Transient Low-mass X-ray Binaries Research Articles

Long term variability of Cygnus X-1. VIII. A spectral-timing look at low energies with NICER

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) monitoring campaign of allows us to study its spectral-timing behavior at energies 1$\,keV across all states. The hard state power spectrum can be decomposed into two main broad Lorentzians with a transition at around 1\,Hz. The lower-frequency Lorentzian is the dominant component at low energies. The higher-frequency Lorentzian begins to contribute significantly to the variability above 1.5\,keV and dominates at high energies. We show that the low- and high-frequency Lorentzians likely represent individual physical processes. The lower-frequency Lorentzian can be associated with a (possibly Comptonized) disk component, while the higher-frequency Lorentzian is clearly associated with the Comptonizing plasma. At the transition of these components, we discover a low-energy timing phenomenon characterized by an abrupt lag change of hard gtrsim 2$\,keV) with respect to soft lesssim 1.5$\,keV) photons, accompanied by a drop in coherence, and a reduction in amplitude of the second broad Lorentzian. The frequency of the phenomenon increases with the frequencies of the Lorentzians as the source softens and cannot be seen when the power spectrum is single-humped. A comparison to transient low-mass X-ray binaries shows that this feature does not only appear in but that it is a general property of accreting black hole binaries. In we find that the variability at low and high energies is overall highly coherent in the hard and intermediate states. The high coherence shows that there is a process at work which links the variability, suggesting a physical connection between the accretion disk and Comptonizing plasma. This process fundamentally changes in the soft state, where strong red noise at high energies is incoherent to the variability at low energies.

On the recurrence times of neutron star X-ray binary transients and the nature of the Galactic Centre quiescent X-ray binaries

ABSTRACT The presence of some X-ray sources in the Galactic Centre region which show variability, but do not show outbursts in over a decade of monitoring has been used to argue for the presence of a large population of stellar mass black holes in this region. A core element of the arguments that these objects are accreting black holes is the claim that neutron stars (NSs) in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) do not have long transient recurrence times. We demonstrate in this paper that about half of the known transient LMXBs with clear signatures for NS primaries have recurrence times in excess of a decade for outbursts at the sensitivity of MAXI. We furthermore show that, in order to reconcile the expected total population of NS LMXBs with the observed one and with the millisecond radio pulsar (MSRP) population of the Galaxy, systems with recurrence times well in excess of a century for outbursts detectable by instruments like MAXI must be the dominant population of NS LMXBs, and that few of these systems have yet been discovered.

Unexpected late-time temperature increase observed in the two neutron star crust-cooling sources XTE J1701−462 and EXO 0748−676

Transient low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) that host neutron stars (NSs) provide excellent laboratories for probing the dense matter physics present in NS crusts. During accretion outbursts in LMXBs, exothermic reactions may heat the NS crust, disrupting the crust-core equilibrium. When the outburst ceases, the crust cools to restore thermal equilibrium with the core. Monitoring this cooling evolution allows us to probe the dense matter physics in the crust. Properties of the deeper crustal layers can be probed at later times after the end of the outburst. We report on the unexpected late-time temperature evolution (≳2000 days after the end of their outbursts) of two NSs in LMXBs, XTE J1701−462 and EXO 0748−676. Although both these sources exhibited very different outbursts (in terms of duration and the average accretion rate), they exhibit an unusually steep decay of ∼7 eV in the observed effective temperature (occurring in a time span of ∼700 days) around ∼2000 days after the end of their outbursts. Furthermore, they both showed an even more unexpected rise of ∼3 eV in temperature (over a time period of ∼500–2000 days) after this steep decay. This rise was significant at the 2.4σ and 8.5σ level for XTE J1701−462 and EXO 0748−676, respectively. The physical explanation for such behaviour is unknown and cannot be straightforwardly be explained within the cooling hypothesis. In addition, this observed evolution cannot be well explained by low-level accretion either without invoking many assumptions. We investigate the potential pathways in the theoretical heating and cooling models that could reproduce this unusual behaviour, which so far has been observed in two crust-cooling sources. Such a temperature increase has not been observed in the other NS crust-cooling sources at similarly late times, although it cannot be excluded that this might be a result of the inadequate sampling obtained at such late times.

