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The thickness of accretion α-disks: Theory and observations

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Abstract

Observations of X-ray binaries indicate substantial half-thicknesses for the accretion disks in these systems (up to h/R ≈ 0.25, where h is the disk half-thickness and R its radius), while standard α accretion disks predict appreciably smaller half-thicknesses. We study the theoretical vertical structure of such disks using two independent numerical methods, and show that their maximum half-thicknesses in the subcritical regime cannot exceed h/R ≈ 0.1. We consider various reasons for the apparent increase in the disk thickness, the most probable of which is the presence of matter above the disk in the form of a hot corona that scatters hard radiation from the central source and inner parts of the disk. As a result, the observed thickness of the disk and the illumination of its outer parts effectively increase. This mechanism can also explain both the optical-to-X-ray flux ratio in these systems and the observed parameters of eclipsing X-ray binaries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kazan State University, ul. Lenina 18, Kazan, 420008, Tatarstan, Russia

    V. F. Suleimanov

  2. Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IAAT) of the Eberhard-Karls- University of Tubingen, Sand 1, D-72076, Tubingen, Germany

    V. F. Suleimanov

  3. Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Universitetskiĭ pr. 13, Moscow, 119899, Russia

    G. V. Lipunova & N. I. Shakura

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  1. V. F. Suleimanov
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  2. G. V. Lipunova
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  3. N. I. Shakura
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Original Russian Text © V.F. Suleimanov, G.V. Lipunova, N.I. Shakura, 2007, published in Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2007, Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 612–626.

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Suleimanov, V.F., Lipunova, G.V. & Shakura, N.I. The thickness of accretion α-disks: Theory and observations. Astron. Rep. 51, 549–562 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772907070049

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