X-Ray Spectral Correlations in a Sample of Low-mass Black Hole X-Ray Binaries in the Hard State

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 945; no. 1; pp. 65 - 80
• Main Authors: You, Bei, Dong, Yanting, Yan, Zhen, Liu, Zhu, Tuo, Youli, Yao, Yuanle, Cao, Xinwu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 01.03.2023; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Accretion; Astrophysics; Black hole physics; Black holes; Broadband; Corona; Correlation; Deposition; Luminosity; Photons; Reflection; Spectroscopic telescopes; Stellar accretion disks; X ray binaries; X ray spectra; X ray stars; X-ray astronomy; X-ray transient sources; X-rays
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acba11

Abstract The power-law emission and reflection component provide valuable insights into the accretion process around a black hole. In this work, thanks to the broadband spectra coverage of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, we study the spectral properties for a sample of low-mass black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs). We find that there is a positive correlation between the photon index Γ and the reflection fraction R (the ratio of the coronal intensity that illuminates the disk to the coronal intensity that reaches the observer), consistent with previous studies, but except for MAXI J1820+070. It is quite interesting that this source also deviates from the well-known “V”-shaped correlation between the photon index Γ and the X-ray luminosity log L X , when it is in the bright hard state. More specifically, the Λ-shaped correlation between Γ and log L X is observed, as the luminosity decreases by a factor of 3 in a narrow range from ∼10 38 to 10 37.5 erg s −1 . Furthermore, we discover a strong positive correlation between R and the X-ray luminosity for BHXRBs in the hard state, which puts a constraint on the disk-corona coupling and the evolution.