A strongly changing accretion morphology during the outburst decay of the neutron star X-ray binary 4U 1608−52

ABSTRACT It is commonly assumed that the properties and geometry of the accretion flow in transient low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) significantly change when the X-ray luminosity decays below ∼10−2 of the Eddington limit (LEdd). However, there are few observational cases where the evolution of the accretion flow is tracked in a single X-ray binary over a wide dynamic range. In this work, we use NuSTAR and NICER observations obtained during the 2018 accretion outburst of the neutron star LMXB 4U 1608−52, to study changes in the reflection spectrum. We find that the broad Fe–Kα line and Compton hump, clearly seen during the peak of the outburst when the X-ray luminosity is ∼1037 erg s−1 (∼0.05 LEdd), disappear during the decay of the outburst when the source luminosity drops to ∼4.5 × 1035 erg s−1 (∼0.002 LEdd). We show that this non-detection of the reflection features cannot be explained by the lower signal-to-noise ratio at lower flux, but is instead caused by physical changes in the accretion flow. Simulating synthetic NuSTAR observations on a grid of inner disc radius, disc ionization, and reflection fraction, we find that the disappearance of the reflection features can be explained by either increased disc ionization (log ξ ≳ 4.1) or a much decreased reflection fraction. A changing disc truncation alone, however, cannot account for the lack of reprocessed Fe–Kα emission. The required increase in ionization parameter could occur if the inner accretion flow evaporates from a thin disc into a geometrically thicker flow, such as the commonly assumed formation of a radiatively inefficient accretion flow at lower mass accretion rates.

Constraining the duty cycle of transient low-mass X-ray binaries through simulations

Abstract We performed simulations of a large number of so-called very faint X-ray transient sources from surveys obtained using the X-ray telescope aboard the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory on two Galactic globular clusters, and the Galactic Centre. We calculated the ratio between the duty cycle (DC) we input in our simulations and the one we measure after the simulations. We found that fluctuations in outburst duration and recurrence times affect our estimation of the DC more than non-detected outbursts. This biases our measures to overestimate the simulated DC of sources. Moreover, we determined that compact surveys are necessary to detect outbursts with short duration because they could fall in gaps between observations, if such gaps are longer than their duration. On the other hand, long surveys are necessary to detect sources with low DC because the smallest DC a survey can observe is given by the ratio between the shortest outburst duration and the total length of the survey. If one has a limited amount of observing time, these two effects are competing, and a compromise is required which is set by the goals of the proposed survey. We have also performed simulations with several artificial survey strategies in order to evaluate the optimal observing campaign aimed at detecting transients as well as at having the most accurate estimates of the DC. As expected, the best campaign would be a regular and dense monitoring that extends for a very long period. The closest real example of such a data set is the monitoring of the Galactic Centre.

Mergers of black hole–neutron star binaries and rates of associated electromagnetic counterparts

Black hole-neutron star (BHNS) binaries are amongst promising candidates for the joint detection of electromagnetic (EM) signals with gravitational waves (GWs) and are expected to be detected in the near future. Here we study the effect of the BHNS binary parameters on the merger ejecta properties and associated EM signals. We estimate the remnant disk and unbound ejecta masses for BH mass and spin distributions motivated from the observations of transient low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and specific NS equation of state (EoS). The amount of r-process elements synthesised in BHNS mergers is estimated to be a factor of $\sim 10^{2}-10^{4}$ smaller than BNS mergers, due to the smaller dynamical ejecta and merger rates for the former. We compute the EM luminosities and light curves for the early- and late-time emissions from the ultra-relativistic jet, sub-relativistic dynamical ejecta and wind, and the mildly-relativistic cocoon for typical ejecta parameters. We then evaluate the low-latency EM follow-up rates of the GW triggers in terms of the GW detection rate $\dot{N}_{GW}$ for current telescope sensitivities and typical BHNS binary parameters to find that most of the EM counterparts are detectable for high BH spin, small BH mass and stiffer NS EoS when NS disruption is significant. Based on the relative detection rates for given binary parameters, we find the ease of EM follow-up to be: ejecta afterglow $>$ cocoon afterglow $\gtrsim$ jet prompt $>$ ejecta macronova $>$ cocoon prompt $>$ jet afterglow $>>$ wind macronova $>>$ wind afterglow.

