arXiv subjects

Javier A. García

Publications and source records attributed to Javier A. García.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

The XSTAR Atomic Database

We describe the atomic database of the XSTAR spectral modeling code, summarizing the systematic upgrades carried out in the past twenty years to enable the modeling of K lines from chemical elements with atomic number $Z\leq 30$ and recent extensions to handle high-density plasmas. Such plasma environments are found, for instance, in the inner region of accretion disks round compact objects (neutron stars and black holes), which emit rich information about the system physical properties. Our intention is to offer a reliable modeling tool to take advantage of the outstanding spectral capabilities of the new generation of X-ray space telescopes (e.g., XRISM and ATHENA) to be launched in the coming years. Data curatorial aspects are discussed and an updated list of reference sources is compiled to improve the database provenance metadata. Two XSTAR spin-offs -- the ISMabs absorption model and the uaDB database -- are also described.

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arXiv2020

Accurate Treatment of Comptonization in X-ray Illuminated Accretion Disks

A large fraction of accreting black hole and neutron stars systems present clear evidence of the reprocessing of X-rays in the atmosphere of an optically-thick accretion disk. The main hallmarks of X-ray reflection include fluorescent K-shell emission lines from iron ($\sim 6.4-6.9$ keV), the absorption iron K-edge ($\sim 7-9$ keV), and a broad featureless component known as the Compton hump ($\sim 20-40$ keV). This Compton hump is produced as the result of the scattering of high-energy photons ($E \gtrsim 10$ keV) of the relatively colder electrons ($T_e \sim 10^5-10^7$ K) in the accretion disk, in combination with photoelectric absorption from iron. The treatment of this process in most current models of ionized X-ray reflection has been done using an approximated Gaussian redistribution kernel. This approach works sufficiently well up to $\sim100$ keV, but it becomes largely inaccurate at higher energies and at relativistic temperatures ($T_e\sim10^9$ K). We present new calculations of X-ray reflection using a modified version of our code XILLVER, including an accurate solution for Compton scattering of the reflected unpolarized photons in the disk atmosphere. This solution takes into account quantum electrodynamic and relativistic effects allowing the correct treatment of high photon energies and electron temperatures. We show new reflection spectra computed with this model, and discuss the improvements achieved in the reproducing the correct shape of the Compton hump, the discrepancies with previous calculations, and the expected impact of these new models in the interpretation of observational data.

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arXiv2020

The spin measurement of the black hole in 4U 1543-47 constrained with the X-ray reflected emission

4U 1543-47 is a low mass X-ray binary which harbours a stellar-mass black hole located in our Milky Way galaxy. In this paper, we revisit 7 data sets which were in the Steep Power Law state of the 2002 outburst. The spectra were observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. We have carefully modelled the X-ray reflection spectra, and made a joint-fit to these spectra with relxill, for the reflected emission. We found a moderate black hole spin, which is $0.67_{-0.08}^{+0.15}$ at 90% statistical confidence. Negative and low spins (< 0.5) at more than 99% statistical confidence are ruled out. In addition, our results indicate that the model requires a super-solar iron abundance: $5.05_{-0.26}^{+1.21}$, and the inclination angle of the inner disc is $36.3_{-3.4}^{+5.3}$ degrees. This inclination angle is appreciably larger than the binary orbital inclination angle (~21 degrees); this difference is possibly a systematic artefact of the artificially low-density employed in the reflection model for this X-ray binary system.

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arXiv2020

A detailed study on the reflection component for the Black Hole Candidate MAXI J1836-194

We present a detailed spectral analysis of the black hole candidate MAXI J1836-194. The source was caught in the intermediate state during its 2011 outburst by Suzaku and RXTE. We jointly fit the X-ray data from these two missions using the relxill model to study the reflection component, and a steep inner emissivity profile indicating a compact corona as the primary source is required in order to achieve a good fit. In addition, a reflection model with a lamp-post configuration (relxilllp), which is normally invoked to explain the steep emissivity profile, gives a worse fit and is excluded at 99% confidence level compared to relxill. We also explore the effect of the ionization gradient on the emissivity profile by fitting the data with two relativistic reflection components, and it is found that the inner emissivity flattens. These results may indicate that the ionization state of the disc is not constant. All the models above require a supersolar iron abundance higher than 4.5. However, we find that the high-density version of reflionx can describe the same spectra even with solar iron abundance well. A moderate rotating black hole (a* = 0.84-0.94) is consistently obtained by our models, which is in agreement with previously reported values.

