Gamma-ray astronomy

Abstract:

Abstract Blue asymmetries (“Blueshifts”) in the C iv 1550Å emission line are common in luminous quasars. If they are formed in winds, how much energy, momentum and mass do those winds transport? We address this question by considering how much mass must be supplied through the line-forming region to maintain a given density and ionization state. Using a combination of 1D analytic and 2D numerical models, we find that for blueshifted C iv lines to form in a wind, the wind must have mass outflow rates of ~50fV times the accretion rate, where fV ≤ 1 is the volume filling factor accounting for clumping. Our results therefore disfavour line formation in a smooth disc wind and point towards one of two scenarios: either the wind is clumpy, with required clumping factors suggestively close to those in hot star winds; alternatively, if the mass is instead swept up from the ambient medium, the wind need not be clumpy and MHD and radiative winds can provide the original source of momentum and energy. The power of the outflow depends on the square of the terminal velocity of the flow, v∞. If the wind is also the BAL outflow, with v∞ ~ 10, 000 km s−1, the wind power is significant and important for feedback. There are various caveats which moderate our conclusions, motivating i) a better theoretical understanding of wind driving and clump formation physics and ii) improved observational constraints on the physical conditions where the lines are formed.

Abstract:

We report multiwavelength studies of the transient EP250916a, detected by the Einstein Probe on 2025 September 16. Located at low Galactic latitude, the source exhibited a rapid X-ray brightening, reaching an unabsorbed 0.5–10 keV flux of (6.4 ± 0.1) × 10−10 erg cm−2 s−1, followed by a plateau and a two-stage decay lasting over 40 days. Swift/X-Ray Telescope (XRT) monitoring shows a persistently hard spectrum (Γ ≈ 1.6–2.2) with only modest softening during decay, while a Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observation confirms a hard-state continuum extending up to 70 keV. Timing analysis of XMM-Newton data reveals a weak quasiperiodic oscillation (QPO) at ∼13 Hz. No other coherent pulsations or thermonuclear bursts are detected. Broadband spectral modeling favors a nonthermal power-law continuum with partial-covering absorption and shows no significant thermal disk component. Optical imaging obtained with Nordic Optical Telescope, Las Campanas Observatory, and GaiaDR3 identifies two faint sources within the 2″ Swift/XRT positional uncertainty. A MeerKAT observation at 1.28 GHz yielded no radio counterpart, with a 3σ upper limit of 60 μJy beam−1. The combination of a long-lasting outburst, a hard nonthermal X-ray spectrum, a weak QPO detection, the absence of coherent timing features, and faint potential optical counterparts disfavors a stellar-flare or extragalactic origin and supports an accreting compact-object scenario. Comparisons with similar faint, hard-state transients place EP250916a within a growing population of low-luminosity, hard-state black hole X-ray binary candidates.

Abstract:

Abstract Radio emission during X-ray binary outbursts is dominated by synchrotron radiation from relativistic jets, but is usually studied through total-intensity diagnostics such as flux density, spectra, variability, and proper motion. Radio spectropolarimetry provides a complementary probe of the magneto-ionic plasma through Faraday rotation and depolarisation. When the Faraday rotating material is local to the source, these effects can constrain the jet plasma composition and mass content, but this approach is rarely applied to transient jetted sources. We present MeerKAT L-band spectropolarimetry of the black hole X-ray binary Swift J1727 during its 2023 outburst, focusing on the brightest radio flaring interval, when relativistic jets were being launched intermittently. Using multiple spectropolarimetric techniques, we identify transient Faraday-complex structure coincident with the major radio flares. The close temporal association with the flaring activity, together with the stability of the foreground Faraday screen, favours an origin local to the jet rather than in the ISM or in a separate local screen external to the emitting plasma. Since internal Faraday rotation is suppressed in a pure electron–positron plasma, the data favour a dominant electron–proton component. Interpreting the characteristic Faraday thickness as internal rotation, and anchoring the magnetic-field and size scales with synchrotron self-absorption arguments, we infer a characteristic Faraday-rotating mass of order Mrot ~ 1021 g, corresponding to only a small fraction, frot ~ 10−3, of the accreted mass available during the flare. These results show that time-domain spectropolarimetry can turn transient Faraday complexity into a diagnostic of jet composition, mass loading, and plasma evolution in X-ray binary outbursts, and potentially other transient jetted sources.