Does Cyg X-1 have a small accretion disc?

We analyze several outbursts of a few transient sources using Proportional Counter Array (PCA) data (2.5-25 keV) as well as All Sky Monitor (ASM) data (1.5-12 keV) of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite. We find a time delay between the arrival times of the Keplerian disc component and the halo of the Two-Component Advective Flow (TCAF) when the spectral data is fitted with TCAF solution. We compare this time delay from the spectral fits with the TCAF solution of the transient low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) e.g., GX 339-4, H 1743-322 and MAXI J1836-194 with that of the high mass X-ray Binary (HMXB), Cyg X-1. We find that several days of time delays are observed in LMXBs while for Cyg X-1 the delay is negligible. We interpret the large delay to be due to the viscous delay of a large Keplerian component to reach the inner region as compared to nearly free-fall time taken by the low angular momentum halo component. The delay is of the order of a few days for the low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) where the feeding is primarily through the Roche-lobe. However, it is negligible in a wind-fed system like Cyg X-1 since a very small Keplerian disc is created here by slowly redistributing the low angular momentum of the wind. As a consequence, sporadic soft or intermediate spectral states are observed.

The Relation between Outburst Rate and Orbital Period in Low-mass X-Ray Binary Transients

Abstract We have investigated the outburst properties of low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs) based on a comprehensive study of the outbursts observed in the past few decades. The outburst rates were estimated based on the X-ray monitoring data from Swift/BAT, RXTE/ASM, and MAXI and previous reports in the literature. We found that almost all LMXBTs with the orbital period below ∼12 hr showed only one outburst in these observations. There are systematic differences in the outburst rate between long-period ( hr) and short-period ( hr) systems. We infer that mass transfer rate is responsible for the systematic difference, since the disk instability model suggested that the mass transfer rate is a key factor affecting the quiescence time. The difference in outburst rate between long-period and short-period LMXBTs is probably due to the different mass transfer mechanism at different evolutionary stages of the donors. Based on the evolutionary tracks of single stars, we derived the critical orbital period for X-ray binaries that harbor a subgiant donor in various metallicities. The critical orbital period ( hr) is consistent with the above orbital period boundary obtained from the statistics of outburst rates. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between the outburst rate and the orbital period in the samples for which the luminosity class of the donor star is III/IV. The best-fitting power-law index for the black hole subsamples is roughly consistent with the theoretical prediction for those systems with a donor star evolved off the main sequence.

The complex evolution of the X-ray binary transient MAXI J1807+132 along the decay of its discovery outburst

MAXI J1807+132 is an X-ray transient discovered during the decay of an outburst in 2017. We present optical and X-ray monitoring of the source over more than 125 days, from outburst to quiescence. The outburst decay is characterized by the presence of several re-flares with a quasi-periodic recurrence time of $\sim 6.5$ days. We detect broad H and He emission lines during outburst, characteristic of transient low mass X-ray binaries. These emission lines show strong variability from epoch to epoch and, in particular, during the early stages are found embedded into deep and very broad absorption features. The quiescent spectrum shows H$\alpha$ in emission and no obvious signatures of the donor star. XMM-Newton and Swift spectra can be fitted with standard X-ray models for accreting black-holes and neutron stars, although the obtained spectral parameters favour the latter scenario. Conversely, other observables such as the optical/X-ray flux ratio, the likely systemic velocity ($\gamma \sim -150$ km s$^{-1}$) and the re-flares recurrence time suggest a black hole nature. We discuss all the above possibilities with emphasis on the strong similarities of MAXI J1807+132 with short orbital period systems.

