Effects of differing X-ray colors on Color-Color-Intensity diagrams of accreting binaries

We compare the effects of different X-ray colors (as used in the literature) on the separation of different X-ray binary classes (systems containing black holes or pulsating/non-pulsating neutron stars) and states (hard-low; soft-high, etc.) in a 3-dimensional color-color-intensity space. We use data from a single instrument (MAXI/GSC), extracted in selected energy bands. We find that the position of a given source in the diagram is shifted for different colors but the geometry of the track made by each source through varying states remains similar. The separation of classes that persists despite differing X-ray colors suggests an universality in the physics driving the sources to their location in 3-d space; we suggest that two dominant factors affecting location of a source in CCI space are mass accretion rate and magnetic field strength. For separation of states within a class, clearly colors that extend to higher energies are better for sources with hard states and colors that extend to lower energies are better for sources having soft states. However, we find that certain colors fail to trace the entire track of sources in their soft states, irrespective of the energy range encompassed.