Aims. We review some aspects of the theory of magnetic threaded disks. Methods. We discuss in particular the equations that determine the position of the inner disk boundary by using different ...prescriptions for the neutron star-accretion disk interaction. We apply the results to several accretion powered X-ray pulsars that show both quasi-periodic oscillations in their X-ray flux and spin-up/spin-down torque reversals. Under the hypothesis that the beat-frequency model is applicable to the quasi-periodic oscillations, we show that these sources provide an excellent opportunity to test models of the disk-magnetosphere interaction. Results. A comparison is carried out between the magnetospheric radius obtained with all the prescriptions used in threaded disk models; this shows that none of those prescriptions is able to reproduce the combination of quasi-periodic oscillations and torque behaviour observed for different X-ray luminosity levels in the X-ray pulsars in the present sample. Conclusions. This suggests that the problem of accretion disk threading by stellar magnetic field still lacks a comprehensive solution. We briefly discuss an outline of possible future developments in this field.
THESEUS, one of the two space mission concepts being studied by ESA as candidates for next M5 mission within its Comsic Vision programme, aims at fully exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) to solve key ...questions about the early Universe, as well as becoming a cornerstone of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. By investigating the first billion years of the Universe through high-redshift GRBs, THESEUS will shed light on the main open issues in modern cosmology, such as the population of primordial low mass and luminosity galaxies, sources and evolution of cosmic re-ionization, SFR and metallicity evolution up to the “cosmic dawn” and across Pop-III stars. At the same time, the mission will provide a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics by enabling the identification, accurate localisation and study of electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational waves and neutrinos, which will be routinely detected in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s by the second and third generation Gravitational Wave (GW) interferometers and future neutrino detectors, as well as of all kinds of GRBs and most classes of other X/gamma-ray transient sources. Under all these respects, THESEUS will provide great synergies with future large observing facilities in the multi-messenger domain. A Guest Observer programme, comprising Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations, will expand the science return of the mission, to include, e.g., solar system minor bodies, exoplanets, and AGN.
We introduce the notion of
-Hermitianity of a matrix, as a generalization of Hermitianity, and, more generally, of closure by
-Hermitianity of a set of matrices. Many well known algebras, like upper ...and lower triangular Toeplitz, Circulants and
matrices, as well as certain algebras that have dimension higher than the matrix order, turn out to be closed by
-Hermitianity. As an application, we generalize some theorems about displacement decompositions presented in 1, 2, by assuming the matrix algebras involved closed by
-Hermitianity. Even if such hypothesis on the structure is not necessary in the case of algebras generated by one matrix, as it has been proved in 3, our result is relevant because it could yield new low complexity displacement formulas involving not one-matrix-generated commutative algebras.
Context. IGR J17498–2921 is the third X-ray transient accreting millisecond pulsar discovered by INTEGRAL. It was in outburst for about 40 days beginning on August 08, 2011. Aims. We analyze the ...spectral and timing properties of the object and the characteristics of X-ray bursts to constrain the physical processes responsible for the X-ray production in this class of sources. Methods. We studied the broad-band spectrum of the persistent emission in the 0.6–300 keV energy band using simultaneous INTEGRAL, RXTE, and Swift data obtained in August–September 2011. We also describe the timing properties in the 2–100 keV energy range such as the outburst lightcurve, pulse profile, pulsed fraction, pulsed emission, time lags, and study the properties of X-ray bursts discovered by RXTE, Swift, and INTEGRAL and the recurrence time. Results. The broad-band average spectrum is well-described by thermal Comptonization with an electron temperature of kTe ~ 50 keV, soft seed photons of kTbb ~ 1 keV, and Thomson optical depth τT ~ 1 in a slab geometry. The slab area corresponds to a black body radius of Rbb ~ 9 km. During the outburst, the spectrum stays remarkably stable with plasma and soft seed photon temperatures and scattering optical depth that are constant within the errors. This behavior has been interpreted as indicating that the X-ray emission originates above the neutron star (NS) surface in a hot slab (either the heated NS surface or the accretion shock). The INTEGRAL, RXTE, and Swift data reveal the X-ray pulsation at a period of 2.5 ms up to ~65 keV. The pulsed fraction is consistent with being constant, i.e. energy independent and has a typical value of 6–7%. The nearly sinusoidal pulses show soft lags that seem to saturate near 10 keV at a rather small value of ~−60 μs with those observed in other accreting pulsars. The short burst profiles indicate that there is a hydrogen-poor material at ignition, which suggests either that the accreted material is hydrogen-deficient, or that the CNO metallicity is up to a factor of about two times solar. However, the variation in the burst recurrence time as a function of ṁ (inferred from the X-ray flux) is much smaller than predicted by helium-ignition models.