NGC 7793 P9: An Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Evolved from a Canonical Black Hole X-Ray Binary

Abstract Transient ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) provide an important link bridging transient low-mass X-ray binaries and ULXs. Here we report the first discovery of both a canonical sub-Eddington outburst and an ultraluminous super-Eddington outburst from an unusual transient ULX, NGC 7793 P9, with a variability factor higher than 103. Its X-ray spectrum switches between the typical high/soft state and the steep power-law state during the canonical outburst. The inner radius of the accretion disk and the disk temperature–luminosity correlation suggest that P9 harbors a stellar-mass black hole (BH). At the beginning of the ultraluminous outburst, we observe a cool outer disk with a hard Comptonized spectrum, implying a transition to the ULX regime. When the luminosity increases to L ≳ 3 × 1039 erg s−1, P9 shows a significantly curved spectrum that can be described by either a slim disk or a strongly curved Comptonized corona. The phenomenological model suggests that the hot disk observed near the peak of the ultraluminous outburst is coincidentally consistent with the extension of the thermal track. Utilizing more physical Comptonized disk models, we suggest that the corona cools down and the apparent disk-like spectrum is dominated by soft Comptonization. The significant variability above 1 keV supports this two-component scenario. The spectral evolution can also be interpreted with the supercritical accretion model. All these indicate that a canonical BH X-ray binary can show properties of a ULX.

On obtaining neutron star mass and radius constraints from quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries in the Galactic plane

X-ray spectral analysis of quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) has been one of the most common tools to measure the radius of neutron stars (NSs) for over a decade. So far, this method has been mainly applied to NSs in globular clusters, primarily because of their well-constrained distances. Here, we study Chandra data of seven transient LMXBs in the Galactic plane in quiescence to investigate the potential of constraining the radius (and mass) of the NSs inhabiting these systems. We find that only two of these objects had X-ray spectra of sufficient quality to obtain reasonable constraints on the radius, with the most stringent being an upper limit of $R\lesssim$14.5 km for EXO 0748-676 (for assumed ranges for mass and distance). Using these seven sources, we also investigate systematic biases on the mass/radius determination; for Aql X-1 we find that omitting a power-law spectral component when it does not seem to be required by the data, results in peculiar trends in the obtained radius with changing mass and distance. For EXO 0748-676 we find that a slight variation in the lower limit of the energy range chosen for the fit leads to systematically different masses and radii. Finally, we simulated Athena spectra and found that some of the biases can be lifted when higher quality spectra are available and that, in general, the search for constraints on the equation of state of ultra-dense matter via NS radius and mass measurements may receive a considerable boost in the future.

Partial Accretion in the Propeller Stage of Low-mass X-Ray Binary Aql X–1

Abstract Aql X–1 is one of the most prolific low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs) showing outbursts almost annually. We present the results of our spectral analyses of Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer/proportional counter-array observations of the 2000 and 2011 outbursts. We investigate the spectral changes related to the changing disk-magnetosphere interaction modes of Aql X–1. The X-ray light curves of the outbursts of LMXBTs typically show phases of fast rise and exponential decay. The decay phase shows a “knee” where the flux goes from the slow-decay to the rapid-decay stage. We assume that the rapid decay corresponds to a weak propeller stage at which a fraction of the inflowing matter in the disk accretes onto the star. We introduce a novel method for inferring, from the light curve, the fraction of the inflowing matter in the disk that accretes onto the neutron star depending on the fastness parameter. We determine the fastness parameter range within which the transition from the accretion to the partial propeller stage is realized. This fastness parameter range is a measure of the scale height of the disk in units of the inner disk radius. We applied the method to a sample of outbursts of Aql X–1 with different maximum flux and duration times. We show that different outbursts with different maximum luminosity and duration follow a similar path in the parameter space of accreted/inflowing mass flux fraction versus fastness parameter.

