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James F. Steiner

Publications and source records attributed to James F. Steiner.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

A Remarkably Loud Quasi-Periodicity after a Star is Disrupted by a Massive Black Hole

The immense tidal forces of massive black holes can rip apart stars that come too close to them. As the resulting stellar debris spirals inwards, it heats up and emits x-rays when near the black hole. Here, we report the discovery of an exceptionally stable 131-second x-ray quasi-periodicity from a black hole after it disrupted a star. Using a black hole mass indicated from host galaxy scaling relations implies that, (1) this periodicity originates from very close to the black hole's event horizon, and (2) the black hole is rapidly spinning. Our findings suggest that other disruption events with similar highly sensitive observations likely also exhibit quasi-periodicities that encode information about the fundamental properties of their black holes.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2018

Reflection Spectroscopy of the Black Hole Binary XTE J1752-223 in its Long-Stable Hard State

We present a detailed spectral analysis of the Black Hole Binary XTE J1752-223 in the hard state of its 2009 outburst. Regular monitoring of this source by RXTE provided high signal-to-noise spectra along the outburst rise and decay. During one full month this source stalled at $\sim$30\% of its peak count rate at a constant hardness and intensity. By combining all the data in this exceptionally-stable hard state, we obtained an aggregate PCA spectrum (3-45 keV) with 100 million counts, and a corresponding HEXTE spectrum (20-140 keV) with 5.8 million counts. Implementing a version of our reflection code with a physical model for Comptonization, we obtain tight constraints on important physical parameters for this system. In particular, the inner accretion disk is measured very close in, at $R_\mathrm{in}=1.7\pm0.4$ $R_g$. Assuming $R_\mathrm{in}=R_\mathrm{ISCO}$, we find a relatively high black hole spin ($a_*=0.92\pm0.06$). Imposing a lamppost geometry, we obtain a low inclination ($i=35\pm4$ deg), which agrees with the upper limit found in the radio ($i<49$ deg). However, we note that this model cannot be statistically distinguished from a non-lamppost model with free emissivity index, for which the inclination is markedly higher. Additionally, we find a relatively cool corona ($57-70$ keV), and large iron abundance ($3.3-3.7$ solar). We further find that properly accounting for Comptonization of the reflection emission improves the fit significantly and causes an otherwise low reflection fraction ($\sim 0.2-0.3$) to increase by an order of magnitude, in line with geometrical expectations for a lamppost corona. We compare these results with similar investigations reported for GX 339-4 in its bright hard state.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2018

Absence of reflection features in NuSTAR spectra of the luminous neutron star X-ray binary GX 5-1

We present NuSTAR observations of the luminous neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS LMXB) and Z source GX 5-1. During our three observations made with separations of roughly two days, the source traced out an almost complete Z track. We extract spectra from the various branches and fit them with a continuum model that has been successfully applied to other Z sources. Surprisingly, and unlike most of the (luminous) NS-LMXBs observed with NuSTAR, we do not find evidence for reflection features in any of the spectra of GX 5-1. We discuss several possible explanations for the absence of reflection features. Based on a comparison with other accreting neutron star systems and given the high luminosity of GX 5-1 (~1.6-2.3 times the Eddington luminosity, for a distance of 9 kpc), we consider a highly ionized disk the most likely explanation for the absence of reflection features in GX 5-1.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2018

The evolution of GX 339-4 in the low-hard state as seen by NuSTAR and Swift

We analyze eleven NuSTAR and Swift observations of the black hole X-ray binary GX 339-4 in the hard state, six of which were taken during the end of the 2015 outburst, five during a failed outburst in 2013. These observations cover luminosities from 0.5%-5% of the Eddington luminosity. Implementing the most recent version of the reflection model relxillCp, we perform simultaneous spectral fits on both datasets to track the evolution of the properties in the accretion disk including the inner edge radius, the ionization, and temperature of the thermal emission. We also constrain the photon index and electron temperature of the primary source (the "corona"). We find the disk becomes more truncated when the luminosity decreases, and observe a maximum truncation radius of $37R_g$. We also explore a self-consistent model under the framework of coronal Comptonization, and find consistent results regarding the disk truncation in the 2015 data, providing a more physical preferred fit for the 2013 observations.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2017

