The Puzzling Superorbital Period Variation of the Low-mass X-ray Binary 4U 1820-30

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Chou, Yi, Wu, Jun-Lei, Chen, Bo-Chun, Chang, Wei-Yun
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Chou, Yi
Wu, Jun-Lei
Chen, Bo-Chun
Chang, Wei-Yun
author_facet Chou, Yi
Wu, Jun-Lei
Chen, Bo-Chun
Chang, Wei-Yun
contents Because of the previously observed stability of the 171-day period, the superorbital modulation of the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1820-30 was considered a consequence of a third star orbiting around the binary. This study aims to further verify this triple model by testing the stability of superorbital period using the light curves collected by X-ray sky monitoring/scanning telescopes from 1987 to 2023. Both power spectral and phase analysis results indicate a significant change in the superorbital period from 171 days to 167 days over this 36-year span. The evolution of the superorbital phase suggests that the superorbital period may have experienced an abrupt change between early 2001 and mid-2003 or changed gradually with a period derivative of $\dot P_{sup}=(-4.20 \pm 0.72) \times 10^{-4}$ day/day. We conclude that the superorbital period of 4U 1820-30 was not as stable as anticipated by the triple model, which strongly challenges this hypothesis. Instead, we propose an irradiation-induced mass transfer instability scenario to explain the superorbital modulation of 4U 1820-30.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_08451
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Puzzling Superorbital Period Variation of the Low-mass X-ray Binary 4U 1820-30
Chou, Yi
Wu, Jun-Lei
Chen, Bo-Chun
Chang, Wei-Yun
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Because of the previously observed stability of the 171-day period, the superorbital modulation of the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1820-30 was considered a consequence of a third star orbiting around the binary. This study aims to further verify this triple model by testing the stability of superorbital period using the light curves collected by X-ray sky monitoring/scanning telescopes from 1987 to 2023. Both power spectral and phase analysis results indicate a significant change in the superorbital period from 171 days to 167 days over this 36-year span. The evolution of the superorbital phase suggests that the superorbital period may have experienced an abrupt change between early 2001 and mid-2003 or changed gradually with a period derivative of $\dot P_{sup}=(-4.20 \pm 0.72) \times 10^{-4}$ day/day. We conclude that the superorbital period of 4U 1820-30 was not as stable as anticipated by the triple model, which strongly challenges this hypothesis. Instead, we propose an irradiation-induced mass transfer instability scenario to explain the superorbital modulation of 4U 1820-30.
title The Puzzling Superorbital Period Variation of the Low-mass X-ray Binary 4U 1820-30
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08451