Pulsars, transients and relativistic astrophysics

Abstract:

© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. We have carried out radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of thermally driven accretion disc winds in low-mass X-ray binaries. Our main goal is to study the luminosity dependence of these outflows and compare with observations. The simulations span the range 0.04 ≤ L acc /L Edd ≤ 1.0 and therefore cover most of the parameter space in which disc winds have been observed. Using a detailed Monte Carlo treatment of ionization and radiative transfer, we confirm two key results found in earlier simulations that were carried out in the optically thin limit: (i) the wind velocity - and hence the maximum blueshift seen in wind-formed absorption lines - increases with luminosity; (ii) the large-scale wind geometry is quasi-spherical, but observable absorption features are preferentially produced along high-column equatorial sightlines. In addition, we find that (iii) the wind efficiency always remains approximately constant at skew4dotM-rm wind/skew4dotM-rm acc simeq 2, a behaviour that is consistent with observations. We also present synthetic Fe xxv and Fe xxvi absorption line profiles for our simulated disc winds in order to illustrate the observational implications of our results.

Abstract:

We present the results of an intensive multi-epoch radio frequency campaign on the energetic and nearby GRB 171010A with the Karl G. Janksy Very Large Array and Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array. We began observing GRB 171010A a day after its initial detection, and were able to monitor the temporal and spectral evolution of the source over the following weeks. The spectra and their evolution are compared to the canonical theories for broad-band GRB afterglows, with which we find a general agreement. There are, however, a number of features that are challenging to explain with a simple forward shock model, and we discuss possible reasons for these discrepancies. This includes the consideration of the existence of a reverse shock component, potential microphysical parameter evolution, and the effect of scintillation.