Echoes in X-ray binaries; mapping the accretion flow
Abstract
In X-ray binaries much of the optical/UV emission arises from X-rays reprocessed by material in the accretion disk, stream and the companion star. The resulting reprocessed variability will be delayed in time with respect to the X-ray variability by an amount depending on the position of the reprocessing regions. We can determine a range of time-delays present in the system. This time-delay transfer function can be used to `echo-map' the geometry of the reprocessing regions in the binary system. We present our modeling of this transfer function and show results from our echo-mapping campaign using X-ray lightcurves from RXTE, simultaneous with HST. In the X-ray transient, GRO j1655-40, shortly after the 1996 outburst, we find evidence for reprocessing in the outer regions of a thick accretion disk.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0104428,
title = {Echoes in X-ray binaries; mapping the accretion flow},
author = {K O'Brien and K Horne},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0104428},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
8 pages, including figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the Astro-tomography workshop, Brussels, July 2000, eds. H.Boffin, D.Steeghs, J.Cuypers, Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Physics Series