Optical emission from actively accreting X-ray binaries is dominated by X-ray reprocessing on the outer disk. In the regime of supercritical accretion, strong radiation will power a massive wind that is optically thick and nearly spherical, and will occult the central hard X-rays from irradiating the outer disk. Instead, thermal emission from the wind will act as a new source of irradiation. Here, we construct a self-irradiation model, in which the inner disk (within the wind photosphere) is completely blocked by the wind, the middle part (between the wind photosphere and scattersphere) is heated by the wind directly, and the outer disk (beyond the wind scattersphere) is heated by photons leaving the scattersphere. The model can adequately fit the UV/optical SED of NGC 247 X-1, a candidate source with supercritical accretion, while the standard irradiation model fails to produce a self-consistent result. The best-fit parameters suggest that the source contains a stellar mass black hole with an accretion rate roughly 100 times the critical value. Remarkably, the UV/optical fitting predicts a wind photosphere that is well consistent with X-ray measurements, although it is an extrapolation over 3 orders of magnitude in wavelength. This implies that supercritical accretion does power a massive wind and the UV/optical data are useful in constraining the wind structure.
Most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are argued to be powered by supercritical accretion onto compact objects. One of the key questions regarding these objects is whether or not the hard X-rays are geometrically beamed toward the symmetric axis. We propose to test the scenario using disk irradiation, to see how much the outer accretion disk sees the central hard X-rays. We collect a sample of 11 bright ULXs with an identification of a unique optical counterpart, and model their optical fluxes considering two irradiating sources: soft X-rays from the photosphere of the optically thick wind d…
X-ray irradiation heating of accretion discs in black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) plays a key role in regulating their outburst cycles. However, despite decades of theoretical and observational efforts, the physical mechanism(s) responsible for irradiating these discs remains largely unknown. We have built an observationally-based methodology to estimate the strength of irradiation of BHXB discs by combining multiwavelength X-ray and optical/IR data throughout transient outbursts. We apply this to $\sim15$ yrs of activity in the Galactic BHXB GX339$-$4. Our findings suggest that the irradiatio…
Supercritical accretion onto compact objects powers a massive wind that is optically thick and Eddington-limited. If most of the hard X-rays from the central disk are obscured by the wind, the source will display a blackbody-like spectrum with a luminosity scaled with the mass of the compact object. From the Chandra archive of nearby galaxies, we selected a sample of luminous and very soft sources and excluded contaminations from foreground objects and supernova remnants. They are found to be preferentially associated with late-type galaxies. The majority of sources in our sample are either to…
Supercritical accretion onto compact objects may drive massive winds that are nearly spherical, optically thick, and Eddington limited. Blackbody emission from the photosphere is the direct observational signature of the wind. Here we investigate whether or not it can explain the soft emission component seen in the energy spectra of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). Based on high-quality XMM-Newton spectra of 15 ULXs, we find that the soft component can be modeled as blackbody emission with a nearly constant luminosity, and the 5 known pulsating ULXs (PULXs) in the sample display a blackbody…
Many astrophysical sources, e.g., cataclysmic variables, X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, exhibit a wind outflow, when they reveal a multicolor blackbody spectrum, hence harboring a geometrically thin Keplerian accretion disk. Unlike an advective disk, in the thin disk, the physical environment, like, emission line, external heating, is expected to play a key role to drive the wind outflow. We show the wind outflow in a thin disk attributing a disk irradiation effect, probably from the inner to outer disks. We solve the set of steady, axisymmetric disk model equations in cylindrical coo…
Context. Particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries (PACWBs) are systems that are formed by two massive and hot stars and produce nonthermal (NT) radiation. The key elements of these systems are fast winds and the shocks that they create when they collide. Binaries with nonaccreting young pulsars have also been detected as NT emitters, again as a consequence of the wind-wind interaction. Black holes (BHs) might produce NT radiation by this mechanism if they accrete at super-Eddington rates. In such cases, the disk is expected to launch a radiation-driven wind, and if this wind has an equato…
