Comptonization Of Photons Research Articles

Measurements of accretion disc corona size in LMXB: consequences for Comptonization and LMXB models

We present results of measurements of the radial extent of the accretion disc corona in low mass X-ray binaries. These results prove conclusively the extended nature of the ADC, with radial extent varying from 20,000 km in the faintest sources to 700,000 km in the brightest, a substantial fraction of the accretion disc radius, typically 15%. This result rules out the Eastern model for LMXB which is extensively used, in which the Comptonizing region is a small central region. The ADC size depends strongly on the 1 - 30 keV source luminosity via a simple relationship r_ADC = L^{0.88 +/- 0.16} (99% confidence) close to a simple proportionality. We also present limited evidence that the ADC size agrees with the Compton radius r_C, or maximum radius for hydrostatic equilibrium. The results are consistent with models in which an extended ADC is formed by illumination of the disc by the central source. The dependence on luminosity may reflect the known decrease of coronal temperature as the source luminosity increases leading to an increase of r_C. The extended nature of the ADC means that the seed photons for Comptonization must consist of emission from the disc to the same radial extent as the corona, providing copious supplies of soft seed photons. We demonstrate the importance of the size of the ADC to the correct description of Comptonization, and derive the Comptonized spectrum of a LMXB based on thermal Comptonization of these seed photons and show that this differs fundamentally from that of the Eastern model which assumes a cut-off below 1 keV. Finally, we argue that our results are inconsistent with the assumption often made that the X-ray emission of accreting Black Holes and Neutron Stars has a common mechanism depending on the properties of the accretion flow only.

Numerical simulations of radiation from blazar jets

We present a description of our numerical code BLAZAR . This code calculates spectra and light curves of blazars during outbursts. The code is based on a model in which the non-thermal flares in blazars are produced in thin shells propagating down a conical jet with relativistic velocities. Such shells may represent layers of a shocked plasma, enclosed between the forward and reverse fronts of an internal shock. In the model adopted by us, the production of non-thermal radiation is assumed to be dominated by electrons and positrons which are accelerated directly, rather then injected by pair cascades. The code includes synchrotron emission and inverse-Compton process as the radiation mechanisms. Both synchrotron photons and external photons are included as the seed photons for Comptonization. At the present stage, the code is limited to treat the inverse Compton process only within the Thomson limit and is specialized to model radiation production in the flat spectrum radio quasars. As an example, we present the results of modeling an outburst in 3C 279 – the most extensively monitored γ -ray – bright quasar.

Phase-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658

We present new results based on RXTE observations of the millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658, carried out during the decay of the 1998 April outburst. The X-ray spectrum can be fitted by a two-component model. We interpret the soft component as blackbody emission from a heated spot on the neutron star, and the hard component as coming from Comptonization in plasma heated by the accretion shock as the material collimated by the magnetic field impacts on to the neutron star surface. The hotspot is probably the source of seed photons for Comptonization. The hard component illuminates the disc, giving rise to a reflected spectrum. The amount of reflection indicates that the disc is truncated at fairly large radii (20–40Rg), consistent with the lack of relativistic smearing of the spectral features. The inferred evolution of the inner radius is not consistent with the magnetic field truncating the disc. Instead, it seems more likely that the inner disc radius is set by some much longer time-scale process, most probably connected to the overall evolution of the accretion disc. This disc truncation mechanism would then have to be generic in all low-mass accretion rate flows both in disc accreting neutron stars and black hole systems. The phase-resolved spectra show clearly that the blackbody and hard Comptonized spectra pulse independently. This obviously gives an energy-dependent phase-lag. Full general relativistic effects are not required to explain this. The soft blackbody component is optically thick, so its variability is dominated by its changing projected area, while the Doppler shifts (which are maximized 90° before the maximum in projected area) are somewhat stronger for the translucent column. We do not detect Compton reflection from the neutron star surface, though we predict that it should be present in the X-ray spectrum. This would give an unambiguous observational measure of M/R if there is any iron on the neutron star surface which is not completely ionized.

Modeling the Low‐State Spectrum of the X‐Ray Nova XTE J1118+480

Based on recent multiwavelength observations of the new X-ray nova XTE J1118+480, we can place strong constraints on the geometry of the accretion flow in which a low/hard-state spectrum, characteristic of an accreting black hole binary, is produced. We argue that the absence of any soft blackbody-like component in the X-ray band implies the existence of an extended hot optically thin region, with the optically thick cool disk truncated at some radius Rtr 55RSchw. We show that such a model can indeed reproduce the main features of the observed spectrum: the relatively high optical to X-ray ratio, the sharp downturn in the far-UV band, and the hard X-ray spectrum. The absence of the disk blackbody component also underscores the requirement that the seed photons for thermal Comptonization be produced locally in the hot flow, e.g., via synchrotron radiation. We attribute the observed spectral break at 2 keV to absorption in a warm, partially ionized gas.

