SMC X-3: the closest ultraluminous X-ray source powered   by a neutron star with non-dipole magnetic field

Tsygankov, Sergey S.; Doroshenko, V.; Lutovinov, A.; Mushtukov, Alexander A.; Poutanen, Juri

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201730553

Cited by 99 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…In this case, we could have a situation where the cyclotron line is produced close to the NS in a stronger magnetic field affected by the multipoles, while the disk only feels the weaker dipole field away from the NS, allowing the matter to come closer to the NS. We note that Tsygankov et al (2017) invoked the same argument to explain the small magnetosphere size in ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar SMC X-3.…”

Section: Inner Disk Radius In Gro J1744−28mentioning

confidence: 52%

Evidence for the radiation-pressure dominated accretion disk in bursting pulsar GRO J1744−28 using timing analysis

Mönkkönen

Tsygankov

Mushtukov

et al. 2019

A&A

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The X-ray pulsar GRO J1744−28 is a unique source which shows both pulsations and type-II X-ray bursts, allowing studies of the interaction of the accretion disk with the magnetosphere at huge mass accretion rates exceeding 10 19 g s −1 during its super-Eddington outbursts. The magnetic field strength in the source, B ≈ 5 × 10 11 G, is known from the cyclotron absorption feature discovered in the energy spectrum around 4.5 keV. Here, we explore the flux variability of the source in context of interaction of its magnetosphere with the radiation-pressure dominated accretion disk. Particularly, we present the results of the analysis of noise power density spectra (PDS) using the observations of the source in 1996-1997 by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). Accreting compact objects commonly exhibit a broken power-law shape of the PDS with a break corresponding to the Keplerian orbital frequency of matter at the innermost disk radius. The observed frequency of the break can thus be used to estimate the size of the magnetosphere. We found, however, that the observed PDS of GRO J1744−28 differs dramatically from the canonical shape. Furthermore, the observed break frequency appears to be significantly higher than what is expected based on the magnetic field estimated from the cyclotron line energy. We argue that these observational facts can be attributed to the existence of the radiation-pressure dominated region in the accretion disk at luminosities above ∼2×10 37 erg s −1 . We discuss a qualitative model for the PDS formation in such disks, and show that its predictions are consistent with our observational findings. The presence of the radiation-pressure dominated region can also explain the observed weak luminosity-dependence of the inner radius, and we argue that the small inner radius can be explained by a quadrupole component dominating the magnetic field of the neutron star.

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Section: Inner Disk Radius In Gro J1744−28mentioning

confidence: 52%

Evidence for the radiation-pressure dominated accretion disk in bursting pulsar GRO J1744−28 using timing analysis

Mönkkönen

Tsygankov

Mushtukov

et al. 2019

A&A

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“…From 2016 August to 2017 March, SMC X-3 underwent a superEddington outburst with a peak luminosity of ∼ 10 39 erg/s, making it as the most luminous giant outburst reported in BeXRBs (Weng et al 2016(Weng et al , 2017Townsend et al 2017;Tsygankov et al 2017). Investigating the follow-up Swift monitoring observations, we found that the pulse profile exhibited a doublepeak profile at the high luminosity state and then merging into the single peak at the low luminosity (Weng et al 2017, hereafter Paper I).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…SMC X-3 was visited by Nustar at a high luminosity state during the 2016-2017 giant outburst rise (on 2016 August 13), one XMM-Newton (2016 October 14) and the second Nustar observations (2016 November 12) were subsequently carried out at the intermediate luminosity level during the decay of outburst (Table 1). The phase-averaged spectrum of XMM-Newton has been reported in Paper I, and the Nustar observations have been partially analyzed in Tsygankov et al (2017). Since both XMM-Newton and Nustar have the large effective areas, high time resolution and moderate energy resolution, we present a detailed pulse phaseresolved analysis on these high quality data to explore the nature of accretion flows in this extreme outburst.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulse phase-resolved analysis of SMC X-3 during its 2016–2017 super-Eddington outburst

Zhao

Weng

et al. 2018

Astrophys Space Sci

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The Be X-ray pulsar SMC X-3 underwent an extra long and ultraluminous giant outburst from 2016 August to 2017 March. The peak X-ray luminosity is up to ∼ 10 39 erg/s, suggesting a mildly superEddington accretion onto the strongly magnetized neutron star. It therefore bridges the gap between the Galactic Be/X-ray binaries (L peak X ≤ 10 38 erg/s) and the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars (L peak X ≥ 10 40 erg/s) found in nearby galaxies. A number of observations were carried out to observe the outburst. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive phase-resolved analysis on the high quality data obtained with the Nustar and XMM-Newton, which were observed at a high and intermediate luminosity levels. In order to get a better understanding on the evolution of the whole extreme burst, we take the Swift results at the low luminosity state into account as well. At the early stage of outburst, the source shows a double-peak pulse profile, the second main peak approaches the first one and merges into the single peak at the low luminosity. The second main peak vanishes beyond 20 keV, and its radiation becomes much softer than that of the first main peak. The line widths of fluorescent iron line vary dramatically with phases, indicating a complicated geometry of accretion flows. In contrast to the case at low luminosity, the pulse fraction increases with the photon energy. The significant small pulse fraction detected below 1 keV can be interpreted as the existence of an additional thermal component located at far away from the central neutron star.

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“…As the accretion rate increases, radiation pressure becomes important. For pulsar-scale magnetic fields, µ ∼ 10 30 G cm 3 , this happens at luminosities of a few times L Edd , which are quite reachable, for instance, in Be/X-ray binaries during strong outbursts like the recent super-Eddington outburst of SMC X-3 (Townsend et al 2017;Tsygankov et al 2017). As we have shown in CAP (see eq.…”

Section: Magnetospheric Radius For Different Accretion Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Super-Eddington accretion discs with advection and outflows around magnetized neutron stars

Chashkina

Lipunova

Abolmasov

et al. 2019

A&A

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We present a model for a super-Eddington accretion disc around a magnetized neutron star taking into account advection of heat and the mass loss by the wind. The model is semi-analytical and predicts radial profiles of all basic physical characteristics of the accretion disc. The magnetospheric radius is found as an eigenvalue of the problem. When the inner disc is in radiation-pressuredominated regime but does not reach its local Eddington limit, advection is mild, and the radius of the magnetosphere depends weakly on the accretion rate. Once approaching the local Eddington limit, the disc becomes advection-dominated, and the scaling for the magnetospheric radius with the mass accretion rate is similar to the classical Alfvén relation. Allowing for the mass loss in a wind leads to an increase of the magnetospheric radius. Our model may be applied to a large variety of magnetized neutron stars accreting close to or above their Eddington limits: ultra-luminous X-ray pulsars, Be/X-ray binaries in outbursts, and other systems. In the context of our model we discuss the observational properties of NGC 5907 X-1, the brightest ultra-luminous pulsar known so far, and NGC 300 ULX-1 which is apparently a Be/X-ray binary experiencing a very bright super-Eddington outburst.

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SMC X-3: the closest ultraluminous X-ray source powered by a neutron star with non-dipole magnetic field

Cited by 99 publications

References 50 publications

Evidence for the radiation-pressure dominated accretion disk in bursting pulsar GRO J1744−28 using timing analysis

Evidence for the radiation-pressure dominated accretion disk in bursting pulsar GRO J1744−28 using timing analysis

Pulse phase-resolved analysis of SMC X-3 during its 2016–2017 super-Eddington outburst

Super-Eddington accretion discs with advection and outflows around magnetized neutron stars

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