We report on the identification of the new Galactic Centre (GC) transient Swift J174540.7−290015 as a likely low-mass X-ray binary located at only 16 arcsec from Sgr A⋆. This transient was detected ...on 2016 February 6, during the Swift GC monitoring, and it showed long-term spectral variations compatible with a hard- to soft-state transition. We observed the field with XMM–Newton on February 26 for 35 ks, detecting the source in the soft state, characterized by a low level of variability and a soft X-ray thermal spectrum with a high energy tail (detected by INTEGRAL up to ∼50 keV), typical of either accreting neutron stars or black holes. We observed: (i) a high column density of neutral absorbing material, suggesting that Swift J174540.7−290015 is located near or beyond the GC and; (ii) a sub-Solar iron abundance, therefore we argue that iron is depleted into dust grains. The lack of detection of Fe K absorption lines, eclipses or dipping suggests that the accretion disc is observed at a low inclination angle. Radio (Very Large Array) observations did not detect any radio counterpart to Swift J174540.7−290015. No evidence for X-ray or radio periodicity is found. The location of the transient was observed also in the near-infrared (near-IR) with gamma-ray burst optical near-IR detector at MPG/European Southern Observatory La Silla 2.2 m telescope and VLT/NaCo pre- and post-outburst. Within the Chandra error region, we find multiple objects that display no significant variations.
Broad emission features of abundant chemical elements, such as iron, are commonly seen in the X-ray spectra of accreting compact objects and their studies can provide useful information about the ...geometry of the accretion processes. In this work, we focus our attention on GX 3+1, a bright, persistent accreting low-mass X-ray binary, classified as an atoll source. Its spectrum is well described by an accretion disc plus a stable Comptonizing, optically thick corona which dominates the X-ray emission in the 0.3–20 keV energy band. In addition, four broad emission lines are found and we associate them with reflection of hard photons from the inner regions of the accretion disc, where Doppler and relativistic effects are important. We used self-consistent reflection models to fit the spectra of the 2010 XMM–Newton observation and the stacking of the whole data sets of 2010 INTEGRAL observations. We conclude that the spectra are consistent with reflection produced at ∼10 gravitational radii by an accretion disc with an ionization parameter of ξ ∼ 600 erg cm s−1 and viewed under an inclination angle of the system of ∼35°. Furthermore, we detected for the first time for GX 3+1, the presence of a power-law component dominant at energies higher than 20 keV, possibly associated with an optically thin component of non-thermal electrons.
Abstract
We present the spectral and timing analysis of the X-ray pulsar GRO J1744−28 during its 2014 outburst using data collected with the X-ray satellites Swift, INTEGRAL, Chandra, and XMM–Newton. ...We derived, by phase-connected timing analysis of the observed pulses, an updated set of the source ephemeris. We were also able to investigate the spin-up of the X-ray pulsar as a consequence of the accretion torque during the outburst. Relating the spin-up rate and the mass accretion rate as $\dot{\nu }\propto \dot{M}^{\beta }$, we fitted the pulse phase delays obtaining a value of β = 0.96(3). Combining the results from the source spin-up frequency derivative and the flux estimation, we constrained the source distance to be between 3.4 and 4.1 kpc, assuming a disc viscous parameter α to be in the range of 0.1–1. Finally, we investigated the presence of a possible spin-down torque by adding a quadratic component to the pulse phase delay model. The marginal statistical improvement of the updated model does not allow us to firmly confirm the presence of this component.
INTEGRAL Observations of GW170104 Savchenko, V.; Ferrigno, C.; Bozzo, E. ...
