A New Algol-type Binary with an Accretion disc

We present a new sample of 116 double-peaked Balmer line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Double-peaked emission lines are believed to originate in the accretion disks of AGNs, a few hundred gravitational radii (RG) from the supermassive black hole. We investigate the properties of the candidate disk emitters with respect to the full sample of AGNs over the same redshifts, focusing on optical, radio, and X-ray flux, broad-line shapes and narrow-line equivalent widths, and line flux ratios. We find that the disk emitters have medium luminosities (∼1044 ergs s-1) and FWHM on average 6 times broader than the AGNs in the parent sample. The double-peaked AGNs are 1.6 times more likely to be radio sources and are predominantly (76%) radio-quiet, with about 12% of the objects classified as LINERs. Statistical comparison of the observed double-peaked line profiles with those produced by axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric accretion disk models allows us to impose constraints on accretion disk parameters. The observed Hα line profiles are consistent with accretion disks with inclinations smaller than 50°, surface emissivity slopes of 1.0–2.5, outer radii larger than ∼2000RG, inner radii of (200–800)RG, and local turbulent broadening of 780–1800 km s-1. The comparison suggests that 60% of accretion disks require some form of asymmetry (e.g., elliptical disks, warps, spiral shocks, or hot spots).

According to the core fragmentation and dynamical capture theories of binary formation, binaries tend to form with nearly equal masses. The detection of intermediate-mass binaries with low mass ratios challenges these theories, as such binaries may form via disk fragmentation and are very important to investigate binary formation and evolution. However, there are few confirmed samples to robustly test theories of the formation and evolution of binaries due to observational challenges. The development of high-precision space telescopes brings opportunities to study such samples. Based on TESS data, we present the first study on four intermediate-mass eclipsing binaries with the Wilson–Devinney method, which are: TIC 283881816, TIC 343757299, TIC 72444347, and TIC 353077789. All are totally detached eclipsing binaries with q < 0.4. TIC 283881816, TIC 343757299, and TIC 72444347 are A-type binaries with mass ratios of q = 0.34, 0.28, 0.39, respectively. TIC 353077789 is a B-type binary with an extremely low mass ratio of q = 0.18. These low mass ratio systems imply that they are highly likely to be formed via disk fragmentation and will undergo a common envelope evolution. Particularly, TIC 72444347 with a period of 4 . d 4 still shows an eccentric orbit, while TIC 343757299 with a longer period (5 . d 8) does not, which poses a challenge to the Kraft break. By plotting these components in the H-R diagram, it hints that all systems are main-sequence (MS) primaries with pre-MS companions. They are valuable targets for testing theories of binary formation and evolution.

Double-peaked emission lines as a probe of the broad-line regions of active galactic nuclei

The broad-line region (BLR) disappears in many low-luminosity AGNs, the reason of which is still controversial. The BLRs in AGNs are believed to be associated with the outflows from the accretion disks. Most of the low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs) contain advection dominated accretion flows (ADAFs), which are very hot and have a positive Bernoulli parameter. ADAFs are therefore associated with strong outflows. We estimate the cooling of the outflows from the ADAFs, and find that the gases in such hot outflows always cannot be cooled efficiently by bremsstrahlung radiation. The ADAF may co-exist with the standard disk, i.e., the inner ADAF connects to the outer thin accretion disk at radius R_tr, in the sources accreting at slightly lower than the critical rate. For the ADAFs with >0.001 L_edd, a secondary small inner cold disk is suggested to co-exist with the ADAF due to the condensation process. We estimate the Compton cooling of the outflow, of which the soft seed photons either come from the outer cold disk or the secondary inner cold disk. It is found that the gas in the outflow far from the ADAF may be efficiently cooled to form BLR clouds due to the soft seed photons emitted from the cold disks, provided the transition radius of the ADAF to the outer cold disk is small or/and the secondary small cold disk has a luminosity >0.003L_edd. The BLR clouds can still be formed in the outflows from the outer cold thin disks, if the transition radius is not very large. For the sources with <0.001L_edd, the inner small cold disk is evaporated completely in the ADAF and outer thin accretion disk may be suppressed by the ADAF, which leads to the disappearance of the BLR. The physical implications of this scenario on the double-peaked broad-line emitters are also discussed.

