Alternative Explanations for Extreme Supersolar Iron Abundances Inferred from the Energy Spectrum of Cygnus X-1

Tomsick, John A.; Parker, M. L.; García, Javier A.; Yamaoka, K.; Barret, D.; Chiu, Jeng Jiann; Clavel, M.; Fabian, A. C.; Fürst, Felix; Gandhi, P.; Grinberg, V.; Miller, J. M.; Pottschmidt, K.; Walton, D. J.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaaab1

Cited by 159 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…In previous studies, a narrow Fe Kα line, which could be produced in the region far away from the central black hole, was already detected in the X-ray spectra of some black hole X-ray binaries, such as GX 339-4 (García et al 2015) and Cyg X-1 (Tomsick et al 2018).…”

Section: Relativistic Reflection Models For Suzaku and Rxte Spectramentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Forcing A Fe at the solar abundance in Model 1 will lead to a worse fit (∆ χ 2 ∼156.63 with 1 degree of freedom), but the spin parameter a * is 0.79 +0.06 −0.10 , which still indicates a moderate rotating black hole. We also tried a new version of reflionx model (reflionx_hd) with the electron density as a free parameter (Tomsick et al 2018). The iron abundance is fixed at solar abundance.…”

Section: Relativistic Reflection Models For Suzaku and Rxte Spectramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spin is one of the two key parameters to make a full description of a black hole. So far, we have measured dozens of stellar-mass black hole spins via X-ray reflection fitting method (Wang et al 2017;Brenneman & Reynolds 2006;Walton et al 2013Walton et al , 2019Lohfink et al 2012;Brenneman et al 2011;Tripathi et al 2019;Walton et al 2016;Tomsick et al 2018;Miller et al 2013;García et al 2018b;Xu et al 2018;García et al 2015).The geometry of the corona, which is still unclear, will effect the profile of the reflection spectrum. Particularly, it has a significant impact on the emissivity profile of the reflection spectrum.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A detailed study on the reflection component for the black hole candidate MAXI J1836−194

Dong

García

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present a detailed spectral analysis of the black hole candidate MAXI J1836-194. The source was caught in the intermediate state during its 2011 outburst by Suzaku and RXTE. We jointly fit the X-ray data from these two missions using the relxill model to study the reflection component, and a steep inner emissivity profile indicating a compact corona as the primary source is required in order to achieve a good fit. In addition, a reflection model with a lamp-post configuration (relxilllp), which is normally invoked to explain the steep emissivity profile, gives a worse fit and is excluded at 99% confidence level compared to relxill. We also explore the effect of the ionization gradient on the emissivity profile by fitting the data with two relativistic reflection components, and it is found that the inner emissivity flattens. These results may indicate that the ionization state of the disc is not constant. All the models above require a supersolar iron abundance higher than ∼ 4.5. However, we find that the high-density version of reflionx can describe the same spectra even with solar iron abundance well. A moderate rotating black hole (a * = 0.84-0.94) is consistently obtained by our models, which is in agreement with previously reported values.2 Yanting Dong et al. INTRODUCTIONGalactic X-ray binaries are believed to be powered by accretion onto stellar-mass black holes or neutron stars. The gases in accretion disc emit thermal radiation in UV/X-ray band (Shakura & Sunyaev 1973). Some fraction of the thermal photons from the disc are then inverse Compton scattered by energetic electrons in the hypothetically hot corona, producing a hard X-ray spectrum in the form of power-law, i.e. N(E) ∝ E −Γ . A fraction of the high-energy photons will irradiate the cold accretion disc, generating the so-called X-ray reflection component (Fabian et al. 1989). The main features of the reflection spectrum are the fluorescent Fe Kα emission line at energies of 6.4-6.97 keV (depend upon the ionization state of the disc) and the Compton hump at 20-30 keV (Young et al. 1999).The profile of the reflection spectrum will be smeared due to the effects of Doppler shift, special relativity, and general relativity if it comes from the inner region of the accretion disc (Fabian et al. 2000). Observationally, the most prominent effect is that the intrinsically narrow Fe Kα line is broadened and skewed to an asymmetric shape. The profile of the broad line, especially the red wing of the line, is directly linked to the inner radius of the accretion disc which is thought to be at the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO), i.e. R in = R ISCO . Thus, by modelling the broad iron line, we can deduce the spin of the black hole based on the relation between the spin and the ISCO (Bardeen et al. 1972). However, the line profile is readily affected by the subtraction of continuum and other components. Therefore, Reynolds (2014) pointed out that a more accurate measurement of the spin can be achieved by modelling the full reflection spectrum. The spin...

