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No evidence for black hole spin powering of jets in x-ray binaries

No evidence for black hole spin powering of jets in x-ray binaries
No evidence for black hole spin powering of jets in x-ray binaries
In this paper we take the reported measurements of black hole spin for black hole X-ray binaries, and compare them against measurements of jet power and speed across all accretion states in these systems. We find no evidence for any correlation between the properties of the jets and the reported spin measurements. These constraints are strongest in the hard X-ray state, which is associated with a continuous powerful jet. We are led to conclude that one or more of the following is correct: (i) the calculated jet power and speed measurements are wrong, (ii) the reported spin measurements are wrong, (iii) there is no strong dependence of the jet properties on black hole spin. In addition to this lack of observational evidence for a relation between black hole spin and jet properties in stellar mass black holes, we highlight the fact that there appear to be at least three different ways in which the jet power and/or radiative efficiency from a black hole X-ray binary may vary, two of which are certainly independent of spin because they occur in the same source on relatively short timescales, and the third which does not correlate with and reported measurements of black hole spin. We briefly discuss how these findings may impact upon interpretations of populations of active galactic nuclei in the context of black hole spin and merger history.
ISM jets and outflows
1365-2966
1425-1434
Fender, R.
c802ddfc-25a3-4c0e-899d-11c405c705d1
Gallo, E.
6abacb20-399c-4d71-a4d5-9ef9aedccc67
Russell, David
22a37829-cbf4-4816-9fe7-bc503d27b259
Fender, R.
c802ddfc-25a3-4c0e-899d-11c405c705d1
Gallo, E.
6abacb20-399c-4d71-a4d5-9ef9aedccc67
Russell, David
22a37829-cbf4-4816-9fe7-bc503d27b259

Fender, R., Gallo, E. and Russell, David (2010) No evidence for black hole spin powering of jets in x-ray binaries. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 406 (3), 1425-1434. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16754.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this paper we take the reported measurements of black hole spin for black hole X-ray binaries, and compare them against measurements of jet power and speed across all accretion states in these systems. We find no evidence for any correlation between the properties of the jets and the reported spin measurements. These constraints are strongest in the hard X-ray state, which is associated with a continuous powerful jet. We are led to conclude that one or more of the following is correct: (i) the calculated jet power and speed measurements are wrong, (ii) the reported spin measurements are wrong, (iii) there is no strong dependence of the jet properties on black hole spin. In addition to this lack of observational evidence for a relation between black hole spin and jet properties in stellar mass black holes, we highlight the fact that there appear to be at least three different ways in which the jet power and/or radiative efficiency from a black hole X-ray binary may vary, two of which are certainly independent of spin because they occur in the same source on relatively short timescales, and the third which does not correlate with and reported measurements of black hole spin. We briefly discuss how these findings may impact upon interpretations of populations of active galactic nuclei in the context of black hole spin and merger history.

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More information

Published date: 29 March 2010
Additional Information: Imported from arXiv
Keywords: ISM jets and outflows

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 155437
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/155437
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: 85770cdf-995a-4af1-95c1-8cd76d7f9b24

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Date deposited: 27 May 2010 16:05
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:39

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Contributors

Author: R. Fender
Author: E. Gallo
Author: David Russell

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