The luminous, hard state can't be MAD
The luminous, hard state can't be MAD
We present a straightforward argument for why the luminous, hard state of black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs) cannot always be associated with a magnetically arrested accretion disc (MAD). It relies on three core premises: 1) that the type-C quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) is best explained by Lense-Thirring (LT) precession of a tilted, inner, hot flow; 2) that observed optical and infrared (IR) QPOs with the same or lower frequency as the type-C QPO suggest the jet, too, must precess in these systems; and 3) that numerical simulations of MADs show that their strong magnetic fields promote alignment of the disc with the black hole and, thereby, suppress LT precession. If all three premises hold true, then, at least whenever the optical and IR QPOs are observed alongside the type-C QPO, these systems cannot be in the MAD state. Extending the argument further, if the type-C QPO is always associated with LT precession, then it would rule out MADs anytime this timing feature is seen, which covers nearly all BHXRBs when they are in the luminous, hard and hard-intermediate states.
astro-ph.HE, relativistic processes, X-rays: binaries, MHD, accretion, accretion discs
L82–L86
Fragile, P. Chris
f919dd22-c0fc-4415-ac5a-953b9a3b2c35
Chatterjee, Koushik
73ad0156-074b-49fa-b648-877839f15cb4
Ingram, Adam
01a02529-ad9f-4936-af5d-c200f88d4e53
Middleton, Matthew
f91b89d9-fd2e-42ec-aa99-1249f08a52ad
1 October 2023
Fragile, P. Chris
f919dd22-c0fc-4415-ac5a-953b9a3b2c35
Chatterjee, Koushik
73ad0156-074b-49fa-b648-877839f15cb4
Ingram, Adam
01a02529-ad9f-4936-af5d-c200f88d4e53
Middleton, Matthew
f91b89d9-fd2e-42ec-aa99-1249f08a52ad
Fragile, P. Chris, Chatterjee, Koushik, Ingram, Adam and Middleton, Matthew
(2023)
The luminous, hard state can't be MAD.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 525 (1), .
(doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slad099).
Abstract
We present a straightforward argument for why the luminous, hard state of black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs) cannot always be associated with a magnetically arrested accretion disc (MAD). It relies on three core premises: 1) that the type-C quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) is best explained by Lense-Thirring (LT) precession of a tilted, inner, hot flow; 2) that observed optical and infrared (IR) QPOs with the same or lower frequency as the type-C QPO suggest the jet, too, must precess in these systems; and 3) that numerical simulations of MADs show that their strong magnetic fields promote alignment of the disc with the black hole and, thereby, suppress LT precession. If all three premises hold true, then, at least whenever the optical and IR QPOs are observed alongside the type-C QPO, these systems cannot be in the MAD state. Extending the argument further, if the type-C QPO is always associated with LT precession, then it would rule out MADs anytime this timing feature is seen, which covers nearly all BHXRBs when they are in the luminous, hard and hard-intermediate states.
Text
2307.08820v1
- Author's Original
Text
The Luminous, Hard State Can't be mad
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
slad099
- Version of Record
Available under License Other.
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 July 2023
Published date: 1 October 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Thank you to Omer Blaes for the push to write this article and the Lorentz Center, Leiden, The Netherlands, for hosting the ‘Overcoming Fundamental Disconnects in our Understanding of Accreting Black Holes’ workshop, where this paper first really began to take shape. PCF is supported by the National Science Foundation through grant AST-1907850. KC is supported by the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University, which is funded by grants from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, and the Black Hole PIRE programme (NSF grant OISE-1743747). AI acknowledges support from the Royal Society. MM is supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council through grant ST/V001000/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
Keywords:
astro-ph.HE, relativistic processes, X-rays: binaries, MHD, accretion, accretion discs
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 480743
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/480743
ISSN: 1745-3925
PURE UUID: e6317c8e-16f6-40d4-af2d-2e6eb108027f
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Date deposited: 09 Aug 2023 16:58
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:01
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Author:
P. Chris Fragile
Author:
Koushik Chatterjee
Author:
Adam Ingram
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