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A Spectroscopic Angle on Central Engine Size Scales in Accreting Neutron Stars

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Trueba, N 
Miller, JM 
Kaastra, J 

Abstract

Analyses of absorption from disk winds and atmospheres in accreting compact objects typically treat the central emitting regions in these systems as point sources relative to the absorber. This assumption breaks down if the absorbing gas is located within few×1000⋅GM/c2, in which case a small component of the absorber's Keplerian motion contributes to the velocity-width of absorption lines. Here, we demonstrate how this velocity-broadening effect can be used to constrain the sizes of central engines in accreting compact objects via a simple geometric relationship, and develop a method for modeling this effect. We apply this method on the Chandra/HETG spectra of three ultra-compact and short period neutron star X-ray binaries in which evidence of gravitationally redshifted absorption, owing to an inner-disk atmosphere, has recently been reported. The significance of the redshift is above 5σ for XTE J1710$-281(thiswork)and4U1916-053,andisinconsistentwithvariousestimatesoftherelativeradialvelocityofeachbinary.Forourmostsensitivespectrum(XTEJ1710-281),weobtaina1\sigma$ upper bound of 310 km s−1 on the magnitude of this geometric effect and a central engine of size RCE<60 GM/c2 (or, <90 GM/c2 at the 3σ level). These initial constraints compare favorably to those obtained via microlensing in quasars and approach the sensitivity of constraints via relativistic reflection in neutron stars. This sensitivity will increase with further exposures, as well as the launch of future microcalorimeter and grating missions.

Description

Keywords

astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.HE

Journal Title

Astrophysical Journal

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0004-637X
1538-4357

Volume Title

925

Publisher

American Astronomical Society
Sponsorship
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/S000623/1)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) ERC (834203)