arXiv subjects

Arka Chatterjee

Publications and source records attributed to Arka Chatterjee.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Bridging X-ray Polarization with Timing & Spectroscopic Parameters of a galactic black hole: Swift J1727.8-1613

We report the discovery of a correlated energy-dependent time lag and degree of polarization for Swift J1727.8-1613 during its 2023 outburst. The energy-dependent time lag is measured around the type-C quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) observed by IXPE on 2023-09-07, while the degree of polarization is obtained from energy-resolved polarimetric measurements. The Spearman correlation coefficient was found to be 0.8, with a null hypothesis probability of 4.2\%. Furthermore, the correlation value drops as the quality factor, or Q value, of the observed QPO frequencies decreases. The spectral properties of Swift J1727.8-1613 are analyzed using simultaneous Insight/HXMT data. Thereafter, we present model-independent theoretical arguments to show that processes other than inverse Comptonization also contributes to both the observed polarization and time lags. This correlation may therefore point to additional mechanisms contributing to the connection between the spectral, temporal, and polarimetric properties of black hole binaries in their hard state.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Temporal Variation of the Coronal Radius Parameter in a Jetted Tidal Disruption Event: Swift J1644+57

Tidal Disruption Events are exotic astrophysical phenomena where matter from a star or the interstellar medium is captured by a supermassive black hole. The process liberates enormous energy, within a few months to a year timescale, enough to detect dormant black holes in near as well as the farthest galaxies. We revisit the long-term spectral variabilities associated with the jetted Tidal Disruption Event \source~by exploring the archival X-ray data obtained with Swift/XRT and XMM-Newton observatories. Our analysis reveals that the spectral indices decrease non-monotonically as \source~evolves with time. We also find that the soft (0.3-1.5 keV) and hard (1.5-10 keV) X-ray photon counts are highly correlated with a maximum correlation coefficient of 0.95 and peak at {\it zero} lag. Moreover, the soft and hard band variabilities obtained from XMM-Newton observations are highly correlated with a Pearson cross-correlation coefficient of 0.96. This indicates that the soft and hard X-ray photons are emitted from the same site, which is most likely a Compton cloud, i.e., the corona. Assuming the hard X-ray photons originate from the corona, we find that the coronal parameter undergoes rapid expansion during the early phases when accompanied by a relativistic jet launching and subsequently evolves toward a state of saturation with minor fluctuations in the latter stages. The temporal variation of the coronal radius parameter ($R_{cor}$) is consistent with a simple theoretical conjecture. We also discuss the application of our analytical outcomes to other jetted and non-jetted tidal disruption events.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) Community Science Book

The AXIS Community Science Book represents the collective effort of 592 scientists worldwide to define the transformative science enabled by the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS), a next-generation X-ray mission selected by NASA's Astrophysics Probe Program for Phase A study. AXIS will advance the legacy of high-angular-resolution X-ray astronomy with ~1.5'' imaging over a wide 24' field of view and an order of magnitude greater collecting area than Chandra in the 0.3-12 keV band. Combining sharp imaging, high throughput, and rapid response capabilities, AXIS will open new windows on virtually every aspect of modern astrophysics, exploring the birth and growth of supermassive black holes, the feedback processes that shape galaxies, the life cycles of stars and exoplanet environments, and the nature of compact stellar remnants, supernova remnants, and explosive transients. This book compiles 138 community-contributed science cases developed by five Science Working Groups focused on AGN and supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and feedback, compact objects and supernova remnants, stellar physics and exoplanets, and time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics. Together, these studies establish the scientific foundation for next-generation X-ray exploration in the 2030s and highlight strong synergies with facilities of the 2030s, such as JWST, Roman, Rubin/LSST, SKA, ALMA, ngVLA, and next-generation gravitational-wave and neutrino networks.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Room-Temperature High-Purity Single Photon Emission from Carbon-Doped Boron Nitride Thin Films

