The thermal-radiative wind in the neutron star low mass X-ray binary GX 13+1

Abstract

We fit the observed high ionisation X-ray absorption lines in the neutron star binary GX13+1 with a full simulation of a thermal-radiative wind. This uses a radiation hydrodynamic code coupled to Monte Carlo radiation transfer to compute the observed line profiles from Hydrogen and Helium-like iron and Nickel, including all strong Kα and Kβ transitions. The wind is very strong as this object has a very large disc and is very luminous. The absorption lines from Fe Kα are strongly saturated as the ion columns are large, so the line equivalent widths (EWs) depend sensitively on the velocity structure. We additionally simulate the lines including isotropic turbulence at the level of the azimuthal and radial velocities. We fit these models to the Fe xxv and xxvi absorption lines seen in the highest resolution Chandra third order HETGS data. These data already rule out the addition of turbulence at the level of the radial velocity of ~500 km/s. The velocity structure predicted by the thermal-radiative wind alone is a fairly good match to the observed profile, with an upper limit to additional turbulence at the level of the azimuthal velocity of ~100 km/s. This gives stringent constraints on any remaining contribution from magnetic acceleration.

12pages, 13 figures, accepted by MNRAS

References in corpus (8)

• The magnetic nature of disk accretion onto black holes
• Black hole feedback in the luminous quasar PDS 456
• X-ray Spectral Study of the Photoionized Stellar Wind in Vela~X-1
• A connection between accretion state and $\text{Fe K absorption}$ in an accreting neutron star: black hole-like soft state winds?
• XMM-Newton observations reveal the disappearance of the wind in 4U 1630-47
• Coronae and Winds from Irradiated Disks in X-ray binaries
• Chandra X-ray spectroscopy of a clear dip in GX 13+1
• Thermal and radiation driving can produce observable disk winds in hard-state X-ray binaries

Cited by in corpus (10)

• What powers the wind from the black hole accretion disc in GRO J1655-40?
• X-ray polarisation properties of thermal-radiative disc winds in binary systems
• Discovery of a strong rotation of the X-ray polarization angle in the galactic burster GX 13+1
• New polarimetric study of the galactic X-ray burster GX 13+1
• A New Emulated Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer Disk-Wind Model: X-Ray Accretion Disk-wind Emulator -- XRADE
• Absorption lines from magnetically driven winds in X-ray binaries II: high resolution observational signatures expected from future X-ray observatories
• A different view of wind in X-ray binaries: The Accretion Disc Corona source 2S 0921-630
• Accretion disc winds in X-ray binaries
• A highly ionised outflow in the X-ray binary 4U 1624-49 detected with XRISM
• High count rate effects in event processing for XRISM/Resolve x-ray microcalorimeter