In young dense clusters, an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) may get a companion star via exchange encounters or tidal capture, and then evolves toward IMBH X-ray binary by the Roche lobe overflow. It is generally thought that IMBH X-ray binaries are potential ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), hence their evolution is very significant. However, the irradiation-driven winds by the strong X-ray flux from the accretion disks around the IMBHs play an important role in determining the evolution of IMBH X-ray binaries, and should be considered in the detailed binary evolution simulation. Emplo…
The observed signatures of winds from X-ray binaries are broadly consistent with thermal winds, driven by X-ray irradiation of the outer accretion disc. Thermal winds produce mass outflow rates that can exceed the accretion rate in the disc. We study the impact of this mass loss on the stability and lightcurves of X-ray binaries subject to the thermal-viscous instability, which drives their outbursts. Strong mass loss could shut off outbursts early, as proposed for the 2015 outburst of V404 Cyg. We use an analytical model for thermal (Compton) wind mass loss. Scattering in the strong wind expe…
In wind-powered X-ray binaries, the radiatively driven stellar wind from the primary may be inhibited by the X-ray irradiation. This creates the feedback that limits the X-ray luminosity of the compact secondary. Wind inhibition might be weakened by the effect of small-scale wind inhomogeneities (clumping) possibly affecting the limiting X-ray luminosity. We study the influence of X-ray irradiation on the stellar wind for different radial distributions of clumping. We calculate hot star wind models with external irradiation and clumping using our global wind code. The models are calculated for…
An upper limit on nickel overabundance in the supercritical accretion disk wind of SS 433 from X-ray spectroscopy
利用XMM-牛顿空间天文台对银河系微类星体SS 433进行的长时间（总曝光时间为120 k s）X射线观测，寻找能量为7.5 keV的中性（或弱电离）镍荧光线。我们考虑了SS 433光谱中荧光线形成的两种模型：1）由于来自假定中心源的硬X射线辐射在吸积盘“漏斗”的光学厚壁上的反射; 2）由于来自喷流的最热部分的辐射在系统的光学薄风中的散射。结果表明，对于这些情况下，在6.4 keV下，Ni I K $_α$荧光线的光子通量预计为Fe I K $_α$荧光线通量的0.45，对于相对过量的镍$Z_{Ni}/Z = 10$，如在SS 433喷流中观察到的。对于连续模型没有中性铁的吸收边，我们设置了一个90%的上限上的通量的窄镍I K $_α$线在$0.9 \times 10^{-5}$ ph s $^{-1}$ cm $^{-2}$的水平。对于具有吸收边的连续模型，相应的上限为$2.5 \times 10^{-5}$ ph s $^{-1}$ cm $^{-2}$。同时，对Fe I K $_α$谱线，我们测量了$9.9_{8.4}^{11.2} \times 10^{-5}$ ph s $^{-1}$ cm $^{-2}$的通量。从表面上看，这些结果意味着，吸积盘风中镍的相对过剩量至少要比SS 433喷流中观测到的相应过剩量少1.5倍。
Wind-fed high-mass X-ray binaries are powered by accretion of the radiatively driven wind on the compact star. Accretion-generated X-rays alter the ionization state of the wind. Because higher ionization states drive the wind less effectively, X-ray ionization may brake acceleration of the wind. This causes a decrease in the wind terminal velocity and mass flux in the direction toward the X-ray source. We study the effect of X-ray ionization on the stellar wind of B supergiants. We determine the binary parameters for which the X-ray irradiation significantly influences the stellar wind. This c…
The presence of radiatively driven outflows is well established in ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). These outflows are optically thick and can reprocess a significant fraction of the accretion luminosity. Assuming isotropic emission, escaping radiation from the outflow's photosphere has the potential to irradiate the outer disc. Here, we explore how the atmosphere of the outer disc would respond to such irradiation, and specifically whether unstable heating may lead to significant mass loss via thermally-driven winds. We find that, for a range of physically relevant system parameters, this …
The optical emission line spectra of X-ray binaries (XRBs) are thought to be produced in an irradiated atmosphere, possibly the base of a wind, located above the outer accretion disc. However, the physical nature of - and physical conditions in - the line-forming region remain poorly understood. Here, we test the idea that the optical spectrum is formed in the transition region between the cool, geometrically thin part of the disc near the mid-plane and a hot, vertically extended atmosphere or outflow produced by X-ray irradiation. We first present a VLT X-Shooter spectrum of XRB MAXI J1820+07…
Context: Cygnus X-1 is a black hole X-ray binary system in which the black hole captures and accretes gas from the strong stellar wind emitted by its supergiant O9.7 companion star. The irradiation of the supergiant star essentially determines the flow properties of the stellar wind and the X-ray luminosity from the system. The results of three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of wind-fed X-ray binary systems reported in recent work reveal that the ionizing feedback of the X-ray irradiation leads to the existence of two stable states with either a soft or a hard spectrum. Aims: We discus…
