Study of the reflection spectrum of the bright atoll source GX 3+1 with NuSTAR

Abstract

We report on the \nustar{} observation of the atoll type neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary GX~3+1 performed on 17 October 2017. The source was found in a soft X-ray spectral state with $3-70$keV luminosity of $L_{\text{X}}\sim 3\times 10^{37}$ ergs s${}^{-1}$ ($\sim 16\%$ of the Eddington luminosity), assuming a distance of 6 kpc. A positive correlation between intensity and hardness ratio suggests that the source was in the banana branch during this observation. The broadband $3-70$keV \nustar{} spectral data can be described by a two-component continuum model consisting of a disk blackbody ($k{T}_{\text{disc}}\sim 1.8$keV) and a single temperature blackbody model ($k{T}_{\text{bb}}\sim 2.7$keV). The spectrum shows a clear and robust indication of relativistic reflection from the inner disc which is modelled with a self-consistent relativistic reflection model. The accretion disc is viewed at an inclination of $i\simeq 22^{\circ }-26^{\circ }$ and extended close to the NS, down to $R_{\text{in}}=(1.2-1.8)R_{\text{ISCO}}(\simeq 6.1-9.1R_g\text{or}14-20.5$ km) which allows an upper limit on the NS radius ($\le 13.5$ km). Based on the measured flux and the mass accretion rate, the maximum radial extension for the boundary layer is estimated to be $\sim 6.3R_g$ from the NS surface. However, if the disc is not truncated by the boundary layer but by the magnetosphere, an estimated upper limit on the polar magnetic field would be of $B\le 6\times 10^8$ G.

arXiv comment10 pages, 6 Figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 2019 June 12

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