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has emerged as an excellent host material for generating room temperature single photons exhibiting high brightness and spin-photon entanglement. However, challenges in improving purity, stability, and scalability limit its use in quantum technologies. Here, we demonstrate highly pure and stable single photon emitters (SPEs) in hBN by directly growing carbon-doped, centimeter-scale hBN thin films using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. These SPEs exhibit room temperature operation with polarized emission, achieving a g(2)(0) value of 0.015, which is among the lowest reported for room temperature SPEs and the lowest achieved for hBN SPEs. It also exhibits high brightness ( around 0.5 million counts per second), remarkable stability during continuous operation (> 15 minutes), and a Debye-Waller factor of 45%. First-principles calculations reveal unique carbon defects responsible for these properties, enabled by PLD's low-temperature synthesis and in-situ doping. Our results demonstrate an effective method for large-scale production of high-purity, stable SPEs in hBN, enabling robust quantum optical sources for various applications.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

The accretion properties of a low-mass Active Galactic Nucleus: UGC 6728

We present a comprehensive analysis of approximately $15$ years ($2006-2021$) of X-ray observations of UGC~6728, a low-mass bare AGN, for the first time. Our study encompasses both spectral and temporal aspects of this source. The spectral properties of this source are studied using various phenomenological and physical models. We conclude that (a) the observed variability in X-ray luminosity is not attributed to the Hydrogen column density ($N_H$) as UGC~6728 exhibits a bare nucleus, implying a negligible $N_H$ contribution along the line of sight, and (b) the spectral slope in the X-ray band demonstrates a systematic variation over time, indicating a transition from a relatively hard state to a comparatively soft state. We propose that the underlying accretion dynamics around the central object account for this behavior. By performing X-ray spectral fitting, we estimate the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) in UGC~6728 to be $M_{BH}=(7.13\pm1.23)\times10^5$ M$_\odot$ with spin $a=0.97^{+0.20}_{-0.27}$ and inclination angle $i=49.5\pm14.5$ degree. Based on our spectral and temporal analysis, we suggest that UGC~6728 lacks a prominent Compton hump or exhibits a very subtle hump that remains undetectable in our analysis. Furthermore, the high-energy X-ray photons in this source are likely to originate from the low-energy X-ray photons through inverse Compton scattering in a Compton cloud, highlighting a connection between the emission in two energy ranges. We notice a strong soft excess component in the initial part of our observations, which later reduced substantially. This variation of soft excess is explained in view of accretion dynamics.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Survey of Bare Active Galactic Nuclei in the local universe (z < 0.2): I. On the origin of Soft-Excess

We analyse a sample of 21 `bare' Seyfert~1 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), a sub-class of Seyfert~1s, with intrinsic absorption $\mathrm{N_{H}} \sim 10^{20}~ \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$, in the local universe (z $<$ 0.2) using {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it Swift}/XRT observations. The luminosities of the primary continuum, the X-ray emission in the 3 to 10 keV energy range and the soft-excess, the excess emission that appears above the low-energy extrapolation of the power-law fit of 3 to 10 keV X-ray spectra, are calculated. Our spectral analysis reveals that the long-term intrinsic luminosities of the soft-excess and the primary continuum are tightly correlated $(L_{PC}\propto L_{SE}^{1.1\pm0.04})$. We also found that the luminosities are correlated for each source. This result suggests that both the primary continuum and soft excess emissions exhibit a dependency on the accretion rate in a similar way.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Coronal Properties of Low-Accreting AGNs using Swift, XMM-Newton and NuSTAR Observations

