Spectral analysis of ultraluminous X-ray pulsars with models of X-ray pulsars

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Kumar, Manish, Sharma, Rahul, Paul, Biswajit, Rana, Vikram
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Kumar, Manish
Sharma, Rahul
Paul, Biswajit
Rana, Vikram
author_facet Kumar, Manish
Sharma, Rahul
Paul, Biswajit
Rana, Vikram
contents A fraction of the Ultra Luminous X-ray (ULX) sources are known to be accreting neutron stars as they show coherent X-ray pulsations with pulse periods ranging from ~1-30 seconds. While initially thought to host intermediate-mass black holes, ULXs have since been recognized as a diverse class of objects, including ULX pulsars. These pulsars require models specifically tailored to account for their unique accretion physics, distinct from those used for Galactic black hole binaries. The X-ray spectra of all Galactic accreting X-ray pulsars (including sources in the Magellanic Clouds) are dominated by a high energy cut-off power-law and some of the sources show a soft excess, some emission lines, cyclotron absorption features, etc. In this work, we undertake a comprehensive analysis of the broadband X-ray spectra of five ULX pulsars using simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations and show that their X-ray spectra can be effectively described by spectral models, similar to those used for the local accretion-powered X-ray pulsars. A soft excess is detected in all the sources which is also consistent with the local X-ray pulsars that have low absorption column density. We have marginal detection or low upper limit on the presence of the iron K-alpha emission line from these sources, which is a key difference of the ULX pulsars with the local accreting X-ray pulsars. We discuss the implication of this on the nature of the binary companion and the accretion mechanism in the ULX pulsars.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_15764
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Spectral analysis of ultraluminous X-ray pulsars with models of X-ray pulsars
Kumar, Manish
Sharma, Rahul
Paul, Biswajit
Rana, Vikram
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
A fraction of the Ultra Luminous X-ray (ULX) sources are known to be accreting neutron stars as they show coherent X-ray pulsations with pulse periods ranging from ~1-30 seconds. While initially thought to host intermediate-mass black holes, ULXs have since been recognized as a diverse class of objects, including ULX pulsars. These pulsars require models specifically tailored to account for their unique accretion physics, distinct from those used for Galactic black hole binaries. The X-ray spectra of all Galactic accreting X-ray pulsars (including sources in the Magellanic Clouds) are dominated by a high energy cut-off power-law and some of the sources show a soft excess, some emission lines, cyclotron absorption features, etc. In this work, we undertake a comprehensive analysis of the broadband X-ray spectra of five ULX pulsars using simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations and show that their X-ray spectra can be effectively described by spectral models, similar to those used for the local accretion-powered X-ray pulsars. A soft excess is detected in all the sources which is also consistent with the local X-ray pulsars that have low absorption column density. We have marginal detection or low upper limit on the presence of the iron K-alpha emission line from these sources, which is a key difference of the ULX pulsars with the local accreting X-ray pulsars. We discuss the implication of this on the nature of the binary companion and the accretion mechanism in the ULX pulsars.
title Spectral analysis of ultraluminous X-ray pulsars with models of X-ray pulsars
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15764