Astrophysical journal. Letters,
09/2017, Volume:
846, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We used data from the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) to set upper limits on the γ-ray and hard X-ray prompt emission associated with the gravitational-wave event GW170104, ...discovered by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo collaboration. The unique omnidirectional viewing capability of the instruments on board INTEGRAL allowed us to examine the full 90% confidence level localization region of the LIGO trigger. Depending on the particular spectral model assumed and the specific position within this region, the upper limits inferred from the INTEGRAL observations range from Fγ = 1.9 × 10−7 erg cm−2 to Fγ = 10−6 erg cm−2 (75 keV-2 MeV energy range). This translates into a ratio between the prompt energy released in γ-rays along the direction to the observer and the gravitational-wave energy of Eγ/EGW < 2.6 × 10−5. Using the INTEGRAL results, we cannot confirm the γ-ray proposed counterpart to GW170104 by the Astro-Rivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero (AGILE) team with the mini-Calorimeter (MCAL) instrument. The reported flux of the AGILE/MCAL event, E2, is not compatible with the INTEGRAL upper limits within most of the 90% LIGO localization region. There is only a relatively limited portion of the sky where the sensitivity of the INTEGRAL instruments was not optimal and the lowest-allowed fluence estimated for E2 would still be compatible with the INTEGRAL results. This region was also observed independently by Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and AstroSAT, from which, as far as we are aware, there are no reports of any significant detection of a prompt high-energy event.
SAX J1748.9–2021 is a transiently accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar. It is also known as an X-ray burster source discovered by Beppo-SAX. We analyzed the persistent emission and type-I X-ray burst ...properties during its 2015 outburst. The source changed from hard to soft state within half day. We modeled the broadband spectra of the persistent emission in the (1–250) keV energy band for both spectral states using the quasi-simultaneous INTEGRAL and Swift data. The broadband spectra are well fitted by an absorbed thermal Componization model, COMPPS, in a slab geometry. The best-fits for the two states indicate significantly different plasma temperature of 18 and 5 keV and the Thomson optical depths of three and four, respectively. In total, 56 type-I X-ray bursts were observed during the 2015 outburst, of which 26 detected by INTEGRAL in the hard state, 25 by XMM-Newton in the soft state, and five by Swift in both states. As the object transited from the hard to the soft state, the recurrence time for X-ray bursts decreased from ≈2 to ≈1 h. The relation between the recurrence time, Δtrec, and the local mass accretion rate per unit area onto the compact object, ṁ, is fitted by a power-law model, and yielded as best fit at Δtrec ∼ ⟨ṁ⟩−1.02±0.03 using all X-ray bursts. In both cases, the observed recurrence times are consistent with the mixed hydrogen and helium bursts. We also discuss the effects of type-I X-ray bursts prior to the hard to soft transition.
During the first observing run of LIGO, two gravitational wave events and one lower-significance trigger (LVT151012) were reported by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. At the time of LVT151012, the ...INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) was pointing at a region of the sky coincident with the high localization probability area of the event and thus permitted us to search for its electromagnetic counterpart (both prompt and afterglow emission). The imaging instruments on board INTEGRAL (IBIS/ISGRI, IBIS/PICsIT, SPI, and the two JEM-X modules) have been exploited to attempt the detection of any electromagnetic emission associated with LVT151012 over three decades in energy (from 3 keV to 8 MeV). The omni-directional instruments on board the satellite, i.e., the SPI-ACS and the IBIS/Veto, complemented the capabilities of the IBIS/ISGRI and IBIS/PICsIT for detections outside their imaging field of view in order to provide an efficient monitoring of the entire LVT151012 localization region at energies above 75 keV. We did not find any significant transient source that was spatially and/or temporally coincident with LVT151012, obtaining tight upper limits on the associated hard X-ray and γ-ray radiation. For typical spectral models, the upper limits on the fluence of the emission from any 1 s counterpart of LVT151012 ranges from Fγ = 3.5 × 10-8 erg cm-2 (20–200 keV), within the field of view of the imaging instruments, to Fγ = 7.1 × 10-7 erg cm-2 (75–2000 keV), considering the least favorable location of the counterpart for a detection by the omni-directional instruments. These results can be interpreted as a tight constraint on the ratio of the isotropic equivalent energy released in the electromagnetic emission to the total energy of the gravitational waves: E75−2000 keV/EGW< 4.4 × 10-5. Finally, we provide an exhaustive summary of the capabilities of all instruments on board INTEGRAL to hunt for γ-ray counterparts of gravitational wave events, exploiting both serendipitousand pointed follow-up observations. This will serve as a reference for all future searches.
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