Different accretion regimes onto magnetized NSs in HMXBs are considered: wind-fed supersonic (Bondi) regime at high accretion rates $\dot M\gtrsim 4\times 10^{16}$~[g s$^{-1}$] , subsonic settling regime at lower $\dot M$ and supercritical disc accretion during Roche lobe overflow. In wind-fed stage, NSs in HMXBs reach equilibrium spin periods $P^*$ proportional to binary orbital period $P_b$. At supercritical accretion stage, the system may appear as a pulsating ULX. Population synthesis of Galactic HMXBs using standard assumptions on the binary evolution and NS formation is presented. Compar…
High inclination black hole X-ray binaries exhibit blueshifted ionized absorption lines from disk winds, whose launching mechanism is still in debate. The lines are predominantly observed in the high/soft state and disappear in the low/hard state, anti-correlated with the jet. We have tested if the thermal winds, which are driven by the irradiation of the outer disk by the X-rays from the inner disk, can explain these observed properties or whether we need a magnetic switch between jet and wind. We use analytic thermal-radiative wind models to predict the column density, ionisation parameter a…
Spectroscopic modeling of ionic structure in stellar winds of high-mass X-ray binaries
Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Universidad de Alicante（阿利坎特大学应用科学和技术物理大学研究所）；European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)（欧洲航天局（ESA）欧洲空间研究与技术中心（ESTEC））；Departament de Física, EEBE, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚理工大学EEBE物理系）；Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学天文学系）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Astrophysics Science Division（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心天体物理学部）；Departamento Didáctica Ciencias Experimentales, Sociales y Matemáticas Universidad Complutense（康普顿斯大学实验、社会与数学科学教学法系）
Multi-dimensional modelling of X-ray spectra for AGN accretion-disk outflows III: application to a hydrodynamical simulation
我们进行多维辐射转移模拟计算光谱的流体动力学模拟的线驱动吸积盘风从活动星系核。合成光谱证实了参数化模型的预期，即盘风可以留下各种各样的光谱特征，包括窄吸收线，宽发射线和康普顿峰。这些特征的形成是复杂的，其贡献来自流体动力学模拟中存在的许多不同结构。特别是，光谱特征的形状都是由气体在一个成功推出的外流，并在复杂的流动中，材料被解除出磁盘平面，但最终回落。我们还证实，强Fe K α线可以开发一个弱的，红色的斜线翼作为康普顿散射的结果在外流。此外，我们还证明了X射线辐射在气流中的散射和再处理在光谱形成和确定风中的电离条件方面具有关键作用。我们发现，散射辐射是相当有效的电离气体，这是从中心源的直接辐射屏蔽。这种效应可能使成功发射大规模盘风更具挑战性，应在未来的风模拟中加以考虑。
Blueshifted X-ray absorption lines (preferentially from Fe XXV and Fe XXVI present in the 6-8 keV range) indicating the presence of massive hot disk winds in Black Hole (BH) X-ray binaries (XrB) are most generally observed during the soft states. It has been recently suggested that the non-detection of such hot wind signatures in the hard states could be due to the thermal instability of the wind in the ionisation domain consistent with Fe XXV and Fe XXVI. Studying the wind thermal stability requires however a very good knowledge of the spectral shape of the ionizing Spectral Energy Distributi…
The X-ray spectral evolution of the ultraluminous X-ray source Holmberg IX X-1
本文对Swift、XMM-Newton和NuSTAR天文台观测到的Holmberg IX X-1原型超亮X射线源（ULX）的X射线谱进行了新的分析。这颗ULX是一个持久的光源，典型的光度约为10^40 erg s^-1，在8年的时间里变化了4 ~ 5倍。我们发现，它的光谱往往演变从相对平坦的或两个组件的光谱中的中等能量带（1-6千电子伏），在较低的光度，光谱是明显弯曲和盘状在最高的光度，与峰值能量在弯曲的光谱往往随着光度的增加而减少。我们认为，ULX的光谱演化可以解释的超级爱丁顿吸积模型，在这种情况下，我们认为ULX的疏散漏斗沿其旋转轴，其大规模的辐射驱动风的范围内。光谱的变化，然后起源于增强的几何光束的吸积率增加，风漏斗变窄，导致从超临界流的中心区域的散射通量比各向同性的热发射风更快地变亮，因此弯曲的硬光谱分量占主导地位，在最高的光度。风也使漏斗边缘的光子向下康普顿散射，导致光谱的峰值能量降低。我们还证实，Holmberg IX X-1显示光谱简并与光度，并建议所观察到的差异自然解释的建议风几何的黑洞旋转轴的进动。
We study the optical evolution of the 2015 outburst in V404 Cyg, with emphasis on the peculiar nebular phase and subsequent decay to quiescence. From the decay timescale of the Balmer emission associated with the nebula we measure an outflow mass M_wind~4x10^{-6} Msun. Remarkably, this is ~100 times larger than the accreted mass and ~10% of the total mass stored in the disc. The wind efficiency must therefore be significantly larger than previous estimates for black hole transients, suggesting that radiation pressure (in addition to other mechanisms such as Compton-heating) plays a key role in…
The radiatively driven wind of the primary star in wind-fed X-ray binaries can be suppressed by the X-ray irradiation of the compact secondary star. This causes feedback between the wind and the X-ray luminosity of the compact star. We estimated how the wind velocity on the face-on side of the donor star depends on the spectral state of the high-mass X-ray binary Cygnus X-3. We modeled the supersonic part of the wind by computing the line force (force multiplier) with the Castor, Abbott and Klein formalism and XSTAR physics and by solving the mass conservation and momentum balance equations. W…
In this third paper of the MOVES (Multiwavelength Observations of an eVaporating Exoplanet and its Star) programme, we combine Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet observations with XMM-Newton/Swift X-ray observations to measure the emission of HD 189733 in various FUV lines, and its soft X-ray spectrum. Based on these measurements we characterise the interstellar medium toward HD 189733 and derive semi-synthetic XUV spectra of the star, which are used to study the evolution of its high-energy emission at five different epochs. Two flares from HD 189733 are observed, but we propose that the …
