arXiv subjects

Rob Fender

Publications and source records attributed to Rob Fender.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

A Global Study of X-ray Binaries

We present preliminary results on a global study of X-ray binaries using 14 Ms of data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite. Our initial study on GX 339-4 is recapped as an introduction to the methods used. We use a consistent analysis scheme for all objects, with three different spectral models to fit the powerlaw and disc components. We also take into account the possibility of a line being present in the data. The resulting almost 4000 observations allow the tracking of the spectral properties of the binaries as they evolve through an outburst. Our investigations concentrate on the disc and line properties of the binaries when in outburst. We also show the Disc-Fraction Luminosity diagram for the population of X-ray binaries studied which will enable us to further links with AGN.

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arXiv2008

High energy astrophysics with the next generation of radio astronomy facilities

High energy astrophysics has made good use of combined high energy (X-ray, gamma-ray) and radio observations to uncover connections between outbursts, accretion, particle acceleration and kinetic feedback to the local ambient medium. In the field of microquasars the connections have been particularly important. However, radio astronomy has been relying on essentially the same facilities for the past ~25 years, whereas high-energy astrophysics, in particular space-based research, has had a series of newer and more powerful missions. In the next fifteen years this imbalance is set to be redressed, with a whole familiy of new radio facilities under development en route to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the 2020s. In this brief review I will summarize these future prospects for radio astronomy, and focus on possibly the most exciting of the new facilities to be built in the next decade, the Low Frequency Array LOFAR, and its uses in high energy astrophysics.

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arXiv2008

MAXI, LOFAR and Microquasars - All-sky monitoring of X-ray binaries in X-rays and radio

In this paper I will discuss future synergies between the Japanese MAXI X-ray all-sky monitor, to be placed on the International Space Station in 2009, and the next-generation radio astronomy array LOFAR, currently under construction in The Netherlands. The wide fields of view and multiple beams of LOFAR will allow, in combination with MAXI, simultaneous all-sky monitoring of the sky in both the X-ray and radio bands. Focussing on microquasars, X-ray binary jet systems, I discuss how the combination of MAXI and LOFAR will help us to further understand the accretion--outflow coupling in such systems.

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arXiv2008

A transient radio jet in an erupting dwarf nova

Astrophysical jets seem to occur in nearly all types of accreting objects: from supermassive black holes to young stellar objects. Based on X-ray binaries, a unified scenario describing the disc/jet coupling has evolved and extended to many accreting objects. The only major exceptions are thought to be cataclysmic variables: Dwarf novae, weakly accreting white dwarfs, show similar outburst behaviour as X-ray binaries but no jet has yet been detected. Here we present radio observations of a dwarf nova in outburst showing variable flat-spectrum radio emission that is best explained as synchrotron emission originating in a transient jet. Both the inferred jet power and the relation to the outburst cycle are analogous to those seen in X-ray binaries, suggesting that the disc/jet coupling mechanism is ubiquitous.

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arXiv2008

LOFAR Transients and the Radio Sky Monitor

The study of transient and variable low-frequency radio sources is a key goal for LOFAR, with an extremely broad science case ranging from relativistic jets sources to pulsars, exoplanets, radio bursts at cosmological distances, the identification of gravitational wave sources and even SETI. In this paper we will very briefly summarize the science of the LOFAR Transients key science project, will outline the capabilities of LOFAR for transient studies, and introduce the LOFAR Radio Sky Monitor, a proposed mode in which LOFAR regularly scans 2 pi radians of sky.

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arXiv2008

Simultaneous X-ray/radio observations of Cir X-1

We analysed simultaneous X-ray/radio observations of Circinus X-1 collected respectively with RXTE and ATCA in 2000 October and 2002 December and identified radio flares close to phase 0.0 and 0.5 of the orbital period. To date, there is only circumstantial evidence for radio flares near phase 0.5. Moreover, in our data set, we clearly associated both a radio flare and X-ray spectral timing changes with phase 0.0. While for black hole X-ray binaries the picture of the association between the X-ray and the radio bands is quite well understood, for neutron star X-ray binaries a clear and complete picture is still missing.