We combine our previous optical spectroscopic and photometric analysis of ~1600 stars located in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) with our own and published near-infrared photometric surveys of the region in order to investigate the evidence for and properties of circumstellar disks. We use the near-infrared continuum excess as our primary disk diagnostic, although we also study sources with Ca II triplet emission and those designated as proplyds. The measured near-infrared excess is influenced by (1) the presence or absence of a circumstellar disk, (2) the relative importance of disk accretion and inner disk holes, (3) the relative contrast between photospheric and disk emission, and (4) system inclination. After attempting to understand the effects of these influences, we estimate the frequency of circumstellar disks and discuss the evidence for trends in the disk frequency with stellar mass (over the mass range <0.1–50 M_⊙), stellar age (over the age range <0.1–2 Myr), and projected cluster radius (over the radial range 0–3 pc). We find that the fraction of stars retaining their inner (<0.1 AU) circumstellar disks to the present time is at least 55% and probably no more than 90%, averaged over the entire range in stellar mass and stellar age represented in the ONC and over the entire area of our survey. We find no trend in the disk fraction with stellar age, at least not over the limited age range of the cluster. We find that more massive stars are less likely to have disks, consistent with a scenario in which the evolutionary timescales are more rapid for disks surrounding more massive stars than for disks surrounding less massive stars. We also find that the disk frequency begins to decrease toward the lowest masses, although objects of all masses (including those that appear to be substellar) can have disks. We find that the disk frequency increases toward the cluster center. We then argue, using several lines of evidence, that a large fraction of the disks associated with stars in the ONC are accretion disks. The observed trends with stellar age, stellar mass, and projected cluster radius in the disk frequency may, in fact, be driven primarily by trends in the disk accretion properties. From the magnitude of the near-infrared excess above that expected from pure irradiation disks, we find an accretion disk fraction among the stars identified as having disks of 61%–88%. In addition, approximately 20% of the stars in our optical spectroscopic sample show broad (several hundred km s^(-1) FWHM) Ca II emission lines, which are features often associated with accretion disk/wind phenomena; another 50% of the sample have Ca II lines that (at our spectral resolution) are filled in, indicating an independently derived accretion disk frequency of ~70%. Finally, we discuss the near-infrared and optical emission-line properties of that portion of our sample identified from Hubble Space Telescope imaging as having a dark silhouette or an externally ionized structure. This sample, proposed in the literature to have accretion disks, appears to be no different in terms of its stellar or circumstellar properties from the rest of the ONC population. The only feature distinguishing these objects from their ONC siblings thus may be their current (but short-lived) proximity to the massive stars near the cluster center.

The accretion disks that power active galactic nuclei (AGN) are thought to house populations of stars and compact objects; after forming binaries these compact objects may merge, begetting gravitational waves (GWs) such as those detected by LIGO and VIRGO. We present a comprehensive study of the early evolution of binaries within AGN disks as their orbits are influenced by the surrounding gas, focusing on eccentric and unequal-mass binaries. Nearly equal-mass binaries behave similarly to their equal-mass counterparts: Prograde binaries inspiral, albeit somewhat slowly, and have their eccentricities damped; retrograde binaries inspiral ∼2–3 times faster than their prograde counterparts, and those with near-equal masses are driven quickly toward near-unity eccentricities. However, the primaries in retrograde binaries with mass ratios of m 2/m 1 ≲ 0.4 experience significantly weaker headwinds and retain substantial accretion disks that help damp binary eccentricities, slowing binary inspirals. Additionally, we find that while accretion drives prograde binaries toward equal masses thanks to the exchange of material between the primary and secondary accretion disks, retrograde binaries are driven slowly toward more extreme mass ratios. Prograde binaries, and generally those with low mass ratios, likely accrete for multiple e-folding timescales before merger. On the other hand, high-mass-ratio retrograde binaries may merge before accreting substantially, potentially approaching merger with detectable eccentricity. Future ground-based GW observatories, with their broader frequency coverage, should be particularly useful for studying these populations.

We investigate accretion flows around supermassive binary black holes (BBHs) with the orbital eccentricity e = 0.5, the semi‐major axis a = 0.01 pc, and the low mass ratio of the secondary black hole (BH) to the primary BH q = 0.1. In the simulations we consider a triple‐disk system composing of two accretion disks around BHs and one circumbinary disk surrounding the two. The circumbinary disk works as a mass reservoir. We confirm that a non‐axisymmetric accretion disk is formed around each BH. The X‐ray luminosity of the secondary BH exhibits the double peaks every binary orbit, whereas that of the primary BH shows a single peak. Such properties can not be seen in the case of equal mass BBHs and therefore provide a potentially important observational signature of supermassive BBHs with low mass ratios.

