Testing Accretion Disk Theory in Black Hole X-Ray Binaries

By S. Davis, C. Done, O. Blaes. 2006

169 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We present results from spectral modeling of three black hole X-ray binaries: LMC X-3, GRO J1655-40, and XTE J1550-564. Using a sample of disk-dominated observations, we fit the data with a range of spectral models that includes a simple multitemperature blackbody (DISKBB), a relativistic accretion disk model based on color-corrected blackbodies (KERRBB), and a relativistic model based on non-LTE atmosphere models within an α prescription (BHSPEC). BHSPEC provides the best fit for a BeppoSAX observation of LMC X-3, which has the broadest energy coverage of our sample. It also provides the best fit for multiple epochs of Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) data in this source, except at the very highest luminosity (L/LEdd ≳ 0.7), where additional physics must be coming into play. BHSPEC is also the best-fit model for multiepoch RXTE observations of GRO J1655-40 and XTE J1550-564, although the best-fit inclination of the inner disk differs from the binary inclination. All our fits prefer α = 0.01 to α = 0.1, in apparent disagreement with the large stresses inferred from the rapid rise times observed in outbursts of these two sources. In all three sources our fits imply moderate black hole spins (a* ~ 0.1-0.8), but this is sensitive to the reliability of independent measurements of these system parameters and to the physical assumptions that underly our spectral models.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d21a5a19fe1dd3ce42db46c0bcf2bbcef8aaac72

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Citations in the corpus

Radio Loudness of Active Galactic Nuclei: Observational Facts and Theoretical Implications (2006, background): “Observations suggest ‘‘moderate’’ black hole spin values in several XRBs (see, e.g., Shafee et al. 2006 and Davis et al. 2006), so in principle they would be equivalent to the ‘‘radio-loud’’ AGN sequence.”
The Masses and Spins of Neutron Stars and Stellar-Mass Black Holes (2014, background): “In contrast, degeneracies in the continuum models make it difficult to obtain robust fits for the disk inclination and black hole spin simultaneously [222].”
Global General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of a Tilted Black Hole Accretion Disk (2007, background): “The bestfit inclinations are more consistent with inclination constraints derived from the radio jets (Davis et al. 2006), possibly suggesting Bardeen-Petterson configurations.”
The Spin of the Near-Extreme Kerr Black Hole GRS 1915+105 (2006, methodology): “Recently, we have firmly established the methodology pioneered by Zhang et al. and Gierlinśki et al. by constructing relativistic accretion disk models (Li et al. 2005; Davis et al. 2005) and by modeling in detail the effects of spectral hardening (Davis et al. 2005, 2006).”
Observational evidence for a correlation between jet power and black hole spin (2011, methodology): “The only significant difference in data selection is that for GRO J1550−564, we use the new spin value of Steiner et al. (2011), a∗ = 0.34 ± 0.24, while they used the earlier Davis et al. (2006) limit of a∗ < 0.8.”
Intrinsic disc emission and the soft X‐ray excess in active galactic nuclei (2011, background): “Davis et al (2006) shows that these two competing effects lead to the effective saturation of the colour temperature correction to a value fcol ∼ (72/TkeV ) 1/9 (1) (their Equation A13).”
THE RADIATIVE EFFICIENCY OF ACCRETION FLOWS IN INDIVIDUAL ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI (2010, methodology): “Detailed spectral models similar to the ones used here (Davis & Hubeny 2006) not only reproduce the spectrum, but also the spectral evolution as Ṁ varies (e.g Davis et al. 2006; Shafee et al. 2006).”
Modelling the behaviour of accretion flows in X-ray binaries (2007, background): “16) have no bend at all but cover the same temperature–luminosity range (Davis et al. 2006).”
THE CONSTANT INNER-DISK RADIUS OF LMC X-3: A BASIS FOR MEASURING BLACK HOLE SPIN (2010, methodology): “These tables were computed using bhspec, a second relativistic disk model (Davis et al. 2006; Davis & Hubeny 2006).”
Broad Iron-Kα Emission Lines as a Diagnostic of Black Hole Spin (2007, background): “…that one selects systems that have optically thick, geometrically thin inner accretion disks, observations can be compared with model thermal continuum spectra (which include vertical radiation transfer in the disk atmosphere as well as Doppler and gravitational red/blueshifts; Davis et al. 2006).”
Three-Dimensional Simulations of Magnetized Thin Accretion Disks around Black Holes: Stress in the Plunging Region (2008, methodology): “If true this would undermine recent efforts to estimate of the spin parameters of BHs using the NT73 model (Shafee et al. 2006; McClintock et al. 2006; Davis et al. 2006; Liu et al. 2008).”
Simulations of magnetized discs around black holes: Effects of black hole spin, disc thickness and magnetic field geometry (2010, background): “These results suggest that BH spin measurements via the X-ray continuum-fitting method (Zhang et al. 1997; Shafee et al. 2006; McClintock et al. 2006; Davis et al. 2006; Liu et al. 2008; Gou et al. 2009, 2010), which are based on the NT model, are robust to model uncertainties so long as |h/r| 0.07.”
Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets (2013, methodology): “In early work, the error in a ∗ attributable to the uncertainties in D , i and M was only crudely estimated (Shafee et al. 2006; Davis et al. 2006; McClintock et al. 2006).”