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arXiv2008

Multiwavelength observations of the black hole candidate Swift J1753.5-0127

We present preliminary results from the analysis of simultaneous multiwavelength observations of the black hole candidate Swift J1753.5-0127. The source is still continuing its outburst started in May 2005, never leaving the Low/Hard State. In the X-ray energy spectra we confirm evidence for a thermal component at a very low luminosity possibly extending close to but not at the innermost stable orbit. This is unusual for black hole candidates in the Low/Hard State. Furthermore, we confirm that its radio emission is significantly fainter than expected from the relation observed in other black hole candidates between the observed radio/X-ray fluxes.

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arXiv2008

Searching for the signatures of jet-ISM interactions in X-ray binaries

Jets from X-ray binaries are continuously injecting matter and energy into the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). However, there exist to date relatively few cases where jet-ISM interactions have been directly observed. We review the current examples, and go on to present new data on the proposed hotspots of GRS1915+105, finding no concrete evidence for any association between the hotspots and the central source, in agreement with previous findings in the literature. We also present preliminary results on radio and H-alpha searches for jet-ISM interactions around known X-ray binaries, and discuss strategies for future searches.

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arXiv2008

Broadband X-ray Spectra of GX 339-4 and the Geometry of Accreting Black Holes in the Hard State

A major question in the study of black hole binaries involves our understanding of the accretion geometry when the sources are in the hard state. In this state, the X-ray energy spectrum is dominated by a hard power-law component and radio observations indicate the presence of a steady and powerful compact jet. Although the common hard state picture is that the accretion disk is truncated, perhaps at hundreds of gravitational radii from the black hole, recent results for the recurrent transient GX 339-4 by Miller and co-workers show evidence for optically thick material very close to the black hole's innermost stable circular orbit. That work focused on an observation of GX 339-4 at a luminosity of about 5% of the Eddington limit and used parameters from a relativistic reflection model and the presence of a soft, thermal component as diagnostics. In this work, we use similar diagnostics, but extend the study to lower luminosities (2.3% and 0.8% Ledd) using Swift and RXTE observations of GX 339-4. We detect a thermal component with an inner disk temperature of ~0.2 keV at 2.3% Ledd. We detect broad features due to iron Kalpha that are likely related to reflection of hard X-rays off the optically thick material. If these features are broadened by relativistic effects, they indicate that optically thick material resides within 10 Rg down to 0.8% Ledd, and the measurements are consistent with the inner radius of the disk remaining at ~4 Rg down to this level. However, we also discuss an alternative model for the broadening, and we note that the evolution of the thermal component is not entirely consistent with the constant inner radius interpretation. Finally, we discuss the results in terms of recent theoretical work on the possibility that material may condense to maintain an inner optically thick disk.

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arXiv2007

A link between radio loudness and X-ray/optical properties of AGN

We have found empirically that the radio loudness of AGN can be understood as function of both the X-ray and optical luminosity. This way of considering the radio loudness was inspired by the hardness-intensity diagrams for X-ray binaries, in which objects follow a definite track with changes to their radio properties occurring in certain regions. We generalize the hardness-intensity diagram to a "disk-fraction luminosity diagram", which can be used to classify the accretion states both of X-ray binaries and of AGN. Using a sample of nearly 5000 SDSS quasars with ROSAT matches, we show that an AGN is more likely to have a high radio:optical flux ratio when it has a high total luminosity or a large contribution from X-rays. Thus, it is necessary to take into account both the optical and the X-ray properties of quasars in order to understand their radio loudness. The success of categorizing quasars in the same way as X-ray binaries is further evidence for the unification of accretion onto stellar-mass and supermassive compact objects.