We studied the broadband X-ray spectra of {\it Swift}/BAT selected low-accreting AGNs using the observations from {\it XMM-Newton}, {\it Swift}, and {\it NuSTAR} in the energy range of $0.5-150$~keV. Our sample consists of 30 AGNs with Eddington ratio, $\lambda_{\rm Edd}<10^{-3}$. We extracted several coronal parameters from the spectral modelling, such as the photon index, hot electron plasma temperature, cutoff energy, and optical depth. We tested whether there exists any correlation/anti-correlation among different spectral parameters. We observe that the relation of hot electron temperature with the cutoff energy in the low accretion domain is similar to what is observed in the high accretion domain. We did not observe any correlation between the Eddington ratio and the photon index. We studied the compactness-temperature diagram and found that the cooling process for extremely low-accreting AGNs is complex. The jet luminosity is calculated from the radio flux, and observed to be related to the bolometric luminosity as $L_{\rm jet} \propto L_{\rm bol}^{0.7}$, which is consistent with the standard radio-X-ray correlation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Accretion Properties and Estimation of Spin of Galactic Black Hole Candidate Swift J1728.9-3613 with NuSTAR during its 2019 outburst

Black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs) play a crucial role in understanding the accretion of matter onto a black hole. Here, we focus on exploring the transient BHXRB \source~discovered by Swift/BAT and MAXI/GSC during its January 2019 outburst. We present measurements on its accretion properties, long time-scale variability, and spin. To probe these properties we make use of several NICER observations and an unexplored data set from NuSTAR, as well as long term light curves from MAXI/GSC. In our timing analysis we provide estimates of the cross-correlation functions between light curves in various energy bands. In our spectral analysis we employ numerous phenomenological models to constrain the parameters of the system, including flavours of the relativistic reflection model Relxill to model the Fe K$\alpha$ line and the $>15$ keV reflection hump. Our analysis reveals that: (i) Over the course of the outburst the total energy released was $\sim 5.2 \times 10^{44}$~ergs, corresponding to roughly 90\% the mass of Mars being devoured. (ii) We find a continuum lag of $8.4 \pm 1.9$ days between light curves in the $2-4$ keV and $10-20$ keV bands which could be related to the viscous inflow time-scale of matter in the standard disc. (iii) Spectral analysis reveals a spin parameter of $\sim 0.6 - 0.7$ with an inclination angle of $\sim 45^{\circ}-70^{\circ}$, and an accretion rate during the NuSTAR observation of $\sim 17\% ~L_{\rm Edd}$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Broadband X-ray Spectroscopy and Estimation of Spin of the Galactic Black Hole Candidate GRS 1758-258

We present the results of a broadband (0.5-78 keV) X-ray spectral study of the persistent Galactic black hole X-ray binary GRS 1758-258 observed simultaneously by Swift and NuSTAR. Fitting with an absorbed power-law model revealed a broad Fe line and reflection hump in the spectrum. We used different flavours of the relativistic reflection model for the spectral analysis. All models indicate the spin of the black hole in GRS 1758-258 is >0.92. The source was in the low hard state during the observation, with the hot electron temperature of the corona estimated to be kT$_e$ ~ 140 keV. The black hole is found to be accreting at ~1.5 % of the Eddington limit during the observation, assuming the black hole mass of 10 $M_{\odot}$ and distance of 8 kpc.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Absorption Variability of the Highly Obscured Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 4507

We present a detailed study of the highly obscured active galaxy NGC 4507, performed using four Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observations carried out between May and August in 2015 (~ 130 ks in total). Using various phenomenological and physically motivated torus models, we explore the properties of the X-ray source and those of the obscuring material. The primary X-ray emission is found to be non-variable, indicating a stable accretion during the period of the observations. We find the equatorial column density of the obscuring materials to be ~ 2 x 10^24 cm^-2 while the line of sight column density to be ~ 7 - 8 x 10^23 cm^-22. The source is found to be deeply buried with the torus covering factor ~ 0.85. We observe variability in the line-of-sight column density on a timescale of < 35 days. The covering factor of the Compton-Thick material is found to be ~ 0.35, in agreement with the results of recent X-ray surveys. From the variability of the line-of-sight column density, we estimate that the variable absorbing material is likely located either in the BLR or in the torus.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Broadband X-Ray Observations of the 2018 Outburst of the Changing-Look Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 1566

