X-ray Spectroscopy of Dips of Cir X-1

We present X-ray spectral analyses of the low-mass X-ray binary Cir X-1 during X-ray dips, using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer （RXTE） data. Each dip was divided into several segments, and the spectrum of each segment was fitted with a three-component blackbody model, in which the first two components are affected by partial covering and the third one is unaffected. A Gaussian emission line is also included in the spectral model to represent the Fe Kα line at - 6.4 keV. The fitted temperatures of the two partially covered components are about 2 keV and 1 keV, while the uncovered component has a temperature of -0.5-0.6 keV. The equivalent blackbody emission radius of the hottest component is the smallest and that of the coolest component is the largest. During the dips the fluxes of the two hot components are linearly correlated, while that of the third component does not show any significant variation. The Fe line flux remains constant, within the errors, during the short dips. However, during the long dips the line flux varies significantly and is positively correlated with the fluxes of the two hot components. These results suggest; （1） that the temperature of the X-ray emitting region decreases with radius, （2） that the Fe Kα line emitting region is close to the hot continuum emitting region, and （3） that the size of the Fe line emitting region is larger than that of the obscuring matter causing the short dips but smaller than the region of that causing the long dips.

Timing in the Time Domain: Cygnus X-1

Quantities characterizing temporal property, e.g., power density, coherence, and time lag, can be defined and calculated directly in the time domain without using the Fourier transformation. Spectral hardness, variability duration, and correlation between different characteristic quamtities on different time scale can be studied in the time domain as well. The temporal analysis technique in the time domain is a powerful tool, particularly in studying rapid variability on short time scales (or in high frequencies). Results of studying variabilities of X-rays from Cyg X-1 with the analysis technique in the time domain and RXTE data reveal valuable clues to understanding production and propagation processes of X-rays and structure of accretion disk in the black hole system.

A report on TypeⅡX-ray bursts from SMC X-1

We study RXTE PCA data for the high mass X-ray binary source SMC X-1 between 2003–10 and 2003–12 when the source was in its high states.The source is found to be frequently bursting which can be seen as flares in lightcurves that occur at a rate of one every 800 s, with an average of 4–5 Type Ⅱ X-ray bursts per hour.We note that typically a burst was short, lasting for a few tens of seconds in addition to a few long bursts spanning more than a hundred seconds that were also observed.The flares apparently occupied 2.5% of the total observing time of 225.5 ks.We note a total of 272 flares with mean FWHM of the flare ～21 s.The rms variability and aperiodic variability are independent of flares.As observed, the pulse profiles of the lightcurves do not change their shape, implying that there is no change in the geometry of an accretion disk due to a burst.The hardness ratio and rms variability of lightcurves exhibit no correlation with the flares.The flare fraction shows a positive correlation with the peak-to-peak ratio of the primary and secondary peaks of the pulse profile.The observed hardening or softening of the spectrum cannot be correlated with the flaring rate but may be due to the interstellar absorption of X-rays as evident from the change in hydrogen column density(n_H).It is found that the luminosity of the source increases with the flaring rate.Considering that the viscous timescale is equal to the mean recurrence time of flares, we fixed the viscosity parameter α ～ 0.16.

Flaring activity from quiescent states in neutron-star X-ray binaries

We examine systematically the observed X-ray luminosity jumps(or flares) from quiescent states in millisecond binary pulsars(MSBPs) and high-mass X-ray binary pulsars(HMXBPs). We rely on the published X-ray light curves of seven pulsars: four HMXBPs, two MSBPs and the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar M82 X-2. We discuss the physics of their flaring activities or lack thereof, paying special attention to their emission properties when they are found on the propeller line, inside the Corbet gap or near the light-cylinder barrier. We provide guiding principles for future interpretations of faint X-ray observations, as well as a method of constraining the propeller lines and the dipolar surface magnetic fields of pulsars using a variety of quiescent states. In the process, we clarify some disturbing inaccuracies that have made their way into the published literature.

The Orbital Modulation for the Spectrum and Mass Accretion Rate in Circinus X-1

Using the data from the Proportional Counter Array on board theRossi X-Ray Timing Explorersatellite, we study the orbital modulation for the spectrum and mass accretion rate of Cir X-1 during its two orbital periods. We use a model consisting of a blackbody, a multicolor disk blackbody, and a line component to fit the spectrum and find that the spectrum is obviously modulated by the orbital phase. It is shown that the disk accretion rate in Cir X-1 undergoes three states during the orbital period. At the periastron with orbital phase 0-0.1, the disk accretion rate is sup-Eddington, then from phase 0.1 to the apastron (phase 0.5) it decreases dramatically and becomes near-Eddington, and from the apastron to the next periastron (phase 1) the disk accretion rate approximates Eddington and tends to be steady. We argue that the evolution of the disk accretion rate is attributed to the high orbital eccentricity of this source. The mass accretion rate onto the neutron star is much less than that onto the inner disk, indicating significant outflows in this source.

