scholarly journals The Evolution of the High‐Energy Tail in the Quiescent Spectrum of the Soft X‐Ray Transient Aquila X‐1

2003 ◽  
Vol 597 (1) ◽  
pp. 474-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Campana ◽  
L. Stella
Keyword(s):  
High Energy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
High Energy Tail

scholarly journals Accretion heated atmospheres of X-ray bursting neutron stars

2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A114 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. F. Suleimanov ◽  
J. Poutanen ◽  
K. Werner
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Star ◽  
Model Atmosphere ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Energy Dissipation Rate ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Type I ◽  
Coulomb Interactions ◽  
Spectral Evolution ◽  
X Ray ◽  
High Energy Tail

Some thermonuclear (type I) X-ray bursts at the neutron star surfaces in low-mass X-ray binaries take place during hard persistent states of the systems. Spectral evolution of these bursts is well described by the atmosphere model of a passively cooling neutron star when the burst luminosity is high enough. The observed spectral evolution deviates from the model predictions when the burst luminosity drops below a critical value of 20–70% of the maximum luminosity. The amplitude of the deviations and the critical luminosity correlate with the persistent luminosity, which leads us to suggest that these deviations are induced by the additional heating of the accreted particles. We present a method for computation of the neutron star atmosphere models heated by accreted particles assuming that their energy is released via Coulomb interactions with electrons. We computed the temperature structures and the emergent spectra of the atmospheres of various chemical compositions and investigate the dependence of the results on the velocity of accreted particles, their temperature and the penetration angle. We show that the heated atmosphere develops two different regions. The upper one is the hot (20–100 keV) corona-like surface layer cooled by Compton scattering, and the deeper, almost isothermal optically thick region with a temperature of a few keV. The emergent spectra correspondingly have two components: a blackbody with the temperature close to that of the isothermal region and a hard Comptonized component (a power law with an exponential decay). Their relative contribution depends on the ratio of the energy dissipation rate of the accreted particles to the intrinsic flux from the neutron star surface. These spectra deviate strongly from those of undisturbed, passively cooling neutron star atmospheres, with the main differences being the presence of a high-energy tail and a strong excess in the low-energy part of the spectrum. They also lack the iron absorption edge, which is visible in the spectra of undisturbed low-luminosity atmospheres with solar chemical composition. Using the computed spectra, we obtained the dependences of the dilution and color-correction factors as functions of relative luminosities for pure helium and solar abundance atmospheres. We show that the helium model atmosphere heated by accretion corresponding to 5% of the Eddington luminosity describes well the late stages of the X-ray bursts in 4U 1820−30.

scholarly journals Modelling the Soft X-ray Excess in E1615+061

1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 317-317
Author(s):  
M. Bałucińska-Church ◽  
L. Piro ◽  
H. Fink ◽  
F. Fiore ◽  
M. Matsuoka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Column Density ◽  
High Energy ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Hard Component ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Simple Power ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Photon Index ◽  
Best Fit