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arXiv2007

Eight powers of ten: similarities in black hole accretion on all mass scales

In this paper we discuss the recent advances in the quantitative comparison of accretion, and the accretion:jet coupling, in accreting black holes in both X-ray binaries (where M ~ 10Msun) and Active Galactic Nuclei (10^5Msun < M < 10^9Msun). These similarities include the radiative efficiency and jet power as a function of accretion rate, which are themselves probably the origin of the `fundamental plane of black hole activity'. A second `fundamental plane' which connects mass, accretion rate and timing properties provides us with a further physical diagnostic. Patterns of radio loudness (i.e. jet production) as a function of luminosity and accretion state are shown to be similar for X-ray binaries and AGN. Finally we discuss how neutron stars are a useful control sample, and what the future may hold for this field.

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arXiv2007

A highly polarised radio jet during the 1998 outburst of the black hole transient XTE J1748-288

XTE J1748-288 is a black hole X-ray transient which went into outburst in 1998 June. The X-ray lightcurves showed canonical morphologies, with minor variations on the ``Fast Rise Exponential Decay'' profile. The radio source, however, reached an unusually high flux density of over 600 mJy. This high radio flux was accompanied by an exceptional (>20%) fractional linear polarisation, the variability of which was anti-correlated with the flux density. We use this variability to discuss possible depolarisation mechanisms and to predict the underlying behaviour of the (unresolved) core/jet components.

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arXiv2006

Jet-dominated advective systems of all mass scales

We show that the radio emission of black hole (BH) and neutron star (NS) X-ray binaries (XRBs) follows the analytical prediction of a jet model where the jet carries a constant fraction of the accretion power. The radio emission can therefore be used as a tracer of the accretion rate. This measure is normalised with efficiently radiating objects. As it is independent of the X-ray fluxes, the measure allows us to compare the accretion rate dependency of the bolometric X-ray luminosity of BHs and NSs. For NSs, it scales linearly with accretion rate while the scaling for BHs is quadratic - as expected for inefficient accretion flows. We find the same behaviour in AGN. This new approach uses the jet power to obtain the accretion rate. Thus, we know both the jet power and the radiated power of an accreting BH. This allows us to show that some accretion power is likely to be advected into the black hole, while the jet power dominates over the bolometric luminosity of a hard state BH.

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arXiv2006

The LOFAR Transients Key Project

LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array, is a new radio telescope under construction in the Netherlands, designed to operate between 30 and 240 MHz. The Transients Key Project is one of the four Key Science Projects which comprise the core LOFAR science case. The remit of the Transients Key Project is to study variable and transient radio sources detected by LOFAR, on timescales from milliseconds to years. This will be achieved via both regular snapshot monitoring of historical and newly-discovered radio variables and, most radically, the development of a `Radio Sky Monitor' which will survey a large fraction of the northern sky on a daily basis.

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arXiv2006

RXTE observations of the first transient Z source XTE J1701-462: shedding new light on mass accretion in luminous neutron star LMXBs

(Abridged) We report on ten weeks of RXTE observations of the X-ray transient XTE J1701-462. Comparisons with other sources suggest it had all the characteristics of the neutron star Z sources (the brightest persistent neutron star LMXBs). These include Z tracks in X-ray color diagrams and typical variability components detected in the power spectra. XTE J1701-462 is the first transient Z source and provides unique insights into mass accretion rate (Mdot) and luminosity dependencies in neutron star LMXBs. As its overall luminosity decreased, we observed a switch between two types of Z-source behavior, with most of the branches of the Z-track changing their shape and/or orientation. We interpret this switch as an extreme case of the longterm changes seen in the persistent Z sources and suggest that these result from changes in Mdot. We also suggest that the Cyg-like Z sources (Cyg X-2, GX 5-1, and GX 340+0) might be more luminous (> 50%) than the Sco-like Z sources (Sco X-1, GX 17+2, and GX 349+2). Adopting a possible explanation for the behavior of kHz QPOs, which involves a prompt as well as a filtered response to changes in Mdot, we propose that changes in Mdot can explain both movement along the Z track and changes in the shape of the Z track. We discuss some consequences of this and consider the possibility that the branches of the Z will evolve into the branches observed in the X-ray color diagrams of the less luminous atoll sources, but not in a way that was previously suggested.