We study the nature of the changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 1566 during its June 2018 outburst. During the outburst, the X-ray intensity of the source rises up to ~25-30 times compared to its quiescent state intensity. We perform timing and spectral analysis of the source during pre-outburst, outburst, and post-outburst epochs using semi-simultaneous observations with the XMM-Newton, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatories. We calculate variance, normalized variance, and fractional rms amplitude in different energy bands to study the variability. The broad-band 0.5-70 keV spectra are fitted with phenomenological models, as well as physical models. A strong soft X-ray excess is detected in the spectra during the outburst. The soft excess emission is found to be complex and could originate in the warm Comptonizing region in the inner accretion disc. We find that the increase in the accretion rate is responsible for the sudden rise in luminosity. This is supported by the q-shape of the hardness-intensity diagram that is generally found in outbursting black hole X-ray binaries. From our analysis, we find that NGC 1566 most likely harbours a low-spinning black hole with the spin parameter a* ~ 0.2. We also discuss a scenario where the central core of NGC 1566 could be a merging supermassive black hole.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Long term X-Ray Observations of Seyfert 1 Galaxy Ark 120: On the origin of soft-excess

We present the long-term X-ray spectral and temporal analysis of a 'bare-type AGN' Ark 120. We consider the observations from XMM-Newton, Suzaku, Swift, and NuSTAR from 2003 to 2018. The spectral properties of this source are studied using various phenomenological and physical models present in the literature. We report (a) the variations of several physical parameters, such as the temperature and optical depth of the electron cloud, the size of the Compton cloud, and accretion rate for the last fifteen years. The spectral variations are explained from the change in the accretion dynamics; (b) the X-ray time delay between 0.2-2 keV and 3-10 keV light-curves exhibited zero-delay in 2003, positive delay of 4.71 \pm 2.1 ks in 2013, and negative delay of 4.15 \pm 1.5 ks in 2014. The delays are explained considering Comptonization, reflection, and light-crossing time; (c) the long term intrinsic luminosities obtained using nthcomp, of the soft-excess and the primary continuum show a correlation with a Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 0.922. This indicates that the soft-excess and the primary continuum are originated from the same physical process. From a physical model fitting, we infer that the soft excess for Ark 120 could be due to a small number of scatterings in the Compton cloud. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we show that indeed the spectra corresponding to fewer scatterings could provide a steeper soft-excess power-law in the 0.2-3 keV range. Simulated luminosities are found to be in agreement with the observed values.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Probing Nuclear and Circumnuclear Properties of NGC 6300 using X-ray Observations

We present the results obtained from a detailed X-ray timing and spectral analysis of Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 6300 by using observations with the {\it Suzaku}, {\it Chandra} and {\it NuSTAR} observatories between 2007 and 2016. We calculate variance, rms fractional variability of the source in different energy bands and find variabilities in various energy bands. Spectral properties of the source are studied by using various phenomenological and physical models. The properties of the Compton clouds, reflection, Fe K$\alpha$ line emission and soft X-ray excess are studied in detail. Several physical parameters of the source are extracted and investigated to establish the presence/absence of any correlation between them. We also investigate the nature of the circumnuclear `torus' and find that the torus is not uniform, rather clumpy. The observed changes in the line-of-sight column density can be explained in terms of transiting clouds. The iron line emitting region is found to be different in the different epoch of observations. We also observe that the torus and the nucleus independently evolve over the years.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Time-domain variability properties of XTE J1650-500 during its 2001 outburst: Evidence of disc-jet connection

Evolution of variability properties of Galactic transient sources is a diagnostic tool to understand various regimes of the accretion flow and its dynamics close to the central black hole. In this paper, we concentrate on the variability properties of the X-ray transient XTE J1650-500 and investigate the evolution of viscous delay, time lag, QPO frequency, and their energy dependence throughout the rising phase as observed by RXTE during its outburst in 2001. Our analysis reveals (1) a delay of 12 \pm 1 days between one day averaged hard (5-12 keV) and soft (1.5-3 keV) photon light-curves as observed by RXTE/ASM; (2) QPOs with high rms values are observed in lower energy (4-8 keV) range; (3) the QPO frequencies and associated time lags were anti-correlated during the initial days of the rising phase, and later on, they were found to be correlated; (4) the time lags of iron line photons with respect to hard and soft photons remained almost constant during the initial days of hard state and the lag magnitude increased during the state transition. We perform comparative studies with outbursts of GX 339-4 and XTE J1550-564. We find the evolution of time lags associated with the QPO characteristics during the outburst - stronger QPOs at low energy, and constant lags of broad Fe-line photons present a unique nature of outburst profile in XTE J1650-500. The possible cause of such variabilities is explained by considering disk-jet geometry closer to the central black hole.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Discovery of Jet-Induced Soft Lags of XTE J1550-564 during Its 1998 Outburst