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arXiv2019

The 2017 Failed Outburst of GX 339-4: Relativistic X-ray Reflection near the Black Hole Revealed by NuSTAR and Swift Spectroscopy

We report on the spectroscopic analysis of the black hole binary GX 339-4 during its recent 2017-2018 outburst, observed simultaneously by the Swift and NuSTAR observatories. Although during this particular outburst the source failed to make state transitions, and despite Sun constraints during the peak luminosity, we were able to trigger four different observations sampling the evolution of the source in the hard state. We show that even for the lowest luminosity observations the NuSTAR spectra show clear signatures of X-ray reprocessing (reflection) in an accretion disk. Detailed analysis of the highest signal-to-noise spectra with our family of relativistic reflection models RELXILL indicates the presence of both broad and narrow reflection components. We find that a dual-lamppost model provides a superior fit when compared to the standard single lamppost plus distant neutral reflection. In the dual lamppost model two sources at different heights are placed on the rotational axis of the black hole, suggesting that the narrow component of the Fe K emission is likely to originate in regions far away in the disk, but still significantly affected by its rotational motions. Regardless of the geometry assumed, we find that the inner edge of the accretion disk reaches a few gravitational radii in all our fits, consistent with previous determinations at similar luminosity levels. This confirms a very low degree of disk truncation for this source at luminosities above ~1% Eddington. Our estimates of Rin reinforces the suggested behavior for an inner disk that approaches the inner-most regions as the luminosity increases in the hard state.

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arXiv2019

A public relativistic transfer function model for X-ray reverberation mapping of accreting black holes

We present the publicly available model \textsc{reltrans} that calculates the light-crossing delays and energy shifts experienced by X-ray photons originally emitted close to the black hole when they reflect from the accretion disk and are scattered into our line-of-sight, accounting for all general relativistic effects. Our model is fast and flexible enough to be simultaneously fit to the observed energy-dependent cross-spectrum for a large range of Fourier frequencies, as well as to the time-averaged spectrum. This not only enables better geometric constraints than only modelling the relativistically broadened reflection features in the time-averaged spectrum, but additionally enables constraints on the mass of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei and stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries. We include a self-consistently calculated radial profile of the disk ionization parameter and properly account for the effect that the telescope response has on the predicted time lags. We find that a number of previous spectral analyses have measured artificially low source heights due to not accounting for the former effect and that timing analyses have been affected by the latter. In particular, the magnitude of the soft lags in active galactic nuclei may have been under-estimated, and the magnitude of lags attributed to thermal reverberation in X-ray binaries may have been over-estimated. We fit \textsc{reltrans} to the lag-energy spectrum of the Seyfert galaxy Mrk 335, resulting in a best fitting black hole mass that is smaller than previous optical reverberation measurements ($\sim 7$ million compared with $\sim14-26$ million $M_\odot$).

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arXiv2019

Probing the Black Hole Engine with Measurements of the Relativistic X-ray Reflection Component

Over the last decades X-ray spectroscopy has proven to be a powerful tool for the estimation of black hole spin and several other key parameters in dozens of AGN and black hole X-ray binaries. In this White Paper, we discuss the observational and theoretical challenges expected in the exploration, discovery, and study of astrophysical black holes in the next decade. We focus on the case of accreting black holes and their electromagnetic signatures, with particular emphasis on the measurement of the relativistic reflection component in their X-ray spectra.

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arXiv2019

High Density Reflection Spectroscopy I. A case study of GX~339-4

We present a broad band spectral analysis of the black hole binary GX~339-4 with NuSTAR and Swift using high density reflection model. The observations were taken when the source was in low flux hard states (LF) during the outbursts in 2013 and 2015, and in a very high flux soft state (HF) in 2015. The high density reflection model can explain its LF spectra with no requirement for an additional low temperature thermal component. This model enables us to constrain the density in the disc surface of GX~339-4 in different flux states. The disc density in the LF state is $\log(n_{\rm e}/$ cm$^{-3})\approx21$, 100 times higher than the density in the HF state ($\log(n_{\rm e}/$ cm$^{-3})=18.93^{+0.12}_{-0.16}$). A close-to-solar iron abundance is obtained by modelling the LF and HF broad band spectra with variable density reflection model ($Z_{\rm Fe}=1.50^{+0.12}_{-0.04}Z_{\odot}$ and $Z_{\rm Fe}=1.05^{+0.17}_{-0.15}Z_{\odot}$ respectively).

