Higginbottom, Nick, Knigge, Christian, Long, Knox S., Matthews, James H. and Parkinson, Edward J. (2019) The luminosity dependence of thermally-driven disc winds in low-mass X-ray binaries. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 484 (4), 4635-4644. (doi:10.1093/mnras/stz310).
Abstract
We have carried out radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of thermally-driven accretion disc winds in low-mass X-ray binaries. Our main goal is to study the luminosity dependence of these outflows and compare with observations. The simulations span the range 0.04 ≤ Lacc/LEdd ≤ 1.0 and therefore cover most of the parameter space in which disc winds have been observed. Using a detailed Monte Carlo treatment of ionization and radiative transfer, we confirm two key results found in earlier simulations that were carried out in the optically thin limit: (i) the wind velocity -- and hence the maximum blueshift seen in wind-formed absorption lines -- increases with luminosity; (ii) the large-scale wind geometry is quasi-spherical, but observable absorption features are preferentially produced along high-column equatorial sightlines. In addition, we find that (iii) the wind efficiency always remains approximately constant at Mwind/Macc ≃ 2, a behaviour that is consistent with observations. We also present synthetic Fe XXV and Fe XXVI absorption line profiles for our simulated disc winds in order to illustrate the observational implications of our results.
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- Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering (pre 2018 reorg) > Physics & Astronomy (pre 2018 reorg)
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School of Physics and Astronomy > Physics & Astronomy (pre 2018 reorg) - Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Physics and Astronomy > Astronomy Group
School of Physics and Astronomy > Astronomy Group
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