Application of a New Method to Study the Spin Equilibrium of Aql X–1: The Possibility of Gravitational Radiation

Accretion via disks can make neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) fast spinning, and some of these stars are detected as millisecond pulsars. Here we report a practical way to find out if a neutron star in a transient LMXB has reached the spin equilibrium by disk–magnetosphere interaction alone, and if not, to estimate this spin equilibrium frequency. These can be done using specific measurable source luminosities, such as the luminosity corresponding to the transition between the accretion and propeller phases, and the known stellar spin rate. Such a finding can be useful to test if the spin distribution of millisecond pulsars, as well as an observed upper cutoff of their spin rates, can be explained using disk–magnetosphere interaction alone, or additional spin-down mechanisms, such as gravitational radiation, are required. Applying our method, we find that the neutron star in the transient LMXB Aql X–1 has not yet reached the spin equilibrium by disk–magnetosphere interaction alone. We also perform numerical computations, with and without gravitational radiation, to study the spin evolution of Aql X–1 through a series of outbursts and to constrain its properties. While we find that the gravitational wave emission from Aql X–1 cannot be established with certainty, our numerical results show that the gravitational radiation from Aql X–1 is possible, with a g cm2 upper limit of the neutron star misaligned mass quadrupole moment.

XMM-Newtonand INTEGRAL view of the hard state of EXO 1745−248 during its 2015 outburst

CONTEXT - Transient low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) often show outbursts lasting typically a few-weeks and characterized by a high X-ray luminosity ($L_{x} \approx 10^{36}-10^{38}$ erg/sec), while for most of the time they are found in X-ray quiescence ($L_X\approx10^{31} -10^{33}$ erg/sec). EXO 1745-248 is one of them. AIMS - The broad-band coverage, and the sensitivity of instrument on board of {\xmm} and {\igr}, offers the opportunity to characterize the hard X-ray spectrum during {\exo} outburst. METHODS - In this paper we report on quasi-simultaneous {\xmm} and {\igr} observations of the X-ray transient {\exo} located in the globular cluster Terzan 5, performed ten days after the beginning of the outburst (on 2015 March 16th) shown by the source between March and June 2015. The source was caught in a hard state, emitting a 0.8-100 keV luminosity of $\simeq10^{37}$~{\lumcgs}. RESULTS - The spectral continuum was dominated by thermal Comptonization of seed photons with temperature $kT_{in}\simeq1.3$ keV, by a cloud with moderate optical depth $\tau\simeq2$ and electron temperature $kT_e\simeq 40$ keV. A weaker soft thermal component at temperature $kT_{th}\simeq0.6$--0.7 keV and compatible with a fraction of the neutron star radius was also detected. A rich emission line spectrum was observed by the EPIC-pn on-board {\xmm}; features at energies compatible with K-$\alpha$ transitions of ionized sulfur, argon, calcium and iron were detected, with a broadness compatible with either thermal Compton broadening or Doppler broadening in the inner parts of an accretion disk truncated at $20\pm6$ gravitational radii from the neutron star. Strikingly, at least one narrow emission line ascribed to neutral or mildly ionized iron is needed to model the prominent emission complex detected between 5.5 and 7.5 keV. (Abridged)

BlackCAT: A catalogue of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray transients

During the last ~50 years, the population of black hole candidates in X-ray binaries has increased considerably with 59 Galactic objects detected in transient low-mass X-ray binaries, plus a few in persistent systems (including ~5 extragalactic binaries). We collect near-infrared, optical and X-ray information spread over hundreds of references in order to study the population of black holes in X-ray transients as a whole. We present the most updated catalogue of black hole transients, which contains X-ray, optical and near-infrared observations together with their astrometric and dynamical properties. It provides new useful information in both statistical and observational parameters providing a thorough and complete overview of the black hole population in the Milky Way. Analysing the distances and spatial distribution of the observed systems, we estimate a total population of ~1300 Galactic black hole transients. This means that we have already discovered less than ~5% of the total Galactic distribution. The complete version of this catalogue will be continuously updated online and in the Virtual Observatory, including finding charts and data in other wavelengths.

