Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states

Autores
Homan, Jeroen; Wijnands, Rudy; Klis, Michiel van der; Belloni, Tomaso; Paradijs, Jan van; Klein Wolt, Marc; Fender, Rob; Méndez, Mariano R.
Año de publicación
2001
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
We present an analysis of data of the black hole candidate and X-ray transient XTE J1550-564, taken with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer between 1998 November 22 and 1999 May 20. During this period the source went through several different states, which could be divided into soft and hard states based on the relative strength of the high-energy spectral component. These states showed up as distinct branches in the color-color and hardness-intensity diagrams, connecting to form a structure with a comblike topology, the branch corresponding to the soft state forming the spine and the branches corresponding to the various hard states forming the teeth of the comb. The power spectral properties of the source were strongly correlated with its position on the branches. The broadband noise became stronger and changed from power law-like to band-limited, as the spectrum became harder. Three types of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) were found: 1-18 Hz and 102-284 Hz QPOs on the hard branches, and 16-18 Hz QPOs on and near the soft branch. The 1-18 Hz QPOs on the hard branches could be divided into three subtypes. The frequencies of the high- and low-frequency QPOs on the hard branches were correlated with each other and were anticorrelated with spectral hardness. The changes in QPO frequency suggest that the inner disk radius only increases by a factor of 3-4 as the source changes from a soft to a hard state. Our results on XTE J1550-564 strongly favor a two-dimensional description of black hole behavior, where the regions near the spine of the comb in the color-color diagram can be identified with the high state, and the teeth with transitions from the high state, via the intermediate state (which includes the very high state) to the low state, and back. The two physical parameters under-lying this two-dimensional behavior vary to a large extent independently and could for example be the accretion rate through the disk and the size of the Comptonizing region causing the hard tail. The difference between the various teeth is then associated with the mass accretion rate through the disk, suggesting that high state ↔ low state transitions can occur at any disk mass accretion rate and that these transitions are primarily caused by another, independent parameter. We discuss how this picture could tie in with the canonical, one-dimensional behavior of black hole candidates that has usually been observed.
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas
Materia
Ciencias Astronómicas
Accretion, accretion disks
Black hole physics
Stars: individual (XTE J1550-564)
X-rays: stars
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/83501

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oai_identifier_str oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/83501
network_acronym_str SEDICI
repository_id_str 1329
network_name_str SEDICI (UNLP)
spelling Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole statesHoman, JeroenWijnands, RudyKlis, Michiel van derBelloni, TomasoParadijs, Jan vanKlein Wolt, MarcFender, RobMéndez, Mariano R.Ciencias AstronómicasAccretion, accretion disksBlack hole physicsStars: individual (XTE J1550-564)X-rays: starsWe present an analysis of data of the black hole candidate and X-ray transient XTE J1550-564, taken with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer between 1998 November 22 and 1999 May 20. During this period the source went through several different states, which could be divided into soft and hard states based on the relative strength of the high-energy spectral component. These states showed up as distinct branches in the color-color and hardness-intensity diagrams, connecting to form a structure with a comblike topology, the branch corresponding to the soft state forming the spine and the branches corresponding to the various hard states forming the teeth of the comb. The power spectral properties of the source were strongly correlated with its position on the branches. The broadband noise became stronger and changed from power law-like to band-limited, as the spectrum became harder. Three types of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) were found: 1-18 Hz and 102-284 Hz QPOs on the hard branches, and 16-18 Hz QPOs on and near the soft branch. The 1-18 Hz QPOs on the hard branches could be divided into three subtypes. The frequencies of the high- and low-frequency QPOs on the hard branches were correlated with each other and were anticorrelated with spectral hardness. The changes in QPO frequency suggest that the inner disk radius only increases by a factor of 3-4 as the source changes from a soft to a hard state. Our results on XTE J1550-564 strongly favor a two-dimensional description of black hole behavior, where the regions near the spine of the comb in the color-color diagram can be identified with the high state, and the teeth with transitions from the high state, via the intermediate state (which includes the very high state) to the low state, and back. The two physical parameters under-lying this two-dimensional behavior vary to a large extent independently and could for example be the accretion rate through the disk and the size of the Comptonizing region causing the hard tail. The difference between the various teeth is then associated with the mass accretion rate through the disk, suggesting that high state ↔ low state transitions can occur at any disk mass accretion rate and that these transitions are primarily caused by another, independent parameter. We discuss how this picture could tie in with the canonical, one-dimensional behavior of black hole candidates that has usually been observed.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas2001info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdf377-402http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/83501enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0067-0049info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1086/318954info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:15:50Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/83501Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:15:50.965SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
title Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
spellingShingle Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
Homan, Jeroen
Ciencias Astronómicas
Accretion, accretion disks
Black hole physics
Stars: individual (XTE J1550-564)
X-rays: stars
title_short Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
title_full Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
title_fullStr Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
title_full_unstemmed Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
title_sort Correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior of the black hole candidate XTE J1550-564: A new interpretation of black hole states
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Homan, Jeroen
Wijnands, Rudy
Klis, Michiel van der
Belloni, Tomaso
Paradijs, Jan van
Klein Wolt, Marc
Fender, Rob
Méndez, Mariano R.