SummaryWe report results of an international UV – X-ray campaign in 1990–1992 involving the IUE, Rosat and Ginga satellites to observe E1615+061, a Seyfert 1 galaxy with peculiar spectral and intensity behaviour over the last 20 years. The source has been found to be stable in its medium state during the observations. The Ginga (1–20 keV) spectrum of E1615+061 is adequately represented by a simple power law with a photon index α = 1.8 ± 0.1. However, α ∼ 2, as expected for the intrinsic power law component in a reflection model, cannot be ruled out statistically. The Rosat PSPC (0.1–2 keV) spectra collected during the All Sky Survey and the AO-1 phase can be well-described by a simple power law (α = 2.2 ± 0.1) with cold absorber (NH = 3.5 ± 0.3 · 10λ20 H/cmλ2). Both the photon index being significantly different than that obtained from the Ginga spectrum and the column density being smaller than the galactic column (NH ∼ 4.2 · 10λ20 H/cmλ2) give an indication of a soft excess over and above the hard component seen in the Ginga spectrum. E1615+061 has been observed with IUE in 1990 and in 1992. The source was stable and the colour excess E(B-V) derived from the data = 0.1 is in good agreement with that expected from the galactic absorption.To parameterise the soft excess we fitted the Rosat data with a two-component model consisting of a power law, and a blackbody or thermal bremsstrahlung, with a single galactic absorption term. The column density and the slope of the power law were kept constant. The blackbody temperature was 80 ± 6 eV and 63 ± 12 eV for photon index equal to 1.8 and 2.0, respectively, whereas the bremsstrahlung temperature was 220 ± 40 eV and 115 ± 30 eV for the two cases.An attempt to model the soft excess seen in the Rosat PSPC spectrum has been made assuming that the soft excess is the high energy tail of a disc spectrum which peaks in the UV part of the spectrum. Additionally it was assumed that there is a hard component contributing to the spectrum from UV to X-rays with parameters as described by the Ginga spectrum. The best fit parameters: the mass of the central source and the mass accretion rate were around 5 ± 1 · 10λ6 M⊙ and 0.2 ± 0.04 M⊙/yr, respectively.Our modelling shows that the soft X-ray excess can be described (χredλ2 < 1.2) as the high energy tail of an accretion disk spectrum if the intrinsic power law is quite steep (α = 2). The main contribution to the residuals in the Rosat PSPC range comes from 0.3–0.6 keV, with a tendency for these residuals to increase when the slope gets flatter. The accretion luminosity is ∼ 6.5 · 10λ44 erg/s for the best fit parameters, i.e. about the Eddington luminosity.

scholarly journals Soft X-rays of AGN: Emission from Accretion Disks?

1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 805-806
Author(s):  
R. Staubert ◽  
T. Dörrer ◽  
C. Müller ◽  
P. Friedrich ◽  
H. Brunner
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Accretion Disks ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
High Energy ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Low Energies ◽  
Excess Component

Soft X-ray spectra of many Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) show structure which suggests excess emission at low energies, mostly below 1 keV. This was confirmed by the ROSAT spectra (0.1–2.4 keV) AGN in our samples which generally have steeper power law spectra than the canonical index of 0.7. The soft excess component may be the high energy tail of the big blue bump which in turn may be due to the integrated emission from an accretion disk around the central black hole.We discuss results of our spectral analysis of two different samples of AGN: 1) QSO/Seyfert-I from the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) and 2) radio-quiet QSO from ROSAT Pointed Observations. The ROSAT data are combined with UV Data from IUE and hard X-ray data from various hard X-ray missions.

scholarly journals An X-ray Spectral Survey of BL Lac Objects

1989 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 191-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Barr ◽  
P. Giommi ◽  
A. Pollock ◽  
G. Tagliaferri ◽  
D. Maccagni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Energy ◽  
Oxygen Absorption ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Bl Lac Objects ◽  
Synchrotron Source ◽  
X Ray ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Bl Lac ◽  
Spectral Survey ◽  
Bl Lacs

A wide variety of X-ray spectral forms has been reported in BL Lac objects. Concave spectra, i.e. a steep soft X-ray spectrum with a flat high energy tail, have been reported in a few of the brightest BL Lacs (e.g Urry 1986). Conversely, convex spectra (steep hard X-rays, flat soft X-ray spectrum) have also been reported, sometimes in the same objects (Madejski 1985, Barr et al 1988, George et al 1988). The high energy tails have usually been invoked as a signature of synchrotron-self-Compton emission. Two conflicting interpretations of the convex spectra have been made. Urry et al (1986) suggest absorption by a partially ionised medium, probably intrinsic to the BL Lac object, following the identification of an Oxygen absorption trough in the Einstein OGS spectrum of PKS 2155-304 by Canizares and Kruper (1984). Conversely, Barr et al (1988) attribute the hard X-ray steepening to energy loss mechanisms operating on a synchrotron source.