Testing the performance and accuracy of the RELXILL model for the relativistic X-ray reflection from accretion disks

The reflection spectroscopic model RELXILL is commonly implemented in studying relativistic X-ray reflection from accretion disks around black holes. We present a systematic study of the model's capability to constrain the dimensionless spin and ionization parameters from $\sim$6,000 NuSTAR simulations of a bright X-ray source employing the lamppost geometry. We employ high count spectra to show the limitations in the model without being confused with limitations in signal-to-noise. We find that both parameters are well-recovered at 90% confidence with improving constraints at higher reflection fraction, high spin, and low source height. We test spectra across a broad range - first at 10$^6-$10$^7$ and then $\sim$10$^5$ total source counts across the effective 3-79 keV band of NuSTAR, and discover a strong dependence of the results on how fits are performed around the starting parameters, owing to the complexity of the model itself. A blind fit chosen over an approach that carries some estimates of the actual parameter values can lead to significantly worse recovery of model parameters. We further stress on the importance to span the space of nonlinear-behaving parameters like $log~ξ$ carefully and thoroughly for the model to avoid misleading results. In light of selecting fitting procedures, we recall the necessity to pay attention to the choice of data binning and fit statistics used to test the goodness of fit by demonstrating the effect on the photon index $Γ$. We re-emphasize and implore the need to account for the detector resolution while binning X-ray data and using Poisson fit statistics instead while analyzing Poissonian data.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2017

Self-Consistent Black Hole Accretion Spectral Models and the Forgotten Role of Coronal Comptonization of Reflection Emission

Continuum and reflection spectral models have each been widely employed in measuring the spins of accreting black holes. However, the two approaches have not been implemented together in a photon-conserving, self-consistent framework. We develop such a framework using the black-hole X-ray binary GX 339-4 as a touchstone source, and we demonstrate three important ramifications: (1) Compton scattering of reflection emission in the corona is routinely ignored, but is an essential consideration given that reflection is linked to the regimes with strongest Comptonization. Properly accounting for this causes the inferred reflection fraction to increase substantially, especially for the hard state. Another important impact of the Comptonization of reflection emission by the corona is the downscattered tail. Downscattering has the potential to mimic the relativistically-broadened red wing of the Fe line associated with a spinning black hole. (2) Recent evidence for a reflection component with a harder spectral index than the power-law continuum is naturally explained as Compton-scattered reflection emission. (3) Photon conservation provides an important constraint on the hard state's accretion rate. For bright hard states, we show that disk truncation to large scales (R much larger than the ISCO radius) is unlikely as this would require accretion rates far in excess of the brightest soft states. Our principal conclusion is that when modeling relativistically-broadened reflection, spectral models should allow for coronal Compton scattering of the reflection features, and when possible, take advantage of the additional constraining power from linking to the thermal disk component.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2016

Stronger Reflection from Black Hole Accretion Disks in Soft X-ray States

We analyze 15,000 spectra of 29 stellar-mass black hole candidates collected over the 16-year mission lifetime of RXTE using a simple phenomenological model. As these black holes vary widely in luminosity and progress through a sequence of spectral states, which we broadly refer to as hard and soft, we focus on two spectral components: The Compton power law and the reflection spectrum it generates by illuminating the accretion disk. Our proxy for the strength of reflection is the equivalent width of the Fe-K line as measured with respect to the power law. A key distinction of our work is that for all states we estimate the continuum under the line by excluding the thermal disk component and using only the component that is responsible for fluorescing the Fe-K line, namely the Compton power law. We find that reflection is several times more pronounced (~3) in soft compared to hard spectral states. This is most readily caused by the dilution of the Fe line amplitude from Compton scattering in the corona, which has a higher optical depth in hard states. Alternatively, this could be explained by a more compact corona in soft (compared to hard) states, which would result in a higher reflection fraction.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2016

