Precessing Warped Be Disk Triggering the Giant Outbursts in 2009 and 2011 in A 0535 + 262/V725 Tau

Abstract

Abstract We carried out optical high-dispersion spectroscopic monitoring of the Be disk in a Be/X-ray binary, A 0535$+$ 262/V725 Tau, from 2009 to 2012, covering two giant outbursts and several normal ones. This monitoring was performed in order to investigate any variabilities of the Be disk due to interactions with the neutron star in the recent X-ray active phase from 2008 to 2011. Such variabilities give a clue to any uncleared detailed mechanism for very bright X-ray outbursts, which are unique to some Be/X-ray binaries with a relatively wide and eccentric orbit. In a previous letter (Moritani et al. 2011, PASJ, 63, L25), a brief overview of the line-profile variabilities around the 2009 giant outburst was given, and the possibility of a warped Be disk was discussed. In this paper, a full analysis of the H$\alpha$ line profiles as well as other line profiles is carried out. A bright blue component, or blue “shoulder,” showing up after periastron indicates the presence of a dense gas stream toward the neutron star, which is associated with observed outbursts. We re-analyze the H$\alpha$ line profiles before 2009 (down to 2005) in order to investigate the variability of the disk structure in the innermost region, which seems to have detached from the Be star surface by 2008. A redshifted enhanced component is remarkable in all emission lines observed around the 2009 giant outburst, occasionally forming a triple peak. These features indicate that the Be disk was warped in the X-ray active phase. We estimated the position of the warped region from fitting the radial velocity of the redshifted enhanced component of H$\alpha$, and found that it was very close to the periastron when two giant outbursts in 2009 and 2011 and a bright normal outburst in 2010 March occurred. These facts strongly suggest that the precessing warped Be disk triggered these giant outbursts.