Aims. During the bright outburst in 2011, the black hole candidate IGR J17091-3624 exhibited strong quasi-periodic flare-like events (on timescales of tens of seconds) in some characteristic states, ...the so-called heartbeat state. From the theoretical point of view, these oscillations may be modeled by the process of accretion disk instability, driven by the dominant radiation pressure and enhanced heating of the plasma. Although the mean accretion rate in this source is probably below the Eddington limit, the oscillations will still have large amplitudes. As the observations show, the source can exhibit strong wind outflow during the soft state. This wind may help to partially or even completely stabilize the heartbeat. Methods. Using our hydrodynamical code GLADIS, we modeled the evolution of an accretion disk responsible for X-ray emission of the source. We accounted for a variable wind outflow from the disk surface. We examined the data archive from the Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites to find the observed limitations on the wind physical properties, such as its velocity and ionization state. We also investigated the long-term evolution of this source, which lasted over about 600 days of observations, using the data collected by the Swift and RXTE satellites. During this long period, the oscillations pattern and the observable wind properties changed systematically. Results. We found that this source probably exhibits observable outbursts of appropriate timescales and amplitudes as a result of the disk instability. Our model requires a substantial wind component to explain the proper variability pattern, and even complete suppression of flares in some states. The wind mass-loss rate extracted from the data agrees quantitatively well with our scenario.
Abstract
X-ray binary systems consist of a companion star and a compact object in close orbit. Thanks to their copious X-ray emission, these objects have been studied in detail using X-ray ...spectroscopy and timing. The inclination of these systems is a major uncertainty in the determination of the mass of the compact object using optical spectroscopic methods. In this paper, we present a new method to constrain the inclination of X-ray binaries, which is based on the modeling of the polarization of X-rays photons produced by a compact source and scattered off the companion star. We describe our method and explore the potential of this technique in the specific case of the low-mass X-ray binary GS 1826−238 observed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer observatory.
Abstract Black hole X-ray binaries exhibit different spectral and timing properties in different accretion states. The X-ray outburst of a recently discovered and extraordinarily bright source, Swift ...J1727.8–1613, has enabled the first investigation of how the X-ray polarization properties of a source evolve with spectral state. The 2–8 keV polarization degree was previously measured by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to be ≈4% in the hard and hard intermediate states. Here we present new IXPE results taken in the soft state, with the X-ray flux dominated by the thermal accretion disk emission. We find that the polarization degree has dropped dramatically to ≲1%. This result indicates that the measured X-ray polarization is largely sensitive to the accretion state and the polarization fraction is significantly higher in the hard state when the X-ray emission is dominated by upscattered radiation in the X-ray corona. The combined polarization measurements in the soft and hard states disfavor a very high or low inclination of the system.
Low-mass X-ray binaries hosting weakly magnetized neutron stars (NS-LMXBs) are among the brightest sources in the X-ray sky. Since 2021, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) has provided new ...measurements of the X-ray polarization of these sources. IXPE observations have revealed that most NS-LMXBs are significantly polarized in the X-rays, providing unprecedented insight into the geometry of their accretion flow. In this review paper, we summarize the first results obtained by IXPE on NS-LMXBs, the emerging trends within each class of sources (atoll/Z), and possible physical interpretations.
We present the spectro-polarimetric results obtained from simultaneous X-ray observations with IXPE, NuSTAR and NICER of the dipping neutron star X-ray binary 4U 1624-49. This source is the most ...polarized Atoll source so far observed with IXPE, with a polarization degree of 2.7% \(\pm\) 0.9% in the 2-8 keV band during the non-dip phase and marginal evidence of an increasing trend with energy. The higher polarization degree compared to other Atolls can be explained by the high inclination of the system (\(i \approx 60\){\deg}). The spectra are well described by the combination of a soft thermal emission, a Comptonized component, plus reflection of soft photons off the accretion disk. During the dips, the hydrogen column density of the highly-ionized absorber increases while the ionization state decreases. The Comptonized radiation seems to be the dominant contribution to the polarized signal, with additional reflected photons which significantly contribute even if their fraction in the total flux is not high.
X-ray polarimetry missions like IXPE will be able to measure for the first time the polarization properties of accreting, weakly magnetized neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries. In this work we ...present simulations of the expected X-ray polarized signal including the coronal emission for different geometries of the corona itself, i.e. a slab above the accretion disc and a spherical shell around the neutron star. The simulations are performed with the fully relativistic Monte Carlo code monk capable of computing the X-ray polarization degree and angle for various physical input parameters of the neutron star, disc and corona. Different coronal geometries result in significantly different X-ray polarization properties, which can therefore be used to constrain the geometry of the systems.
X-ray binary systems consist of a companion star and a compact object in close orbit. Thanks to their copious X-ray emission, these objects have been studied in detail using X-ray spectroscopy and ...timing. The inclination of these systems is a major uncertainty in the determination of the mass of the compact object using optical spectroscopic methods. In this paper, we present a new method to constrain the inclination of X-ray binaries, which is based on the modeling of the polarization of X-rays photons produced by a compact source and scattered off the companion star. We describe our method and explore the potential of this technique in the specific case of the low mass X-ray binary GS 1826-238 observed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observatory.
Black-hole X-ray binaries exhibit different spectral and timing properties in different accretion states. The X-ray outburst of a recently discovered and extraordinarily bright source, ...Swift\(~\)J1727.8\(-\)1613, has enabled the first investigation of how the X-ray polarization properties of a source evolve with spectral state. The 2\(-\)8 keV polarization degree was previously measured by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to be \(\approx\) 4% in the hard and hard intermediate states. Here we present new IXPE results taken in the soft state, with the X-ray flux dominated by the thermal accretion-disk emission. We find that the polarization degree has dropped dramatically to \(\lesssim\) 1%. This result indicates that the measured X-ray polarization is largely sensitive to the accretion state and the polarization fraction is significantly higher in the hard state when the X-ray emission is dominated by up-scattered radiation in the X-ray corona. The combined polarization measurements in the soft and hard states disfavor a very high or low inclination of the system.
Correlating the WFC and the IBIS hard X-ray surveys Capitanio, Fiamma; Bird, Antony J; Federici, Memmo ...
A Population Explosion: The Nature & Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments (AIP Conference Proceedings Volume 1010),
01/2008, Volume:
1010, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
During the operational life of BeppoSax, the Wide Field Camera observations covered almost the full sky at different epochs. The energy coverage, wide field of view and imaging capabilities share ...many commonalities with IBIS, the gamma-ray telescope onboard INTEGRAL satellite. We mosaicked all the available single pointing WFC observation images and then we searched the map for persistent and transient sources as has been done for the IBIS survey. This work represents the first unbiased source list compilation produced in this way from the overall WFC data set.
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