We present analytic models for the local structure of self-regulated self-gravit ating accretion discs that are subject to realistic cooling. Such an approach can be used to predict the secular evolution of self-gravitating discs (which can usefully be compared with future radiation hydrodynamical simulations) and to define various physical regimes as a function of radius and equivalent steady state accretion rate. We show that fragmentation is inevitable, given realistic rates of infall into the disc, once the disc extends to radii $> 70$ A.U. (in the case of a solar mass central object). Owing to the outward redistribution of disc material by gravitational torques, we also predict fragmentation at $> 70$ A.U. even in the case of low angular momentum cores which initially collapse to a much smaller radius. We point out that 70 A.U. is close to the median binary separation and propose that such delayed fragmentation, at the point that the disc expands to $> 70$ A.U., ensures the creation of low mass ratio companions that can avoid substantial further growth and consequent evolution towards unit mass ratio. We thus propose this as a promising mechanism for producing low mass ratio binaries, which, while abundant observationally, are severely underproduced in hydrodynamical models.

A small number of active galactic nuclei are known to exhibit prominent double peak emission profiles that are well-fitted by a relativistic accretion disk model. We develop a Monte Carlo code to compute the linear polarization of a double peaked broad emission line arising from Thomson scattering. A Keplerian accretion disk is adopted for the double peak emission line region and the geometry is assumed to be Schwarzschild. Far from the accretion disk where flat Minkowski geometry is appropriate, we place an azimuthally symmetric scattering region in the shape of a spherical shell sliced with <TEX>${\Delta}{\mu}=0.1$</TEX>. Adopting a Monte Carlo method we generate line photons in the accretion disk in arbitrary directions in the local rest frame and follow the geodesic paths of the photons until they hit the scattering region. The profile of the polarized flux is mainly determined by the relative location of the scattering region with respect to the emission source. When the scattering region is in the polar direction, the degree of linear polarization also shows a double peak structure. Under favorable conditions we show that up to 0.6% linear polarization may be obtained. We conclude that spectropolarimetry can be a powerful probe to reveal much information regarding the accretion disk geometry of these active galactic nuclei.

Complete CCD photometric light curves in BV(RI)(c) bands obtained on one night in 2009 for the short-period closebinary system V1191 Cygni are presented. A new photometric analysis with the 2003 version of the Wilson-Van Hamme code shows that V1191 Cyg is a W-type overcontact binary system and suggests that it has a high degree of overcontact (f = 68.6%) with very low mass ratio, implying that it is at the late stage of overcontact evolution. The absolute parameters of V1191 Cyg are derived using spectroscopic and photometric solutions. Combining new determined times of light minimum with others published in the literature, the period change of the binary star is investigated. A periodic variation, with a period of 26.7 years and an amplitude of 0.023 days, was discovered to be superimposed on a long-term period increase (dP/dt = +4.5(+/- 0.1) x 10(-7) days yr(-1)). The cyclic period oscillation may be caused by the magnetic activity cycles of either of the components or the light-time effect due to the presence of a third body with a mass of m(3) = 0.77 M-circle dot and an orbital radius of a(3) = 7.6 AU, when this body is coplanar to the orbit of the eclipsing pair. The secular orbital period increase can be interpreted as a mass transfer from the less massive component to the more massive one. With the period increases, V1191 Cyg will evolve from its present low mass ratio, high filled overcontact state to a rapidly rotating single star when its orbital angular momentum is less than three times the total spin angular momentum. V1191 Cyg is too blue for its orbital period and it is an unusual W-type overcontact system with such a low mass ratio and high fill-out overcontact configuration, which is worth monitoring continuously in the future.

In order to examine the prediction that the broad-line radio galaxies (BLRGs) with double-peaked Balmer lines harbor an accretion disk characterized by an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) in their nuclei, we investigate narrow emission-line flux ratios of the narrow-line regions which are photoionized by the nuclear continuum radiation. We compile data from the literature and confirm the pioneering work of Eracleous & Halpern that the BLRGs with the double-peaked Balmer emission exhibit larger flux ratios of both [O I]6300/[O III]5007 and [O II]3727/[O III]5007 than the BLRGs without the double-peaked Balmer emission. To examine whether or not these properties are attributed to the difference in the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the ionizing radiation between the BLRGs with and without the double-peaked Balmer emission, we perform photoionization model calculations using two types of input continuum radiation; one has the strong big blue bump which is expected for standard optically-thick accretion disks and another does not exhibit a strong big blue bump as expected for optically-thin ADAFs. We find that the data of the BLRGs with the double-peaked Balmer lines are consistent with the models adopting the SED without a strong big blue bump while the data of the BLRGs without the double-peaked emission lines are well described by the models adopting the SED with a strong big blue bump. On the other hand, the observed differences in the NLR emission is hard to be explain by the difference in the contribution of shocks. These results support the idea that the double-peaked Balmer lines arise at an outer region of an accretion disk which is illuminated by an inner, geometrically-thick ADAF.

