Takafumi Hori

Repetitive patterns in rapid optical variations in the nearby black-hole binary V404 Cygni.

How black holes accrete surrounding matter is a fundamental yet unsolved question in astrophysics. It is generally believed that matter is absorbed into black holes via accretion disks, the state of which depends primarily on the mass-accretion rate. When this rate approaches the critical rate (the Eddington limit), thermal instability is supposed to occur in the inner disk, causing repetitive patterns of large-amplitude X-ray variability (oscillations) on timescales of minutes to hours. In fact, such oscillations have been observed only in sources with a high mass-accretion rate, such as GRS 1915+105 (refs 2, 3). These large-amplitude, relatively slow timescale, phenomena are thought to have physical origins distinct from those of X-ray or optical variations with small amplitudes and fast timescales (less than about 10 seconds) often observed in other black-hole binaries—for example, XTE J1118+480 (ref. 4) and GX 339−4 (ref. 5). Here we report an extensive multi-colour optical photometric data set of V404 Cygni, an X-ray transient source containing a black hole of nine solar masses (and a companion star) at a distance of 2.4 kiloparsecs (ref. 8). Our data show that optical oscillations on timescales of 100 seconds to 2.5 hours can occur at mass-accretion rates more than ten times lower than previously thought. This suggests that the accretion rate is not the critical parameter for inducing inner-disk instabilities. Instead, we propose that a long orbital period is a key condition for these large-amplitude oscillations, because the outer part of the large disk in binaries with long orbital periods will have surface densities too low to maintain sustained mass accretion to the inner part of the disk. The lack of sustained accretion—not the actual rate—would then be the critical factor causing large-amplitude oscillations in long-period systems.

THE ACCRETION DISK AND IONIZED ABSORBER OF THE 9.7 hr DIPPING BLACK HOLE BINARY MAXI J1305–704

We report the results from X-ray studies of the newly discovered black hole candidate MAXI J1305–704 based on Suzaku and Swift observations in the low/hard and high/soft states, respectively. The long Suzaku observation shows two types of clear absorption dips, both of which recur on a dip interval of 9.74 ± 0.04 hr, which we identify with the orbital period. There is also partially ionized absorption in the nondip (persistent) emission in both the high/soft state and, very unusually, the low/hard state. However, this absorption (in both states) has substantially lower ionization than that seen in other high inclination systems, where the material forms a homogeneous disk wind. Here instead the absorption is most likely associated with clumpy, compact structures associated with the dipping material, which we see uniquely in this source likely because we view it at a very large inclination angle. A large inclination angle is also favored, together with a low black hole mass, to explain the high disk temperature seen in the fairly low luminosity high/soft state, as Doppler boosting enhances the disk temperature at high inclination. The disk radius inferred from these data is significantly smaller than that of the soft component seen in the low/hard state, supporting models where the disk is truncated at low luminosities. We find, however, that the lack of variability power on timescales of ~50 s in the Suzaku low/hard state data is difficult to explain, even with a low-mass black hole.

SUZAKU observation of the black hole binary 4U 1630-47 in the very high state.

We report the results from an X-ray and near-infrared observation of the Galactic black hole binary 4U 1630--47 in the very high state, performed with {it Suzaku} and IRSF around the peak of the 2012 September-October outburst. The X-ray spectrum is approximated by a steep power law, with photon index of 3.2, identifying the source as being in the very high state. A more detailed fit shows that the X-ray continuum is well described by a multi-color disc, together with thermal and non-thermal Comptonization. The inner disc appears slightly truncated by comparison with a previous high/soft state of this source, even taking into account energetic coupling between the disc and corona, although there are uncertainties due to the dust scattering correction. The near-infrared fluxes are higher than the extrapolated disc model, showing that there is a contribution from irradiation in the outer disk and/or the companion star at these wavelengths. Our X-ray spectra do not show the Doppler shifted iron emission lines indicating a baryonic jet which were seen four days previously in an XMM-Newton observation, despite the source being in a similar state. There are also no significant absorption lines from highly ionized irons as are seen in the previous high/soft state data. We show that the increased source luminosity is not enough on its own to make the wind so highly ionized as to be undetectable. This shows that the disc wind has changed in terms of its launch radius and/or density compared to the high/soft state.

