Multi-wavelength fast timing in X-ray binaries
Abstract
Black holes drive the most powerful jets in the universe, from the kiloparsec-scale jets launched by the most massive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei, to the smaller-scale jets launched by their stellar-mass analogues in X-ray binaries. X-ray binaries are ideal jet/accretion laboratories as they are typically transient in nature, evolving from periods of inactivity into a bright out-bursting state lasting days to months. During an outburst, X-ray binaries emit across the electromagnetic spectrum, where jet emission dominates in the lower frequency bands (radio, sub-mm) and emission from the accretion flow dominates in the higher frequency bands (optical, X-ray). Time-domain observations now offer a promising new way to study accretion and jet physics in these systems. Through detecting and characterizing rapid flux variability in X-ray binaries across a wide range of frequency/energy bands (probing emission from different regions of the accretion flow and jet), we can measure properties that are difficult, if not impossible, to measure by traditional spectral and imaging methods (e.g., size scales, geometry, jet speeds, the sequence of events leading to jet launching). While variability studies in the X-ray bands are a staple in the X-ray binary community, there are many challenges that accompany such studies at longer wavelengths. However, with recent advances to observing techniques/instrumentation, the availability of new computational tools, and today's improved coordination capabilities, we are no longer limited by these challenges. In this talk, I will discuss new results from fast timing observations of Cygnus X-1 and MAXI J1820+070 in the sub-mm and radio bands, highlighting how we can directly connect variability properties to internal jet physics. Additionally, I will discuss future prospects for obtaining more of these invaluable data sets, and the key role that next-generation instruments will play in driving new discoveries through this science.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23515905T