Testing the Kerr nature of black hole candidates using iron line reverberation mapping in the CPR framework

The iron K$α$ line commonly observed in the X-ray spectrum of black hole candidates is produced by X-ray fluorescence of the inner accretion disk. This line can potentially be quite a powerful tool to probe the spacetime geometry around these objects and test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. In a previous paper, we studied the ability to constrain possible deviations from the Kerr solution from the standard time-integrated iron line spectrum within the Cardoso-Pani-Rico framework. In the present work, we expand on that study and consider iron line reverberation mapping in the CPR framework. That is, we consider the time-evolution of the iron line profile in response to fluctuations in the X-ray primary source. Our simulations clearly show that the time information in reverberation mapping can better constrain the background metric than the time-integrated approach, and this is true, notably, for the deformation parameter $ε^r_3$, which is only weakly informed by a time-integrated observation.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2016

Unraveling the Formation History of the Black Hole X-ray Binary LMC X-3 from ZAMS to Present

We have endeavoured to understand the formation and evolution of the black hole (BH) X-ray binary LMC X-3. We estimate the properties of the system at 4 evolutionary stages: 1) at the Zero Age Main Sequence (ZAMS), 2) just prior to the supernova (SN) explosion of the primary, 3) just after the SN, and 4) at the moment of RLO onset.We use a hybrid approach, combining detailed stellar structure and binary evolution calculations with approximate population synthesis models. This allows us to estimate potential natal kicks and the evolution of the BH spin. In the whole analysis we incorporate as model constraints the most up-to-date observational information, encompassing the binary's orbital properties, the companion star mass, effective temperature, surface gravity and radius, as well as the black hole's mass and spin. We find that LMC X-3 began as a ZAMS system with the mass of the primary star in the range $M_{\rm{1,ZAMS}}$ = 22-31 $\rm{M_{\odot}}$ and a secondary star of $M_{\rm{2,ZAMS}} = 5.0-8.3M_{\odot}$, in a wide ($P_{ZAMS} \gtrsim 2.000\, \rm days$) and eccentric ($e_{\rm{ZAMS}} \gtrsim 0.23$) orbit. Just prior to the SN, the primary has a mass of $M_{\mathrm{1,preSN}} = 11.1-18.0\,\rm M_{\odot}$, with the secondary star largely unaffected. The orbital period decreases to $0.6-1.7\, \rm days$, and is still eccentric $0 \leq e_{\rm{preSN}} \leq 0.44$. We find that a symmetric SN explosion with no or small natal kicks (a few tens of $\rm km\, s^{-1}$) imparted on the BH cannot be formally excluded, however, large natal kicks in excess of $\gtrsim 120 \,\rm km\, s^{-1}$ increase the estimated formation rate by an order of magnitude. Following the SN, the system has a BH $M_{\mathrm{BH,postSN}} = 6.4-8.2\,\rm M_{\odot}$ and is put into an eccentric orbit. At the RLO onset the orbit is circularised and it has an orbital period of $P_{\rm{RLO}} = 0.8-1.4\,\rm days$.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2016

High-Density Effects in X-ray Reflection Models from Accretion Disks

Current models of the spectrum of X-rays reflected from accretion disks around black holes and other compact objects are commonly calculated assuming that the density of the disk atmosphere is constant within several Thomson depths from the irradiated surface. An important simplifying assumption of these models is that the ionization structure of the gas is completely specified by a single, fixed value of the ionization parameter $ξ$, which is the ratio of the incident flux to the gas density. The density is typically fixed at $n_e=10^{15}$ cm$^{-3}$. Motivated by observations, we consider higher densities in the calculation of the reflected spectrum. We show by computing model spectra for $n_e \gtrsim 10^{17}$ cm$^{-3}$ that high-density effects significantly modify reflection spectra. The main effect is to boost the thermal continuum at energies $\lesssim 2$ keV. We discuss the implications of these results for interpreting observations of both AGN and black hole binaries. We also discuss the limitations of our models imposed by the quality of the atomic data currently available.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2016