EVOLUTION OF TRANSIENT LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARIES TO REDBACK MILLISECOND PULSARS

Redback millisecond pulsars (hereafter redbacks) are a sub-population of eclipsing millisecond pulsars in close binaries. The formation processes of these systems are not clear. The three pulsars showing transitions between rotation- and accretion-powered states belong to both redbacks and transient low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), suggesting a possible evolutionary link between the them. Through binary evolution calculations, we show that the accretion disks in almost all LMXBs are subject to the thermal-viscous instability during certain evolutionary stages, and the parameter space for the disk instability covers the distribution of known redbacks in the orbital period - companion mass plane. We accordingly suggest that the abrupt reduction of the mass accretion rate during quiescence of transient LMXBs provides a plausible way to switch on the pulsar activity, leading to the formation of redbacks, if the neutron star has been spun up to be an energetic millisecond pulsar. We investigate the evolution of redbacks, taking into account the evaporation feedback, and discuss its possible influence on the formation of black widow millisecond pulsars.

LATEST RESULTS OF THE MAXI MISSION

Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) is a Japanese X-ray all-sky surveyer mounted on the International Space Station (ISS). It has been scanning the whole sky since 2009 during every 92-minute ISS rotation. X-ray transients are quickly found by the real-time nova-search program. As a result, MAXI has issued 133 Astronomers Telegrams and 44 Gamma-ray burst Coordinated Networks so far. MAXI has discovered six new black holes (BH) in 4.5 years. Long-term behaviors of the MAXI BHs can be classied into two types by their outbursts; a fast-rise exponential-decay type and a fast-rise at-top one. The slit camera is suitable for accumulating data over a long time. MAXI issued a 37-month catalog containing 500 sources above a ~0.6 mCrab detection limit at 4-10 keV in the region |b| > 10°. The SSC instrument utilizing an X-ray CCD has detected diffuse soft X-rays extending over a large solid angle, such as the Cygnus super bubble. MAXI/SSC has also detcted a Ne emission line from the rapid soft X-ray nova MAXI J0158-744. The overall shapes of outbursts in Be X-ray binaries (BeXRB) are precisely observed with MAXI/GSC. BeXRB have two kinds of outbursts, a normal outburst and a giant one. The peak dates of the subsequent giant outbursts of A0535+26 repeated with a different period than the orbital one. The Be stellar disk is considered to either have a precession motion or a distorted shape. The long-term behaviors of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) containing weakly magnetized neutron stars are investigated. Transient LMXBs (Aql X-1 and 4U 1608-52) repeated outbursts every 200-1000 days, which is understood by the limit-cycle of hydrogen ionization states in the outer accretion disk. A third state (very dim state) in Aql X-1 and 4U 1608-52 was interpreted as the propeller effect in the unied picture of LMXB. Cir X-1 is a peculiar source in the sense that its long-term behavior is not like typical LMXBs. The luminosity sometimes decreases suddenly at periastron. It might be explained by the stripping of the outer accretion disk by a clumpy stellar wind. MAXI observed 64 large ares from 22 active stars (RS CVns, dMe stars, Argol types, young stellar objects) over 4 years. The total energies are 10 34 - 10 36 erg s -1 . Since MAXI can measure the spectrum (temperature and emission measure), we can estimate the size of the plasma and the magnetic elds. The size sometimes exceeds the size of the star. The magnetic eld is in the range of 10-100 gauss, which is a typical value for solar ares.

