Discovery and Modeling of a Flattening of the Positive Cyclotron Line/Luminosity Relation in GX 304-1 with RXTE

Richard E. Rothschild; Matthias Kuehnel; Katja Pottschmidt; Paul Hemphill; Konstantin Postnov; Mikhail Gornostaev; Nikolai Shakura; Felix Fuerst; Joern Wilms; Ruediger Staubert; Dmitry Klochkov

doi:10.1093/mnras/stw3222

arXiv · 1610.08944

Discovery and Modeling of a Flattening of the Positive Cyclotron Line/Luminosity Relation in GX 304-1 with RXTE

Richard E. Rothschild·Matthias Kuehnel·Katja Pottschmidt·Paul Hemphill·Konstantin Postnov·Mikhail Gornostaev·Nikolai Shakura·Felix Fuerst·Joern Wilms·Ruediger Staubert·Dmitry Klochkov

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Abstract

The RXTE observed four outbursts of the accreting X-ray binary transient source, GX 304-1 in 2010 and 2011. We present results of detailed 3-100 keV spectral analysis of 69 separate observations, and report a positive correlation between cyclotron line parameters, as well as other spectral parameters, with power law flux. The cyclotron line energy, width and depth versus flux, and thus luminosity, correlations show a flattening of the relationships with increasing luminosity, which are well described by quasi-spherical or disk accretion that yield the surface magnetic field to be ~60 keV. Since HEXTE cluster A was fixed aligned with the PCA field of view and cluster B was fixed viewing a background region 1.5 degrees off of the source direction during these observations near the end of the RXTE mission, the cluster A background was estimated from cluster B events using HEXTEBACKEST. This made possible the detection of the ~55 keV cyclotron line and an accurate measurement of the continuum. Correlations of all spectral parameters with the primary 2-10 keV power law flux reveal it to be the primary driver of the spectral shape. The accretion is found to be in the collisionless shock braking regime.

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Richard E. Rothschild, Matthias Kuehnel, Katja Pottschmidt, Paul Hemphill, Konstantin Postnov, Mikhail Gornostaev, Nikolai Shakura, Felix Fuerst, Joern Wilms, Ruediger Staubert, Dmitry Klochkov. 2016-10-27. Discovery and Modeling of a Flattening of the Positive Cyclotron Line/Luminosity Relation in GX 304-1 with RXTE. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras%2Fstw3222

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