Accretion geometry in the hard state of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070

We study X-ray spectra from the outburst rise of the accreting black hole binary MAXI J1820+070. We find that models having the disk inclinations within those of either the binary or the jet imply significant changes of the accretion disk inner radius during the luminous part of the hard spectral st...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Zdziarski, Andrzej A., Dzielak, Marta A., Marco, Barbara de|||0000-0003-2743-6632
Format: article
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/354902
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/354902
https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abe7ef
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:X-Rays
Black holes (Astronomy)
Raigs X
Forats negres (Astronomia)
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física::Astronomia i astrofísica
Description
Summary:We study X-ray spectra from the outburst rise of the accreting black hole binary MAXI J1820+070. We find that models having the disk inclinations within those of either the binary or the jet imply significant changes of the accretion disk inner radius during the luminous part of the hard spectral state, with that radius changing from >100 to ~10 gravitational radii. The main trend is a decrease with the decreasing spectral hardness. Our analysis requires the accretion flow to be structured, with at least two components with different spectral slopes. The harder component dominates the bolometric luminosity and produces strong, narrow, X-ray reflection features. The softer component is responsible for the underlying broader reflection features. The data are compatible with the harder component having a large scale height, located downstream the disk truncation radius, and reflecting mostly from remote parts of the disk. The softer component forms a corona above the disk up to some transition radius. Our findings can explain the changes of the characteristic variability timescales, found in other works, as being driven by the changes of the disk characteristic radii.