scholarly journals Multi-Zone Warm and Cold Clumpy Absorbers in Three Seyfert Galaxies

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S267) ◽  
pp. 404-404
Author(s):  
Claudio Ricci ◽  
Volker Beckmann ◽  
Marc Audard ◽  
T. J.-L. Courvoisier
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Thermal Emission ◽  
Accretion Rate ◽  
Seyfert Galaxies ◽  
High Energy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
The Past ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Open Issue

A soft (E≲2 keV) excess over the power-law component dominant at higher energies has been found in the X-ray spectra of many Seyfert galaxies. The origin of the soft excess is still an open issue. In the past it was often associated with the high-energy tail of the thermal emission of the accretion disk, but it has been shown recently that the temperature of the disk should be constant (0.1–0.2 keV), regardless of the mass and luminosity of the AGN (Gierlinski & Done 2004). This result implies that some other mechanism is at work, as the temperature of the disk should depend on both the mass of the black hole and the accretion rate.

scholarly journals Testing warm Comptonization models for the origin of the soft X-ray excess in AGNs

2018 ◽  
Vol 611 ◽  
pp. A59 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.-O. Petrucci ◽  
F. Ursini ◽  
A. De Rosa ◽  
S. Bianchi ◽  
M. Cappi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Archival Data ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Accretion Flow ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Intrinsic Emission

The X-ray spectra of many active galactic nuclei (AGNs) show a soft X-ray excess below 1–2 keV on top of the extrapolated high-energy power law. The origin of this component is uncertain. It could be a signature of relativistically blurred, ionized reflection or the high-energy tail of thermal Comptonization in a warm (kT ~ 1 keV), optically thick (τ ≃ 10–20) corona producing the optical/UV to soft X-ray emission. The purpose of the present paper is to test the warm corona model on a statistically significant sample of unabsorbed, radio-quiet AGNs with XMM-Newton archival data, providing simultaneous optical/UV and X-ray coverage. The sample has 22 objects and 100 observations. We use two thermal Comptonization components to fit the broadband spectra, one for the warm corona emission and one for the high-energy continuum. In the optical/UV, we also include the reddening, the small blue bump, and the Galactic extinction. In the X-rays, we include a warm absorber and a neutral reflection. The model gives a good fit (reduced χ2 < 1.5) to more than 90% of the sample. We find the temperature of the warm corona to be uniformly distributed in the 0.1–1 keV range, while the optical depth is in the range ~10–40. These values are consistent with a warm corona covering a large fraction of a quasi-passive accretion disk, i.e., that mostly reprocesses the warm corona emission. The disk intrinsic emission represents no more than 20% of the disk total emission. According to this interpretation, most of the accretion power would be released in the upper layers of the accretion flow.

scholarly journals Some Theoretical Studies of Two Gamma-Ray Blazars: PKS 0528+134 and Mrk 421

1998 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 93-94
Author(s):  
S. J. Qian ◽  
X. Z. Zhang ◽  
A. Witzel ◽  
T. P. Krichbaum ◽  
S. Britzen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Ray ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Relativistic Electrons ◽  
Quiescent State ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Inverse Compton Scattering ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Inverse Compton ◽  
Energy Gamma

AbstractThe high energy gamma-ray flares observed in PKS 0528+134 are interpreted in terms of the external inverse Compton scattering (EICS) mechanism. The evolutional relationship between the gamma-ray flares and the associated mm-radio outbursts is investigated. The TeV/X-ray flare detected in May of 1994 from Mrk 421 is interpreted in terms of the SSC mechanism and it is shown that it may be due to the acceleration of relativistic electrons with an initially flat energy spectrum (N(E)∝E−s with s~1.5), rather than just a flattening of the high energy tail in the electron energy distribution of the source in the quiescent state.

scholarly journals Signatures of the non-Maxwellian κ-distributions in optically thin line spectra