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arXiv2006

Accretion states and radio loudness in Active Galactic Nuclei: analogies with X-ray binaries

Hardness-intensity diagrams (HIDs) have been used with great success to study the accretion states and their connection to radio jets in X-ray binaries (XRBs). The analogy between XRBs and active galactic nuclei (AGN) suggests that similar diagrams may help to understand and identify accretion states in AGN and their connection to radio loudness. We construct ``disc-fraction luminosity diagrams'' (DFLDs) as a generalization of HIDs, which plot the intensity against the fraction of the disc contribution in the overall spectral energy distribution (SED). Using a sample of 4963 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars with ROSAT matches, we show empirically that an AGN is more likely to have a high radio:optical flux ratio when it has a high total luminosity or a large non-thermal contribution to the SED. We find that one has to consider at least two-dimensional diagrams to understand the radio loudness of AGN. To extend our DFLD to lower luminosities we also include a sample of low-luminosity AGN. Using a simulated population of XRBs we show that stellar and supermassive BHs populate similar regions in the DFLD and show similar radio/jet properties. This supports the idea the AGN and XRBs have the same accretion states and associated jet properties.

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arXiv2006

Jet-dominated advective systems: radio and X-ray luminosity dependence on the accretion rate

We present a novel method to measure the accretion rate of radio emitting X-ray binaries (XRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) independently of the X-ray luminosity. The radio emission of the jet is used as a tracer for the accretion rate and is normalised using sources of known accretion rates: island state neutron stars and efficiently radiating black holes close to a state transition. We show that the radio power in black holes and neutron stars is comparable for a given mass accretion rate and verify empirically the assumed analytic scaling of the radio luminosity with accretion rate. As our accretion measure is independent of the X-ray luminosities, we can search for radiatively inefficient accretion in black holes by comparing the X-ray luminosities with the accretion rate in XRBs and AGN. While the X-ray luminosity of efficiently radiating objects scales linearly with accretion rate, the scaling of hard state black holes is quadratical, in agreement with theoretical models. We show that the turnover from the inefficient quadratic scaling to the linear scaling has to occur at accretion rates of 1-10 % Eddington both in XRBs and AGN. The comparison of both accretion states supports the idea that in a black hole in the hard state some accretion power is advected into the black hole while the jet power exceeds the X-ray luminosity: these are therefore jet-dominated advective systems.

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arXiv2006

A ULX microquasar in NGC 5408?

We studied the radio source associated with the ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 5408 (L_X ~ 10^{40} erg/s). The radio spectrum is steep (index ~ -1), consistent with optically-thin synchrotron emission, not with flat-spectrum core emission. Its flux density (~ 0.28 mJy at 4.8 GHz, at a distance of 4.8 Mpc) was the same in the March 2000 and December 2004 observations, suggesting steady emission rather than a transient outburst. However, it is orders of magnitude higher than expected from steady jets in stellar-mass microquasar. Based on its radio flux and spectral index, we suggest that the radio source is either an unusually bright supernova remnant, or, more likely, a radio lobe powered by a jet from the black hole. Moreover, there is speculative evidence that the source is marginally resolved with a radius ~ 30 pc. A faint HII region of similar size appears to coincide with the radio and X-ray sources, but its ionization mechanism remains unclear. Using a self-similar solution for the expansion of a jet-powered electron-positron plasma bubble, in the minimum-energy approximation, we show that the observed flux and (speculative) size are consistent with an average jet power ~ 7 x 10^{38} erg/s ~ 0.1 L_X ~ 0.1 L_{Edd}, an age ~ 10^5 yr, a current velocity of expansion ~ 80 km/s. We briefly discuss the importance of this source as a key to understand the balance between luminosity and jet power in accreting black holes.

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