X-ray Spectral Analysis of the Steady States of GRS 1915+105

We report on the X-ray spectral behavior within the steady states of GRS 1915+105. Our work is based on the full data set on the source obtained using the Proportional Counter Array on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and 15 GHz radio data obtained using the Ryle Telescope. The steady observations within the X-ray data set naturally separated into two regions in the color-color diagram and we refer to them as steady-soft and steady-hard. GRS 1915+105 displays significant curvature in the coronal component in both the soft and hard data within the {\it RXTE}/PCA bandpass. A majority of the steady-soft observations displays a roughly constant inner disk radius (R_in), while the steady-hard observations display an evolving disk truncation which is correlated to the mass accretion rate through the disk. The disk flux and coronal flux are strongly correlated in steady-hard observations and very weakly correlated in the steady-soft observations. Within the steady-hard observations we observe two particular circumstances when there are correlations between the coronal X-ray flux and the radio flux with log slopes η~0.68 +/- 0.35 and η~ 1.12 +/- 0.13. They are consistent with the upper and lower tracks of Gallo et al. (2012), respectively. A comparison of model parameters to the state definitions show that almost all steady-soft observations match the criteria of either thermal or steep power law state, while a large portion of the steady-hard observations match the hard state criteria when the disk fraction constraint is neglected.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2016

An Empirical Method for Improving the Quality of RXTE HEXTE Spectra

We have developed a correction tool to improve the quality of RXTE HEXTE spectra by employing the same method we used earlier to improve the quality of RXTE PCA spectra. We fit all of the hundreds of HEXTE spectra of the Crab individually to a simple power-law model, some 37 million counts in total for Cluster A and 39 million counts for Cluster B, and we create for each cluster a combined spectrum of residuals. We find that the residual spectrum of Cluster A is free of instrumental artifacts while that of Cluster B contains significant features with amplitudes ~1%; the most prominent is in the energy range 30-50 keV, which coincides with the iodine K edge. Starting with the residual spectrum for Cluster B, via an iterative procedure we created the calibration tool hexBcorr for correcting any Cluster B spectrum of interest. We demonstrate the efficacy of the tool by applying it to Cluster B spectra of two bright black holes, which contain several million counts apiece. For these spectra, application of the tool significantly improves the goodness of fit, while affecting only slightly the broadband fit parameters. The tool may be important for the study of spectral features, such as cyclotron lines, a topic that is beyond the scope of this paper.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2015

The Spin of The Black Hole in the X-ray Binary Nova Muscae 1991

The bright soft X-ray transient Nova Muscae 1991 was intensively observed during its entire 8-month outburst using the Large Area Counter (LAC) onboard the Ginga satellite. Recently, we obtained accurate estimates of the mass of the black hole primary, the orbital inclination angle of the system, and the distance. Using these crucial input data and Ginga X-ray spectra, we have measured the spin of the black hole using the continuum-fitting method. For four X-ray spectra of extraordinary quality we have determined the dimensionless spin parameter of the black hole to be a/M = 0.63 (-0.19, +0.16) (1 sigma confidence level), a result that we confirm using eleven additional spectra of lower quality. Our spin estimate challenges two published results: It is somewhat higher than the value predicted by a proposed relationship between jet power and spin; and we find that the spin of the black hole is decidedly prograde, not retrograde as has been claimed.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2015

On the Spin of the Black Hole in IC 10 X-1

The compact X-ray source in the eclipsing X-ray binary IC 10 X-1 has reigned for years as ostensibly the most massive stellar-mass black hole, with a mass estimated to be about twice that of its closest rival. However, striking results presented recently by Laycock et al. reveal that the mass estimate, based on emission-line velocities, is unreliable and that the mass of the X-ray source is essentially unconstrained. Using Chandra and NuSTAR data, we rule against a neutron-star model and conclude that IC 10 X-1 contains a black hole. The eclipse duration of IC 10 X-1 is shorter and its depth shallower at higher energies, an effect consistent with the X-ray emission being obscured during eclipse by a Compton-thick core of a dense wind. The spectrum is strongly disk-dominated, which allows us to constrain the spin of the black hole via X-ray continuum fitting. Three other wind-fed black-hole systems are known; the masses and spins of their black holes are high: M ~ 10-15 Msun and a*>0.8. If the mass of IC 10 X-1's black hole is comparable, then its spin is likewise high.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2015

