Suzaku Observation of the Black Hole Candidate MAXI J1836-194 in a Hard/Intermediate Spectral State

Abstract

We report on a Suzaku observation of the newly discovered X-ray binary MAXI J1836-194. The source is found to be in the hard/intermediate spectral state and displays a clear and strong relativistically broadened iron emission line. We fit the spectra with a variety of phenomenological, as well as physically motivated disk reflection models, and find that the breadth and strength of the iron line is always characteristic of emission within a few gravitational radii around a black hole. This result is independent of the continuum used and strongly points toward the central object in MAXI J1836-194 being a stellar mass black hole rotating with a spin of $a=0.88\pm 0.03$ (90% confidence). We discuss this result in the context of spectral state definitions, physical changes (or lack thereof) in the accretion disk and on the potential importance of the accretion disk corona in state transitions.

11 pages, 9 Figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (30)

• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• Modelling the behaviour of accretion flows in X-ray binaries
• Relativistic X-ray Lines from the Inner Accretion Disks Around Black Holes
• X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. I. Constant density atmospheres
• Broad emission lines for negatively spinning black holes
• The Constant Inner-Disk Radius of LMC X-3: A Basis for Measuring Black Hole Spin
• A Long, Hard Look at the Low-Hard State in Accreting Black Holes
• The Spin of the Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 3783
• The Spin of the Black Hole Microquasar XTE J1550-564 via the Continuum-Fitting and Fe-Line Methods
• Broad iron K-alpha emission lines as a diagnostic of black hole spin
• Three-Dimensional Simulations of Magnetized Thin Accretion Disks around Black Holes: Stress in the Plunging Region
• Relativistic iron emission lines in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries as probes of neutron star radii
• A Determination of the Spin of the Black Hole Primary in LMC X-1
• A systematic look at the Very High and Low/Hard state of GX 339-4: Constraining the black hole spin with a new reflection model
• XMM-Newton study of the complex and variable spectrum of NGC 4051
• Broad relativistic iron emission line observed in SAX J1808.4-3658
• Determination of the X-ray reflection emissivity profile of 1H 0707-495
• X-ray reflection in accreting stellar-mass black hole systems
• X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models.II. Diagnostic tools for X-ray observations
• Initial Measurements of Black Hole Spin in GX 339-4 from Suzaku Spectroscopy
• Evidence of a Broad Relativistic Iron Line from the Neutron Star Low-Mass X-ray Binary Serpens X-1
• XMM-Newton observations of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 335 in an historical low X-ray flux state
• A relativistically smeared spectrum in the neutron star X-ray Binary 4U 1705-44: Looking at the inner accretion disc with X-ray spectroscopy
• A reflection origin for the soft and hard X-ray excess of Ark 120
• On Relativistic Disk Spectroscopy in Compact Objects with X-ray CCD Cameras
• Multi-state observations of the Galactic Black Hole XTE J1752-223: Evidence for an intermediate black hole spin
• X-ray spectral variability in PG1535+547: the changing-look of a 'soft X-ray weak' AGN
• The Angular Momenta of Neutron Stars and Black Holes as a Window on Supernovae
• X-ray spectral variability in NGC 3783
• On the peculiar properties of the narrow-line quasar PG 1543+489

Cited by in corpus (39)

• Measuring Black Hole Spin using X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy
• WATCHDOG: A Comprehensive All-Sky Database of Galactic Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Testing black hole candidates with electromagnetic radiation
• Observational Constraints on Black Hole Spin
• The Masses and Spins of Neutron Stars and Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• Towards precision measurements of accreting black holes using X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• Jet Power and Black Hole Spin: Testing an Empirical Relationship and Using it to Predict the Spins of Six Black Holes
• Astrophysical Black Holes: A Compact Pedagogical Review
• Theory and Diagnostics of Hot Star Mass Loss
• X-ray Spectra from MHD Simulations of Accreting Black Holes
• The accretion-ejection coupling in the black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1836-194
• A Swift survey of accretion onto stellar-mass black holes
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Observations of NGC 1365: Extreme Absorption Variability and a Constant Inner Accretion Disk
• Testing the no-hair theorem with the continuum-fitting and the iron line methods: a short review
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations of Black Holes in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• The Disk Wind in the Rapidly Spinning Stellar-Mass Black Hole 4U 1630-472 Observed with NuSTAR
• Revealing accretion onto black holes: X-ray reflection throughout three outbursts of GX 339-4
• An evolving compact jet in the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1836-194
• Accretion flow dynamics of MAXI J1836-194 during its 2011 outburst from TCAF solution
• Radio monitoring of the hard state jets in the 2011 outburst of MAXI J1836-194
• On the Role of the Accretion Disk in Black Hole Disk-Jet Connections
• A Systematic View of Ten New Black Hole Spins
• Spectral differences between the jets in `radio loud' and `radio quiet' hard state black hole binaries
• A dichotomy between the hard state spectral properties of black hole and neutron star X-ray~binaries
• The face-on disk of MAXI J1836-194
• Evidence of Light-Bending Effects and its implication for spectral state transitions
• SWIFT J1910.2-0546: A possible black hole binary with a retrograde spin or truncated disk
• Difficulties of Quantitative Tests of the Kerr-Hypothesis with X-Ray Observations of Mass Accreting Black Holes
• What is on Tap? The Role of Spin in Compact Objects and Relativistic Jets
• A test of the nature of the Fe K Line in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1
• An outburst scenario for the X-ray spectral variability in 3C 111
• High-density reflection spectroscopy of black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state
• Correlating spectral and timing properties in the evolving jet of the micro blazar MAXI J1836-194
• Inference on Disk-Jet Connection of MAXI J1836-194: Analysis with the TCAF Solution
• A detailed study on the reflection component for the Black Hole Candidate MAXI J1836-194
• Disk-jet coupling changes as a possible indicator for outbursts from GX 339-4 remaining within the X-ray hard state
• Accreting Black Holes
• Massive open star clusters using the VVV survey IV. WR 62-2, a new very massive star in the core of the VVV CL041 cluster
• Accretion Geometry of Black Hole X-ray Binaries: Insights from X-ray Observations