The optical spectrum of the broad-line radio galaxy Arp 102B has been monitored for more than 13 yr to investigate the nature of the source of its broad, double-peaked hydrogen Balmer emission lines. The shape of the lines varied subtly; there was an interval during which the variation in the ratio of the fluxes of the two peaks appeared to be sinusoidal, with a period of 2.16 yr and an amplitude of about 16% of the average value. The variable part of the broad Hα line is well fitted by a model in which a region of excess emission (a quiescent hot spot) within an accretion disk (fitted to the nonvarying portion of the double-peaked line) completes at least two circular orbits and eventually fades. Fits to spectra from epochs when the hot spot is not present allow determination of the disk inclination, while fits for epochs when it is present provide a measurement of the radius of the hot spot's orbit. From these data and the period of variation, we find that the mass within the hot spot's orbit is 2.2 -->+ 0.2−0.7×10 -->8 M☉, within the range of previous estimates of masses of active galactic nuclei. Because this mass is determined at a relatively small distance from the central body, it is extremely difficult to explain without assuming that a supermassive black hole lies within Arp 102B. Our collection of spectra allows us to apply several tests to models of the source of the double peaks. The ratio of Hα to Hβ flux at a given velocity displays no turning points or points of inflection at the velocity associated with the blue peak in flux; thus, this peak should not correspond to a turning point in physical conditions. This behavior is consistent with simple accretion disk and, possibly, spiral shock models but not with models that attribute the double peaks to separate broad-line regions around a binary black hole or to broad, subrelativistic jets. The lack of systematic change in the velocity of the blue peak over time provides a further constraint on binary broad-line region models; this yields a lower limit on the mass of such a binary black hole system of at least 1010 M☉. The variability properties of the double-peaked emission lines in Arp 102B therefore continue to favor an accretion disk origin over other models.

We present models of the optical spectra of two types of accretion disc atmospheres: a pure helium model and a H-He model, in a low mass ratio, helium transferring, interacting binary white dwarf system. The computations are restricted to stationary discs in LTE and NLTE cases. We also investigate the influence on the spectra of some of the disc parameters such as the mass accretion rate, the angle of inclination, the H/He mass ratio, and the inner and outer radius of the disc. Departures from LTE are also investigated in order to assess the necessity of computing more complicated and more time consuming models. We found that dierences in predicted equivalent widths of helium line computed in LTE and NLTE models range between 10 and 40 percent. Finally we compare our disc models with 4 of the AM CVn systems observed with the Nordic Optical Telescope: AM CVn, HP Lib, V803 Cen and CR Boo to determine their parameters as mass transfer rates and inclinations of their discs.

X-ray spectra of black hole binaries in the standard high/soft state were studied comprehensively using ASCA GIS data and, partially, RXTE PCA data. A mathematical disk model was applied to several black hole binaries to see whether the observed accretion disk temperature profile was consistent with that expected from the standard accretion disk model. This model is called a p-free disk and assumes that the spectrum is composed of multitemperature blackbody emission, where the local temperature T(r) at radius r is given by T(r) ∝ r-p, with p being a positive free parameter. The standard disk, where the gravitational energy of the accreted matter is effectively released as blackbody radiation, roughly requires p ≈ 3/4, while a small deviation is expected depending on the inner boundary conditions, general relativistic effects, and disk vertical structures. Our sample objects included LMC X-1, LMC X-3, XTE J2012+381, and GRO J1655-40. During the ASCA observations, these black hole binaries showed characteristics of the standard high/soft state. Under the standard modeling of high-state black hole binaries, the sources show disk inner temperatures of 0.76-1.17 keV, a disk fraction of the total 0.7-10 keV flux of 54%-98%, and absorption columns of (0.7-12) × 1021 cm-2. The best-fit values of p were found in the range 0.6-0.8, and the standard value of p = 3/4 was accepted for all the sources. The obtained values of p are also compared with those expected for the standard accretion disk in the Schwarzschild metric using the so-called GRAD model. The observed p-values were indeed found to be consistent with those expected from the standard accretion disk in the Schwarzschild metric.

We report on the radio-quiet quasar SDSS J2125−0813 which obviously emits optical Fe ii emission lines and double-peaked broad Balmer emission lines. Using the accretion disc model for double-peaked, broad, low-ionization emission lines, we reproduce the composite line spectra at the optical band between 4100 and 5600 Å. Broad Fe ii emission lines can be fitted simultaneously with the broad Hβ and Mg i lines, such that all broad lines have an elliptical disc profile with the same disc parameters. This result indicates that the optical Fe ii emission lines originate from the accretion disc near the central black hole which produces the double-peaked broad Balmer emission lines. Furthermore, we find that the object has a dimensionless accretion rate , which is much larger than the accretion rate for the advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) mode, and that the energy budget of the accretion disc is enough to power the double-peaked broad Balmer emission lines.