An Accretion-Jet Model for Black Hole Binaries: Interpreting the Spectral and Timing Features of XTE J1118+480

By F. Yuan, W. Cui, Ramesh Narayan. 2004

148 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Multiwavelength observations of the black hole X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 have offered abundant spectral and timing information about the source and have thus provided serious challenges to theoretical models. We propose a coupled accretion-jet model to interpret the observations. We model the accretion flow as an outer standard thin accretion disk truncated at a transition radius by an inner hot accretion flow. The accretion flow accounts for the observed UV and X-ray emission, but it substantially underpredicts the radio and infrared fluxes, even after we allow for nonthermal electrons in the hot flow. We attribute the latter components to a jet. We model the jet emission by means of the internal shock scenario, which is widely employed for gamma-ray bursts. In our accretion-jet model of XTE J1118+480, the jet dominates the radio and infrared emission, the thin disk dominates the UV emission, and the hot flow produces most of the X-ray emission. The optical emission has contributions from all three components: jet, thin disk, and hot flow. The model qualitatively accounts for timing features, such as the intriguing positive and negative time lags between the optical and X-ray emission and the wavelength-dependent variability amplitude.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e55e8e6e7b79dded06dc831de31f32f95728776f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. Ramesh Narayan
2. J. McKinney
3. Bing Zhang
4. F. Yuan
5. T. Piran
6. J. E. McClintock
7. K. Kohri
8. J. Miller

In Nuclear and High Energy Physics

1. Ramesh Narayan
2. F. Yuan
3. J. McKinney
4. Bing Zhang
5. T. Piran
6. Poshak Gandhi
7. J. Miller
8. H. Spruit

Citations in the corpus

• Rapid optical and X-ray timing observations of GX 339-4: multi-component optical variability in the low/hard state (2010, background): “This is likely to be an upper limit, because other possible components such as a jet base, magnetic coronae and a inner hot accretion flow (e.g. Merloni et al. 2000; Esin et al. 2001; Yuan et al. 2005) which may be present also peak in the blue.”
• Hot Accretion Flows Around Black Holes (2014, methodology): “Figure 8 shows a comprehensive model (Yuan et al. 2005) which uses a more modern hot accretion flow model, including a jet.”
• Neutrino-dominated Accretion and Supernovae (2005, background): “Although Yuan et al. (2005) proposed this model for advection-dominated flows in X-ray binaries, the arguments behind it are general and should apply also to an NDAF.”