X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy of the Black Hole GX 339-4: Exploring the Hard State with Unprecedented Sensitivity

We analyze {\it simultaneously} six composite {\it RXTE} spectra of GX 339--4 in the hard state comprising 77 million counts collected over 196 ks. The source spectra are ordered by luminosity and spanthe range 1.6\% to 17\% of the Eddington luminosity. Crucially, using our new tool {\tt pcacorr}, we re-calibrate the data to a precision of 0.1\%, an order of magnitude improvement over all earlier work. Using our advanced reflection model {\tt relxill}, we target the strong features in the component of emission reflected from the disk, namely, the relativistically-broadened Fe K emission line, the Fe K edge and the Compton hump. We report results for two joint fits to the six spectra: For the first fit, we fix the spin parameter to its maximal value ($a_*=0.998$) and allow the inner disk radius $R_{\rm in}$ to vary. Results include (i) precise measurements of $R_{\rm in}$, with evidence that the disk becomes slightly truncated at a few percent of Eddington; and (ii) an order-of-magnitude swing with luminosity in the high energy cutoff, which reaches $>890$ keV at our lowest luminosity. For the second fit, we make the standard assumption in estimating spin that the inner edge of the accretion disk is located at the innermost stable circular orbit ($R_\mathrm{in} = R_\mathrm{ISCO}$) and find $a_* = 0.95^{+0.03}_{-0.05}$ (90\% confidence, statistical). For both fits, and at the same level of statistical confidence, we estimate that the disk inclination is $i = 48\pm 1$ deg and that the Fe abundance is super-solar, $A_\mathrm{Fe} = 5\pm1$.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2015

Testing the Kerr Nature of Black Hole Candidates using Iron Line Spectra in the CPR Framework

The iron K$α$ line commonly observed in the X-ray spectrum of both stellar-mass and supermassive black hole candidates originates from X-ray fluorescence of the inner accretion disk. Accordingly, it can be used to map the spacetime geometry around these objects. In this paper, we extend previous work using the iron K$α$ line to test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. We adopt the Cardoso-Pani-Rico parametrization and we test the possibility of constraining possible deviations from the Kerr solution that can be obtained from observations across the range of black hole spins and inclination angles. We confirm previous claims that the iron K$α$ line is potentially a quite powerful probe for testing the Kerr metric given sufficiently high quality data and with systematics under control, especially in the case of fast-rotating black holes and high inclination angles since both conditions serve to maximize relativistic effects. We find that some geometric perturbations from Kerr geometry manifest more strongly in the iron line profile than others. While the perturbation parameter $ε^t_3$ can be well constrained by the iron line profile, an orthogonal data set is necessary to constrain departures from Kerr geometry in $ε^r_3$.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2015

On Estimating the High-Energy Cutoff in the X-ray Spectra of Black Holes via Reflection Spectroscopy

The fundamental parameters describing the coronal spectrum of an accreting black hole are the slope $Γ$ of the power-law continuum and the energy $E_{cut}$ at which it rolls over. Remarkably, this parameter can be accurately measured for values as high as 1 MeV by modeling the spectrum of X-rays reflected from a black hole accretion disk at energies below 100 keV. This is possible because the details in the reflection spectrum, rich in fluorescent lines and other atomic features, are very sensitive to the spectral shape of the hardest coronal radiation illuminating the disk. We show that fitting simultaneous NuSTAR (3-79 keV) and low-energy (e.g., Suzaku) data with the most recent version of our reflection model RELXILL, one can obtain reasonable constraints on $E_{cut}$ at energies from tens of keV up to 1 MeV, for a source as faint as 1 mCrab in a 100 ks observation.

astro-ph.HE↗