2019 ◽  
Vol 626 ◽  
pp. A88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Dudík ◽  
Elena Dzifčáková ◽  
Giulio Del Zanna ◽  
Helen E. Mason ◽  
Leon L. Golub ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Region ◽  
Active Regions ◽  
Grazing Incidence ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Maxwellian Distribution ◽  
Ionization Equilibrium ◽  
X Ray ◽  
High Energy Tail ◽  
Intensity Ratios ◽  
Collisional Ionization

Aims. We investigated the possibility of diagnosing the degree of departure from the Maxwellian distribution using the Fe XVII–Fe XVIII spectra originating in plasmas in collisional ionization equilibrium, such as in the cores of solar active regions or microflares. Methods. The original collision strengths for excitation are integrated over the non-Maxwellian electron κ-distributions characterized by a high-energy tail. Synthetic X-ray emission line spectra were calculated for a range of temperatures and κ. We focus on the 6–24 Å spectral range to be observed by the upcoming Marshall Grazing-Incidence X-ray Spectrometer MaGIXS. Results. We find that many line intensity ratios are sensitive to both T and κ. Best diagnostic options are provided if a ratio involving both Fe XVII and Fe XVIII is combined with another ratio involving lines formed within a single ion. The sensitivity of such diagnostics to κ is typically a few tens of per cent. Much larger sensitivity, of about a factor of two to three, can be obtained if the Fe XVIII 93.93 Å line observed by SDO/AIA is used in conjuction with the X-ray lines. Conclusions. We conclude that the MaGIXS instrument is well-suited for detection of departures from the Maxwellian distribution, especially in active region cores.

High-purity Ge x-ray detectors: Sensitivity factors and usefulness

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 548-548
Author(s):  
E. B. Steel
Keyword(s):  
High Purity ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Quantitative Chemical Analysis ◽  
Detector Performance ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Detector Sensitivity ◽  
Specimen Holder ◽  
Many Instruments ◽  
Charge Resolution ◽  
Sensitivity Factors

High Purity Germanium (HPGe) x-ray detectors are now commercially available for the analytical electron microscope (AEM). The detectors have superior efficiency at high x-ray energies and superior resolution compared to traditional lithium-drifted silicon [Si(Li)] detectors. However, just as for the Si(Li), the use of the HPGe detectors requires the determination of sensitivity factors for the quantitative chemical analysis of specimens in the AEM. Detector performance, including incomplete charge, resolution, and durability has been compared to a first generation detector. Sensitivity factors for many elements with atomic numbers 10 through 92 have been determined at 100, 200, and 300 keV. This data is compared to Si(Li) detector sensitivity factors.The overall sensitivity and utility of high energy K-lines are reviewed and discussed. Many instruments have one or more high energy K-line backgrounds that will affect specific analytes. One detector-instrument-specimen holder combination had a consistent Pb K-line background while another had a W K-line background.

Designing high-resolution slow scan CCD-based TEM camera systems

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 946-947
Author(s):  
James F. Mancuso ◽  
William B. Maxwell ◽  
Russell E. Camp ◽  
Mark H. Ellisman
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Optics ◽  
Ccd Camera ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Phosphor Layer ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Light Production ◽  
Camera Systems ◽  
X Ray Imaging ◽  
Electron Image ◽  
Scintillating Fiber

The imaging requirements for 1000 line CCD camera systems include resolution, sensitivity, and field of view. In electronic camera systems these characteristics are determined primarily by the performance of the electro-optic interface. This component converts the electron image into a light image which is ultimately received by a camera sensor.Light production in the interface occurs when high energy electrons strike a phosphor or scintillator. Resolution is limited by electron scattering and absorption. For a constant resolution, more energy deposition occurs in denser phosphors (Figure 1). In this respect, high density x-ray phosphors such as Gd2O2S are better than ZnS based cathode ray tube phosphors. Scintillating fiber optics can be used instead of a discrete phosphor layer. The resolution of scintillating fiber optics that are used in x-ray imaging exceed 20 1p/mm and can be made very large. An example of a digital TEM image using a scintillating fiber optic plate is shown in Figure 2.

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