English

Spin and Accretion Rate Dependence of Black Hole X-Ray Spectra

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2021-12-15 v1

Abstract

We present a survey of how the spectral features of black hole X-ray binary systems depend on spin, accretion rate, viewing angle, and Fe abundance when predicted on the basis of first principles physical calculations. The power law component hardens with increasing spin. The thermal component strengthens with increasing accretion rate. The Compton bump is enhanced by higher accretion rate and lower spin. The Fe Kα\alpha equivalent width grows sub-linearly with Fe abundance. Strikingly, the Kα\alpha profile is more sensitive to accretion rate than to spin because its radial surface brightness profile is relatively flat, and higher accretion rate extends the production region to smaller radii. The overall radiative efficiency is at least 30--100% greater than as predicted by the Novikov-Thorne model.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2105.09408,
  title  = {Spin and Accretion Rate Dependence of Black Hole X-Ray Spectra},
  author = {Brooks E. Kinch and Jeremy D. Schnittman and Scott C. Noble and Timothy R. Kallman and Julian H. Krolik},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.09408},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

23 pages, 17 Figures, 1 Table