Fluctuation of wind-driven accretion in X-ray binaries

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (16) References (53) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Fluctuation of Wind-driven Accretion in X-Ray Binaries Ho, Cheng ; Arons, Jonathan Abstract The paper studies the stability and fluctuation of the mass transfer onto a binary X-ray source fed by the primary's radiation-driven wind and regulated by the ionization feedback of the X-rays. Under plausible assumptions of the wind properties and geometry, the low-luminosity solutions are found to be stable with respect to purely growing perturbations but allow overstable modes for the oscillatory perturbations, i.e., the perturbation oscillates with an increasing amplitude. The oscillation period is typically a fraction of the wind transit time, and the growth time is of the same order as the transit time. The growth mode depends crucially on the phase coherence of the oscillation as the wind propagates to the secondary from the Stromgren surface, where the radiation line force on the wind is turned off. The growth rate and the amplitude are limited by effects which diminish the wave's coherence. Examples of such factors are the finite sound speed and the finite sharpness in the turnoff of the radiation line force at the Stromgren surface. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: October 1987 DOI: 10.1086/165639 Bibcode: 1987ApJ...321..404H Keywords: Stellar Mass Accretion; X Ray Binaries; Perturbation Theory; Phase Coherence; Stellar Luminosity; Stellar Winds; Astrophysics; STARS: ACCRETION; STARS: WINDS; X-RAYS: BINARIES full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (3)