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arXiv2018

On the discrepancy between the X-ray and UV absorption measurements of OVI in the local ISM

The total amount of OVI present in the interstellar medium (ISM) obtained via absorption measurements in UV and X-ray spectra is currently in disagreement, with the latter being significantly larger (by a factor of 10 or more) than the former. Previous works have proposed that the blend of the OVI Ka line (22.032 A) with the OII Kb-L12 line (22.04 A) could account for the stronger absorption observed in the X-ray spectra. Here we present a detailed study of the oxygen absorption in the local ISM, implementing our new model IGMabs, which includes photoabsorption cross-sections of highly ionized species of abundant elements as well as turbulence broadening. By analyzing high-resolution Chandra spectra of 13 low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and 29 extragalactic sources, we have estimated the column densities of OI-OIII and from OVI-OVIII along multiple line-of-sights. We find that in most cases the OII Kb-L12 line accounts for < 30% of the total OVI Ka + OII Kb. We conclude that the amount of OII predicted by our model is still insufficient to explain the discrepancy between X-ray and UV measurements of OVI column densities.

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arXiv2018

Relativistic Reflection: Review and Recent Developments in Modeling

Measuring relativistic reflection is an important tool to study the innermost regions of the an accreting black hole system. In the following we present a brief review on the different aspects contributing to the relativistic reflection. The combined approach is for the first time incorporated in the new relxill model. The advantages of this more self-consistent approach are briefly summarized. A special focus is put on the new definition of the intrinsic reflection fraction in the lamp post geometry, which allows to draw conclusions about the primary source of radiation in these system. Additionally the influence of the high energy cutoff of the primary source on the reflection spectrum is motivated, revealing the remarkable capabilities of constraining $E_\mathrm{cut}$ by measuring relativistic reflection spectra from NuSTAR, preferably with lower energy coverage.

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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.

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arXiv2018

3D mapping of the neutral X-ray absorption in the local interstellar medium: The Gaia and XMM-Newton synergy

We present a three-dimensional map of the hydrogen density distribution in the Galactic interstellar medium. The hydrogen equivalent column densities were obtained from the Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky project ({\sc EXTraS}) which provides equivalent $N_{\rm H}$ values from X-ray spectral fits of observations within the {\it XMM-Newton} Data Release. {\sc EXTraS} include multiple fits for each source, allowing an accurate determination of the equivalent column densities, which depends on the continuum modeling of the spectra. A cross-correlation between the {\sc EXTraS} catalogue and the first {\it Gaia} Data Release was performed in order to obtain accurate parallax and distance measurements. We use a Bayesian method explained in \citet{rez17} in order to predict the most probable distribution of the density at any arbitrary point, even for lines of sight along which there are no initial observation. The resulting map shows small-scale density structures which can not been modeled by using analytic density profiles. In this paper we present a proof of concept of the kind of science possible with the synergy of these catalogs. However, given the systematic uncertainties connected to the source identification and to the dependence of $N_{\rm H}$ on the spectral model, the present maps should be considered qualitatively at this point.

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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.

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arXiv2016

On the detectability of CO molecules in the Interstellar Medium via X-ray spectroscopy

We present a study of the detectability of CO molecules in the Galactic interstellar medium using high-resolution X-ray spectra obtained with the XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer. We analyzed 10 bright low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) to study the CO contribution in their line-of-sights. A total of 25 observations were fitted with the ISMabs X-ray absorption model which includes photoabsorption cross-sections for O I, O II, O III and CO. We performed a Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation analysis of the goodness of fit in order to estimate the significance of the CO detection. We determine that the statistical analysis prevents a significant detection of CO molecular X-ray absorption features, except for the lines-of-sight toward XTE~J1718-330 and 4U~1636-53. In the case of XTE~J1817-330, this is the first report of the presence of CO along its line-of-sight. Our results reinforce the conclusion that molecules have a minor contribution to the absorption features in the O K-edge spectral region. We estimate a CO column density lower limit to perform a significant detection with XMM-Newton of N(CO) > 6x10^{16} cm-2 for typical exposure times

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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.

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arXiv2016

Oxygen, neon, and iron X-ray absorption in the local interstellar medium

We present a detailed study of X-ray absorption in the local interstellar medium by analyzing the X-ray spectra of 24 galactic sources obtained with the {\it Chandra} High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer and the {\it XMM-Newton} Reflection Grating Spectrometer. By modeling the continuum with a simple broken power-law and by implementing the new {\tt ISMabs} X-ray absorption model, we have estimated the total H, O, Ne, and Fe column densities towards the observed sources. We have determined the absorbing material distribution as a function of source distance and galactic latitude--longitude. Direct estimates of the fractions of neutrally, singly, and doubly ionized species of O, Ne, and Fe reveal the dominance of the cold component, thus indicating an overall low degree of ionization. Our results are expected to be sensitive to the model used to describe the continuum in all sources.

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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.

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