X-ray time lags are complicated in nature. The exact reasons for complex lag spectra are yet to be known. However, the hard lags, in general, are believed to be originated due to the inverse Comptonization process. But, the origin of soft lags remained mischievous. Recent studies on "Disk-Jet Connections" revealed that the jets are also contributing to the X-ray spectral and timing properties in a magnitude which was more than what was predicted earlier. In this article, we first show an exact anti-correlation between X-ray time lag and radio flux for XTE J1550-546 during its 1998 outburst. We propose that the soft lags might be generated due to the change in the accretion disk structure along the line of sight during higher jet activity.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Evidence of Outflow Induced Soft Lags of Galactic Black Holes

The nature of lag variation of Galactic black holes remains enigmatic mostly because of nonlinear and non-local physical mechanisms which contribute to the lag of the photons coming from the region close to the central black holes. One of the widely accepted major sources of the hard lag is the inverse Comptonization mechanism. However, the exact reason or reasons for soft lags is yet to be identified. In this paper, we report a possible correlation between radio intensities of several outbursting Galactic black hole candidates and amounts of soft lag. The correlation suggests that the presence of major outflows or jets also change the disk morphology along the line of sight of the observer which produces soft lags.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Images and Spectra of Time Dependent Two Component Advective Flow in Presence of Outflows

Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) successfully explains the spectral and tem- poral properties of outbursting or persistent sources. Images of static TCAF with Compton cloud or CENtrifugal pressure supported Boundary Layer (CENBOL) due to gravitational bending of photons have been studied before. In this paper, we study time dependent images of advective flows around a Schwarzschild black hole which include cooling effects due to Comptonization of soft photons from a Keplerian disks well as the self-consistently produced jets and outflows. We show the overall image of the disk-jet system after convolving with a typical beamwidth. A long exposure image with time dependent system need not show the black hole horizon conspicuously, un- less one is looking at a soft state with no jet or the system along the jet axis. Assuming these disk-jet configurations are relevant to radio emitting systems also, our results would be useful to look for event horizons in high accretion rate Supermassive Black Holes in Seyfert galaxies, RL Quasars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Temporal Evolution of Photon Energy emitted from Two Component Advective Flows: Origin of Time Lag

X-Ray time lag of black hole candidates contains important information regarding the emission geometry. Recently, study of time lags from observational data revealed very intriguing properties. To investigate the real cause of this lag behavior with energy and spectral states, we study photon paths inside a Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) which appears to be a satisfactory model to explain the spectral and timing properties. We employ the Monte-Carlo simulation technique to carry out the Comptonization process. We use a relativistic thick disk in Schwarzschild geometry as the CENtrifugal pressure supported BOundary Layer (CENBOL) which is the Compton cloud. In TCAF, this is the post-shock region of the advective component. Keplerian disk on the equatorial plane which is truncated at the inner edge i.e., at the outer boundary of the CENBOL, acts as the soft photon source. Ray-tracing code is employed to track the photons to a distantly located observer. We compute the cumulative time taken by a photon during Comptonization, reflection and following the curved geometry on the way to the observer. Time lags between various hard and soft bands have been calculated. We study the variation of time lags with accretion rates, CENBOL size and inclination angle. Time lags for different energy channels are plotted for different inclination angles. The general trend of variation of time lag with QPO frequency and energy as observed in satellite data is reproduced.

astro-ph.HE↗