X-ray observations of TeV blazars and multi-frequency analysis

The nonthermal spectra of blazars, observed from radio to GeV/TeV γ-rays, reveal two pronounced components, both produced by radiation by energetic particles. One peaks in the IR-to-soft X-ray band, radiating via the synchrotron process; the other, peaking in the high-energy γ-rays, is produced by the Compton process. These spectra - and, in particular, the ASCA data - suggest that the origin of the seed photons for Comptonization is diverse. In the High-energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs), the dominant seed photons for Comptonization appear to be the synchrotron photons internal to the jet (SSC process). In the quasar-hosted blazars (QHBs), on the other hand, the X-ray band emission is still dominated by the SSC process, while the MeV to GeV range is produced by Comptonization of external photons such as the emission line light. In the context of this three-component model, we derive the magnetic field of 0.1–1 Gauss for all classes of blazars. Lorentz factors γ peak of electrons radiating at each peak of the vF( v) spectra are estimated to be ∼ 10 5 for HBLs; this is much higher than ∼ 10 3 for QHBs. This difference is consistent with the fact that the four sources that are known to emit TeV γ-rays (TeV blazars) are all classified as HBLs. Among the TeV blazars, Mkn 421 is one of the brightest and most variable emitters from ultraviolet (eV) to hard γ-ray (TeV) energies, and its correlated inter-band variability suggests that both keV and TeV spectral regimes are produced by the same, most energetic end of the electron population radiating via the synchrotron process in the keV, and the SSC process in TeV band. The multi-frequency observations including TeV energy band provide the best opportunity to understand high-energy emission from blazar jets. In this paper, we discuss results of multi-frequency analysis and review the results of intensive campaigns for Mkn 421 from 1994 to 1998.

Correlation between Compton reflection and X-ray slope in Seyferts and X-ray binaries

We find a very strong correlation between the intrinsic spectral slope in X-rays and the amount of Compton reflection from a cold medium in Seyfert AGNs and in the hard state of X-ray binaries with either black holes or weakly magnetized neutron stars. Objects with soft intrinsic spectra show much stronger reflection than those with hard spectra. We find that, at a given spectral slope, black hole binaries have similar reflection to or more reflection than Seyferts, whereas neutron star binaries in our sample have reflection consistent with that in Seyferts. The existence of the correlation implies a dominant role of the reflecting medium as a source of seed soft photons for thermal Comptonization in the primary X-ray source.

Broad-band X-ray/γ-ray spectra and binary parameters of GX 339–4 and their astrophysical implications

We present X-ray/γ-ray spectra of the binary GX 339–4 observed in the hard state simultaneously by Ginga and CGRO OSSE during an outburst in 1991 September. The Ginga X-ray spectra are well represented by a power law with a photon spectral index of Γ ≃ 1.75 and a Compton reflection component with a fluorescent Fe Kα line corresponding to a solid angle of an optically thick, ionized medium of ∼ 0.4 × 2 π. The OSSE data (≥ 50 keV) require a sharp high-energy cut-off in the power-law spectrum. The broad-band spectra are very well modelled by repeated Compton scattering in a thermal plasma with an optical depth of τ ∼ 1 and kT ≃ 50 keV. We also study the distance to the system and find it to be ≳ 3 kpc, ruling out earlier determinations of ∼ 1 kpc. Using this limit, the observed reddening and the orbital period, we find the allowed range of the mass of the primary is consistent with it being a black hole. We find the data are inconsistent with models of either homogenous or patchy coronae above the surface of an accretion disc. Rather, they are consistent with the presence of an inner hot disc with the viscosity parameter of α ∼ 1 accreting at a rate close to the maximum set by advection. The hot disc is surrounded by a cold outer disc, which gives rise to the reflection component and a soft X-ray excess, also present in the data. The seed photons for Comptonization are unlikely to be due to thermal synchrotron radiation. Rather, they are supplied by the outer cold disc and/or cold clouds within the hot disc. e± pair production is negligible if electrons are thermal. The hot disc model, for which scaled parameters are independent of the black hole mass, is supported by the similarity of the spectrum of GX 339–4 to those of other black hole binaries and Seyfert 1s. On the other hand, their spectra in the soft γ-ray regime are significantly harder than those of weakly magnetized neutron stars. Based on this difference, we propose that the presence of broad-band spectra corresponding to thermal Comptonization with kT ≳ 50 keV represents a black hole signature.

Cygnus X–1: A Case for a Magnetic Accretion Disk?

AbstractWith the advent of RXTE, which is capable of broad spectral coverage and fast timing, as well as other instruments which are increasingly being used in multi-wavelength campaigns (via both space-based and ground-based observations), we must demand more of our theoretical models. No current model mimics all facets of a system as complex as an x-ray binary. However, a modern theory should qualitatively reproduce — or at the very least not fundamentally disagree with – all of Cygnus X–1’s most basic average properties: energy spectrum (viewed within a broader framework of black hole candidate spectral behavior), power spectrum (PSD), and time delays and coherence between variability in different energy bands. Below we discuss each of these basic properties in turn, and we assess the health of one of the currently popular theories: Comptonization of photons from a cold disk. We find that the data pose substantial challenges for this theory, as well as all other currently discussed models.