X-RAY OUTBURSTS OF ESO 243-49 HLX-1: COMPARISON WITH GALACTIC LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARY TRANSIENTS

We studied the outburst properties of the hyper-luminous X-ray source ESO 243-49 HLX-1, using the full set of Swift monitoring observations. We quantified the increase in the waiting time, recurrence time, and e-folding rise timescale along the outburst sequence, and the corresponding decrease in outburst duration, total radiated energy, and e-folding decay timescale, which confirms previous findings. HLX-1 spends less and less time in outburst and more and more time in quiescence, but its peak luminosity remains approximately constant. We compared the HLX-1 outburst properties with those of bright Galactic low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs). Our spectral analysis strengthens the similarity between state transitions in HLX-1 and those in Galactic LMXBTs. We also found that HLX-1 follows the nearly linear correlations between the hard-to-soft state transition luminosity and the peak luminosity, and between the rate of change of X-ray luminosity during the rise phase and the peak luminosity, which indicates that the occurrence of the hard-to-soft state transition of HLX-1 is similar to those of Galactic LMXBTs during outbursts. We found that HLX-1 does not follow the correlations between total radiated energy and peak luminosity, and between total radiated energy and e-folding rise/decay timescales we had previously identified in Galactic LMXBTs. HLX-1 would follow those correlations if the distance were several hundreds of kiloparsecs. However, invoking a much closer distance for HLX-1 is not a viable solution to this problem, as it introduces other, more serious inconsistencies with the observations.

X-RAY OUTBURSTS OF LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARY TRANSIENTS OBSERVED IN THERXTEERA

We have performed a statistical study of the properties of 110 bright X-ray outbursts in 36 low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs) seen with the All-Sky Monitor (2--12 keV) on board the {\it Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer} ({\it RXTE}) in 1996--2011. We have measured a number of outburst properties, including peak X-ray luminosity, rate of change of luminosity on a daily timescale, $e$-folding rise and decay timescales, outburst duration, and total radiated energy. We found that the average properties such as peak X-ray luminosity, rise and decay timescales, outburst duration, and total radiated energy of black hole LMXBTs, are at least two times larger than those of neutron star LMXBTs, implying that the measurements of these properties may provide preliminary clues as to the nature of the compact object of a newly discovered LMXBT. We also found that the outburst peak X-ray luminosity is correlated with the rate of change of X-ray luminosity in both the rise and the decay phases, which is consistent with our previous studies. Positive correlations between total radiated energy and peak X-ray luminosity, and between total radiated energy and the $e$-folding rise or decay timescale, are also found in the outbursts. These correlations suggest that the mass stored in the disk before an outburst is the primary initial condition that sets up the outburst properties seen later. We also found that the outbursts of two transient stellar-mass ULXs in M31 also roughly follow the correlations, which indicate that the same outburst mechanism works for the brighter outbursts of these two sources in M31 that reached the Eddington luminosity.

Detecting gravitational waves from mountains on neutron stars in the advanced detector era

Rapidly rotating Neutron Stars (NSs) in Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) are thought to be interesting sources of Gravitational Waves (GWs) for current and next generation ground based detectors, such as Advanced LIGO and the Einstein Telescope. The main reason is that many of the NS in these systems appear to be spinning well below their Keplerian breakup frequency, and it has been suggested that torques associated with GW emission may be setting the observed spin period. This assumption has been used extensively in the literature to assess the strength of the likely gravitational wave signal. There is now, however, a significant amount of theoretical and observation work that suggests that this may not be the case, and that GW emission is unlikely to be setting the spin equilibrium period in many systems. In this paper we take a different starting point and predict the GW signal strength for two physical mechanisms that are likely to be at work in LMXBs: crustal mountains due to thermal asymmetries and magnetically confined mountains. We find that thermal crustal mountains in transient LMXBs are unlikely to lead to detectable GW emission, while persistent systems are good candidates for detection by Advanced LIGO and by the Einstein Telescope. Detection prospects are pessimistic for the magnetic mountain case, unless the NS has a buried magnetic field of $B\approx 10^{12}$ G, well above the typically inferred exterior dipole fields of these objects. Nevertheless, if a system were to be detected by a GW observatory, cyclotron resonant scattering features in the X-ray emission could be used to distinguish between the two different scenarios.