ORBITAL PERIOD AND OUTBURST LUMINOSITY OF TRANSIENT LOW MASS X-RAY BINARIES
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030 (China)
- Department of Engineering Physics and Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China)
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)
In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the maximal luminosity of X-ray outburst and the orbital period in transient low mass X-ray binaries (or soft X-ray transients) observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in the past decade. We find that the maximal luminosity (3-200 keV) in Eddington units generally increases with increasing orbital period, which does not show a luminosity saturation but in general agrees with theoretical prediction. The peak luminosities in ultra-compact binaries might be higher than those with an orbital period of 2-4 hr, but more data are needed to make this claim. We also find that there is no significant difference in the 3-200 keV peak outburst luminosity between neutron star (NS) systems and black hole (BH) systems with orbital periods above 4 hr; however, there might be a significant difference at smaller orbital periods where only NS systems are observed and radiatively inefficient accretion flow is expected to work at low luminosities for BH accreters.
- OSTI ID:
- 21455119
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 718, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/620; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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