On the magnetic fields of ultraluminous X-ray pulsars

So far quite a few ultraluminous X-ray(ULX) pulsars have been discovered.In this work,we construct a super-Eddington,magnetic accretion disk model to estimate the dipole magnetic field of eight ULX pulsars based on their observed spin-up variations and luminosities.We obtain two branches of dipole magnetic field solutions.They are distributed in the range of B-(0.156-64.5) × 10^(10) G and-(0.275-79.0) × 10^(13) G corresponding to the low-and high-B solutions respectively.The low magnetic field solutions correspond to the state that the neutron stars are far away from the spin equilibrium,and the high magnetic field solutions are close to the spin equilibrium.The ultra-strong magnetic fields derived in Be-type ULX pulsars imply that the accretion mode in Be-type ULX pulsars could be more complicated than in the persistent ULX pulsars and may not be accounted for by the magnetized accretion disk model.We suggest that the transition between the accretor and the propeller regimes may be used to distinguish between the low-and high-B magnetic field solutions in addition to the detection of the cyclotron resonance scattering features.

Optical observations of Scorpius X-1 in 2008:Evidence of rapid variability

Optical observations of Sco X-1 with exposure times around 0.5 s were performed with the 1.56 m telescope of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in 2008.With these observations,we studied the fluctuation of the optical flux on three short timescales(5,10,100 s).We found that the standard deviations of fluctuations on these three timescales differ from those of Gaussian distributions by 7 Sigma,5 Sigma and 3 Sigma,respectively.The result suggests that the variations in the intensity on these short timescales differ from pure statistical fluctuations,which,we suggest,is due to the intrinsic variability in the optical emission.

The Great Pretenders Among the ULX Class

The recent discoveries of pulsed X-ray emission from three ultraluminous X-ray （ULX） sources have finally enabled us to recognize a subclass within the ULX class： the great pretenders, neutron stars （NSs） that appear to emit X-ray radiation at isotropic luminosities Lx = 7 × 10^39 erg s-1 _ 1 ×10^41 erg s-i only because their emissions are strongly beamed toward our direction and our sight lines are offset by only a few degrees from their magnetic-dipole axes. The three known pretenders appear to be stronger emitters than the presumed black holes of the ULX class, such as Holmberg II ＆ IX X-1, IC10 X-1 and NGC 300 X-1. For these three NSs, we have adopted a single reasonable assumption, that their brightest observed outbursts unfold at the Eddington rate, and we have calculated both their propeller states and their surface magnetic-field magnitudes. We find that the results are not at all different from those recently obtained for the Magellanic Be/X-ray pulsars： the three NSs reveal modest magnetic fields of about 0.3-0.4TG and beamed propeller-line X-ray luminosities of 1036 - 1037 erg s-1, substantially below the Eddington limit.

Autoregressive Spectral Estimation for Quasi-Periodic Oscillations

Modern methods of spectral estimation based on parametric time-series models are useful tools in power spectral analysis. We apply the autoregressive （AR） model to study quasi-periodic oscillations （QPOs）. An empirical formula to estimate the expectation and standard deviation of the noise AR power densities is derived, which can be used to estimate the statistical significance of an apparent QPO peak in an AR spectrum. An iterative adding-noise algorithm in AR spectral analysis is proposed and applied to studying QPOs in the X-ray binary Cir X-1.

The correlation timescale of the X-ray flux during the outbursts of soft X-ray transients

Recent studies of black hole and neutron star low mass X-ray binaries(LMXBs) show a positive correlation between the X-ray flux at which the low/hard(LH)-to-high/soft(HS) state transition occurs and the peak flux of the following HS state.By analyzing the data from the All Sky Monitor(ASM) onboard the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer(RXTE),we show that the HS state flux after the source reaches its HS flux peak still correlates with the transition flux during soft X-ray transient(SXT) outbursts.By studying large outbursts or flares of GX 339-4,Aql X-1 and 4U 1705-44,we have found that the correlation holds up to 250,40,and 50 d after the LH-to-HS state transition,respectively.These time scales correspond to the viscous time scale in a standard accretion disk around a stellar mass black hole or a neutron star at a radius of-104-5 Rg,indicating that the mass accretion rates in the accretion flow either correlate over a large range of radii at a given time or correlate over a long period of time at a given radius.If the accretion geometry is a two-flow geometry composed of a sub-Keplerian inflow or outflow and a disk flow in the LH state,the disk flow with a radius up to-105 Rg would have contributed to the nearly instantaneous non-thermal radiation directly or indirectly,and therefore affects the time when the state transition occurs.