Hysteresis in X-ray Transient Spectral Transitions

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

We present hardness-intensity plots for several soft X-ray transients (the neutron star Aql X-1 and the black hole candidates 1748-288, 1859+226, 2012+381 and 1550-564) from pointed RXTE observations and RXTE All-Sky Monitor Observations. We show that in all cases for which there is good data, the hardness intensity diagrams over the course of the outburst cycle map out a loop, indicating that hysteresis is present and that the state transitions from hard-to-soft occur at a different luminosity than those from soft-to-hard. We show that this observation (1) rules out propeller effects as the sole cause of state transitions in Aql X-1 and (2) implies a common origin for the state transitions in accreting black holes and neutron stars. We discuss the implications for popular models of state transitions, such as the onset of an adiabatic or advection dominated accretion flow. We discuss the similarities between these results and the similar loop in the diagram of X-ray intensity versus radio intensity previously reported in GX 339-4.

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