Spectral and timing properties of the black hole X-ray binary H1743–322 in the low/hard state studied with Suzaku

We report on the results from Suzaku observations of the Galactic black hole X-ray binary H1743–322 in the low/hard state during its outburst in 2012 October. We appropriately take into account the effects of dust scattering to accurately analyze the X-ray spectra. The time-averaged spectra in the 1-200 keV band are dominated by a hard power-law component of a photon index of ≈1.6 with a high-energy cutoff at ≈60 keV, which is well described with the Comptonization of the disk emission by the hot corona. We estimate the inner disk radius from the multi-color disk component, and find that it is 1.3-2.3 times larger than the radius in the high/soft state. This suggests that the standard disk was not extended to the innermost stable circular orbit. A reflection component from the disk is detected with R = Ω/2π ≈ 0.6 (Ω is the solid angle). We also successfully estimate the stable disk component independent of the time-averaged spectral modeling by analyzing short-term spectral variability on a ~1 s timescale. A weak low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation at 0.1-0.2 Hz is detected, whose frequency is found to correlate with the X-ray luminosity and photon index. This result may be explained by the evolution of the disk truncation radius.

DENSE OPTICAL AND NEAR-INFRARED MONITORING OF CTA 102 DURING HIGH STATE IN 2012 WITH OISTER: DETECTION OF INTRA-NIGHT “ORPHAN POLARIZED FLUX FLARE”

CTA 102, classified as a flat spectrum radio quasar at z = 1.037, produced an exceptionally bright optical flare in 2012 September. Following the Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of enhanced γ-ray activity, we closely monitored this source in the optical and near-infrared bands for the 10 subsequent nights using 12 telescopes in Japan and South Africa. On MJD 56197 (2012 September 27, four to five days after the peak of bright γ-ray flare), polarized flux showed a transient increase, while total flux and polarization angle (PA) remained almost constant during the orphan polarized-flux flare. We also detected an intra-night and prominent flare on MJD 56202. The total and polarized fluxes showed quite similar temporal variations, but the PA again remained constant during the flare. Interestingly, the PAs during the two flares were significantly different from the jet direction. The emergence of a new emission component with a high polarization degree (PD) up to 40% would be responsible for the observed two flares, and such a high PD indicates the presence of a highly ordered magnetic field at the emission site. We argue that the well-ordered magnetic field and even the observed directions of the PA, which is grossly perpendicular to the jet, are reasonably accounted for by transverse shock(s) propagating down the jet.

Hard X-ray luminosity function of tidal disruption events: First results from the MAXI extragalactic survey

We derive the first hard X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of stellar tidal disruption events (TDEs) by supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which gives an occurrence rate of TDEs per unit volume as a function of peak luminosity and redshift, utilizing an unbiased sample observed by the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI). On the basis of the light curves characterized by a power-law decay with an index of

Suzaku spectroscopy of the neutron star transient 4U 1608–52 during its outburst decay.

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Erratum : “Suzaku observation of the black hole binary 4U 1630-47 in the very high state” (2014, ApJ, 790, 20).

, a systematic search using the MAXI data in the first 37 months detected four TDEs, all of which have been found in the literature. To formulate the TDE XLF, we consider the mass function of SMBHs, that of disrupted stars, the specific TDE rate as a function of SMBH mass, and the fraction of TDEs with relativistic jets. We perform an unbinned maximum likelihood fit to the MAXI TDE list and check the consistency with the observed TDE rate in the ROSAT all sky survey. The results suggest that the intrinsic fraction of the jet-accompanying events is

Discovery of Repetitive Optical Variation Patterns from the Accretion Disk During the 2015 Outbursts of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary V404 Cyg

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Wide-band X-ray Studies of Inner Disc Structure in Galactic Black Hole Binaries

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