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Section: Relativistic Reflection Models For Suzaku and Rxte Spectramentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Relativistic Reflection Models For Suzaku and Rxte Spectramentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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A detailed study on the reflection component for the black hole candidate MAXI J1836−194

Dong

García

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…The most likely explanation is the atomic data shortcomings in current reflection models. Tomsick et al (2018) explored the super-solar iron abun-dance of Cyg X-1 using observation of the intermediate state.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The high density model leads to increasing soft X-ray flux. Recent reflection analyses of Cyg X-1 by Tomsick et al (2018), and GX 339-4 by García et al (2015) and Jiang et al (2019) suggest that reflection models which underestimate the density of disc introduce systematic changes of order 10 • in the inclination angle. Shafee et al (2006) first reported the spin of the black hole in 4U 1543 via the continuum-fitting method.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spin measurement of the black hole in 4U 1543-47 constrained with the X-ray reflected emission

Dong

García

Steiner

et al. 2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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4U 1543-47 is a low mass X-ray binary which harbours a stellar-mass black hole located in our Milky Way galaxy. In this paper, we revisit 7 data sets which were in the Steep Power Law state of the 2002 outburst. The spectra were observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. We have carefully modelled the X-ray reflection spectra, and made a joint-fit to these spectra with relxill, for the reflected emission. We found a moderate black hole spin, which is 0.67 +0.15 −0.08 at 90% statistical confidence. Negative and low spins (< 0.5) at more than 99% statistical confidence are ruled out. In addition, our results indicate that the model requires a super-solar iron abundance: 5.05 +1.21 −0.26 , and the inclination angle of the inner disc is 36.3 +5.3 −3.4 degrees. This inclination angle is appreciably larger than the binary orbital inclination angle (∼21 degrees); this difference is possibly a systematic artefact of the artificially low-density employed in the reflection model for this X-ray binary system.

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Probing extreme black‐hole outflows on short timescales via high spectral‐resolution x‐ray imagers

Pinto,

Steiner,

Bodaghee

et al. 2024

Astron Nachr

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We investigate outflows and the physics of super‐Eddington versus sub‐Eddington regimes in black hole systems. Our focus is on prospective science using next‐generation high‐resolution soft x‐ray instruments. We highlight the properties of black hole ultraluminous x‐ray source (ULX) systems in particular. Owing to scale invariance in accreting black holes, ULX accretion properties, including their outflows, inform our understanding not only of the closely related population of (similar‐mass) x‐ray binary systems but also of tidal disruption events (TDEs) around supermassive black holes. A subsample of TDEs are likely to transcend super‐Eddington to sub‐Eddington regimes as they evolve, offering an important unifying analog to ULXs and sub‐Eddington x‐ray binaries. We demonstrate how next‐generation soft x‐ray observations with resolving power and collecting area can simultaneously identify ultrafast and more typical wind components, distinguish between different wind mechanisms, and constrain changing wind properties over characteristic variability timescales.

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Alternative Explanations for Extreme Supersolar Iron Abundances Inferred from the Energy Spectrum of Cygnus X-1

Cited by 159 publications

References 66 publications

A detailed study on the reflection component for the black hole candidate MAXI J1836−194

A detailed study on the reflection component for the black hole candidate MAXI J1836−194

The spin measurement of the black hole in 4U 1543-47 constrained with the X-ray reflected emission

Probing extreme black‐hole outflows on short timescales via high spectral‐resolution x‐ray imagers

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