Evidence for Disk Truncation at Low Accretion States of the Black Hole Binary MAXI J1820+070 Observed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton

Abstract

We present results from NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of the new black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 at low accretion rates (below 1% of the Eddington luminosity). We detect a narrow Fe K$\alpha$ emission line, in contrast to the broad and asymmetric Fe K$\alpha$ line profiles commonly present in black hole binaries at high accretion rates. The narrow line, with weak relativistic broadening, indicates that the Fe K$\alpha$ line is produced at a large disk radius. Fitting with disk reflection models assuming standard disk emissivity finds a large disk truncation radius (a few tens to a few hundreds of gravitational radii, depending on the disk inclination). In addition, we detect a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) varying in frequency between $11.6\pm 0.2$~mHz and $2.8\pm 0.1$~mHz. The very low QPO frequencies suggest a large size for the optically-thin Comptonization region according to the Lense-Thirring precession model, supporting that the accretion disk recedes from the ISCO and is replaced by advection-dominated accretion flow at low accretion rates. We also discuss the possibility of an alternative accretion geometry that the narrow Fe K$\alpha$ line is produced by a lamppost corona with a large height illuminating the disk.

arXiv comment8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

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• Physical origin of the nonphysical spin evolution of MAXI J1820+070
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