English

Dense, multi-phase accretion disk atmosphere in the low-luminosity state of black hole transientV4641 Sgr

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2026-06-30 v1

Abstract

We present soft X-ray spectroscopy of the black-hole X-ray binary V4641~Sgr with the \textit{XMM-Newton} Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS). The RGS spectrum shows narrow emission features from N\,\textsc{vi--vii} and O\,\textsc{vii--viii} superimposed on a partially covered disk blackbody continuum. A blind Gaussian search confirms the presence of significant lines at the expected rest wavelengths. He-like triplet ratios (high GG, low RR) and full photoionization modelling both indicate a dense, photoionized plasma. Small redshifted velocities of 540\sim 540--720 km s1720\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}} are suggested, which are consistent with quasi-static or slowly flowing gas away from the observer after accounting for systematics. Photoionization modelling requires two \textsc{xstar} components with an intermediate ionization parameter (logξ3.1\log\xi \simeq 3.1) and a low ionization parameter (logξ0.36\log\xi \simeq 0.36), respectively. The simultaneous EPIC-pn spectrum suggests highly ionized Fe emission structures, hinting at an additional, more highly ionized component. These results imply the existence of a radially extended, multiphase, and dense disk atmosphere in the source. We compare the source with other X-ray binaries showing similar emission lines. V4641~Sgr shares a similarly high inclination with other sources; however, the presence of low ionization emission lines distinguishes it from the rest.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.00226,
  title  = {Dense, multi-phase accretion disk atmosphere in the low-luminosity state of black hole transientV4641 Sgr},
  author = {Zuobin Zhang and Rob Fender and James H. Matthews and Jiachen Jiang and Honghui Liu and Alessandra Ambrifi and Teo Muñoz-Darias and Maxime Parra and Megumi Shidatsu and Menglei Zhou and Yuexin Zhang and Abdurakhmon Nosirov and Cosimo Bambi and Justine Crook-Mansour},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.00226},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in MNRAS