionized, dense, and to have typical velocities of $sim$1000 km/s or less projected along our line of sight. Here, we present an analysis of two {it Chandra} High Energy Transmission Grating spectra of the Galactic black hole candidate IGR J17091$-$3624 and contemporaneous EVLA radio observations, obtained in 2011. The second {it Chandra} observation reveals an absorption line at 6.91$pm$0.01 keV; associating this line with He-like Fe XXV requires a blue-shift of $9300^{+500}_{-400}$ km/s (0.03$c$, or the escape velocity at 1000 R$_{Schw}$). This projected outflow velocity is an order of magnitude higher than has previously been observed in stellar-mass black holes, and is broadly consistent with some of the fastest winds detected in active galactic nuclei. A potential feature at 7.32 keV, if due to Fe XXVI, would imply a velocity of $sim 14600$ km/s (0.05$c$), but this putative feature is marginal. Photoionization modeling suggests that the accretion disk wind in IGR J17091$-$3624 may originate within 43,300 Schwarzschild radii of the black hole, and may be expelling more gas than accretes. The contemporaneous EVLA observations strongly indicate that jet activity was indeed quenched at the time of our {it Chandra} observations. We discuss the results in the context of disk winds, jets, and basic accretion disk physics in accreting black hole systems.
Recent radio VLBI observations of the ~parsec-scale nuclear region of the narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 hint toward the presence of outflowing plasma. From available literature we have collected high-quality, high-resolution broadband spectra
l energy distribution data of the nuclear region of NGC 4051 spanning from radio through X-rays, to test whether the broadband SED can be explained within the framework of a relativistically outflowing jet model. We show that once the contribution from the host galaxy is taken into account, the broadband emission from the active galactic nucleus of NGC 4051 can be well described by the jet model. Contributions from dust and ongoing star-formation in the nuclear region tend to dominate the IR emission even at the highest resolutions. In the framework of the jet model, the correlated high variability of the extreme ultraviolet and X-rays compared to other wavelengths suggests that the emission at these wavelengths is optically thin synchrotron originating in the particle acceleration site(s) in the jet very close (few $r_g=GM_{BH}/c^2$) to the central supermassive black hole of mass M_{BH}. Our conclusions support the hypothesis that narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies (which NGC 4051 is a member of) harbor a jetted outflow with properties similar to what has already been seen in low-luminosity AGNs and stellar mass black holes in hard X-ray state.
Accretion disk winds are revealed in Chandra gratings spectra of black holes. The winds are hot and highly ionized (typically composed of He-like and H-like charge states), and show modest blue-shifts. Similar line spectra are sometimes seen in dippi
ng low-mass X-ray binaries, which are likely viewed edge-on; however, that absorption is tied to structures in the outer disk, and blue-shifts are not typically observed. Here we report the detection of blue-shifted He-like Fe XXV (3100 +/- 400 km/s) and H-like Fe XXVI (1000 +/- 200 km/s) absorption lines in a Chandra/HETG spectrum of the transient pulsar and low-mass X-ray binary IGR J17480-2446 in Terzan 5. These features indicate a disk wind with at least superficial similarities to those observed in stellar-mass black holes. The wind does not vary strongly with numerous weak X-ray bursts or flares. A broad Fe K emission line is detected in the spectrum, and fits with different line models suggest that the inner accretion disk in this system may be truncated. If the stellar magnetic field truncates the disk, a field strength of B = 0.7-4.0 E+9 Gauss is implied, which is in line with estimates based on X-ray timing techniques. We discuss our findings in the context of accretion flows onto neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes.