author Homan, Jeroen
author_facet Homan, Jeroen
Wijnands, Rudy
Klis, Michiel van der
Belloni, Tomaso
Paradijs, Jan van
Klein Wolt, Marc
Fender, Rob
Méndez, Mariano R.
author_role author
author2 Wijnands, Rudy
Klis, Michiel van der
Belloni, Tomaso
Paradijs, Jan van
Klein Wolt, Marc
Fender, Rob
Méndez, Mariano R.
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias Astronómicas
Accretion, accretion disks
Black hole physics
Stars: individual (XTE J1550-564)
X-rays: stars
topic Ciencias Astronómicas
Accretion, accretion disks
Black hole physics
Stars: individual (XTE J1550-564)
X-rays: stars
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv We present an analysis of data of the black hole candidate and X-ray transient XTE J1550-564, taken with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer between 1998 November 22 and 1999 May 20. During this period the source went through several different states, which could be divided into soft and hard states based on the relative strength of the high-energy spectral component. These states showed up as distinct branches in the color-color and hardness-intensity diagrams, connecting to form a structure with a comblike topology, the branch corresponding to the soft state forming the spine and the branches corresponding to the various hard states forming the teeth of the comb. The power spectral properties of the source were strongly correlated with its position on the branches. The broadband noise became stronger and changed from power law-like to band-limited, as the spectrum became harder. Three types of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) were found: 1-18 Hz and 102-284 Hz QPOs on the hard branches, and 16-18 Hz QPOs on and near the soft branch. The 1-18 Hz QPOs on the hard branches could be divided into three subtypes. The frequencies of the high- and low-frequency QPOs on the hard branches were correlated with each other and were anticorrelated with spectral hardness. The changes in QPO frequency suggest that the inner disk radius only increases by a factor of 3-4 as the source changes from a soft to a hard state. Our results on XTE J1550-564 strongly favor a two-dimensional description of black hole behavior, where the regions near the spine of the comb in the color-color diagram can be identified with the high state, and the teeth with transitions from the high state, via the intermediate state (which includes the very high state) to the low state, and back. The two physical parameters under-lying this two-dimensional behavior vary to a large extent independently and could for example be the accretion rate through the disk and the size of the Comptonizing region causing the hard tail. The difference between the various teeth is then associated with the mass accretion rate through the disk, suggesting that high state ↔ low state transitions can occur at any disk mass accretion rate and that these transitions are primarily caused by another, independent parameter. We discuss how this picture could tie in with the canonical, one-dimensional behavior of black hole candidates that has usually been observed.
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas
description We present an analysis of data of the black hole candidate and X-ray transient XTE J1550-564, taken with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer between 1998 November 22 and 1999 May 20. During this period the source went through several different states, which could be divided into soft and hard states based on the relative strength of the high-energy spectral component. These states showed up as distinct branches in the color-color and hardness-intensity diagrams, connecting to form a structure with a comblike topology, the branch corresponding to the soft state forming the spine and the branches corresponding to the various hard states forming the teeth of the comb. The power spectral properties of the source were strongly correlated with its position on the branches. The broadband noise became stronger and changed from power law-like to band-limited, as the spectrum became harder. Three types of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) were found: 1-18 Hz and 102-284 Hz QPOs on the hard branches, and 16-18 Hz QPOs on and near the soft branch. The 1-18 Hz QPOs on the hard branches could be divided into three subtypes. The frequencies of the high- and low-frequency QPOs on the hard branches were correlated with each other and were anticorrelated with spectral hardness. The changes in QPO frequency suggest that the inner disk radius only increases by a factor of 3-4 as the source changes from a soft to a hard state. Our results on XTE J1550-564 strongly favor a two-dimensional description of black hole behavior, where the regions near the spine of the comb in the color-color diagram can be identified with the high state, and the teeth with transitions from the high state, via the intermediate state (which includes the very high state) to the low state, and back. The two physical parameters under-lying this two-dimensional behavior vary to a large extent independently and could for example be the accretion rate through the disk and the size of the Comptonizing region causing the hard tail. The difference between the various teeth is then associated with the mass accretion rate through the disk, suggesting that high state ↔ low state transitions can occur at any disk mass accretion rate and that these transitions are primarily caused by another, independent parameter. We discuss how this picture could tie in with the canonical, one-dimensional behavior of black hole candidates that has usually been observed.
publishDate 2001
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2001
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info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/83501
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/83501
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0067-0049
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1086/318954
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
377-402
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