Testing models of X-ray reflection from irradiated disks

Abstract

We model the reflected spectrum expected from localized magnetic flares above an ionised accretion disk. We concentrate on the case of very luminous magnetic flares above a standard accretion disk extending down to the last stable orbit, and use a simple parameterisation to allow for an X-ray driven wind. Full disk spectra including relativistic smearing are calculated. When fit with the constant density reflection models, these spectra give both a low reflected fraction and a small line width as seen in the hard spectra from Galactic Black Hole Binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei. We fit our calculated spectra to real data from the low/hard state of Nova Muscae and Cyg X-1 and show that these models give comparable ${\chi }^2$ to those obtained from the constant density reflection models which implied a truncated disk. This explicitally demonstrates that the data are consistent with either magnetic flares above an ionized disk extending down to the last stable orbit around a black hole, or with non-ionized, truncated disks.

8 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• Can the soft excess in AGN originate from disc reflection?
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• On the hard X-ray spectra of radio-loud active galaxies
• The response of the Fe Kαline to changes in the X-ray illumination of accretion discs
• Full radiative coupling in two-phase models for accreting black holes
• On the accretion geometry of Cyg X-1 in the low/hard state
• Simulations of X-ray spectral/timing properties in a propagation model of variability of accreting black holes
• The high energy emission of GRO J1655-40 as revealed with INTEGRAL spectroscopy of the 2005 outburst
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• Flare-induced fountains and buried flares in AGN
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• The bright black hole X-ray binary 4U 1543--47 during 2021 outburst: a thick accretion disk inflated by high luminosity