The low-spin black hole in LMC X-3

The low-spin black hole in LMC X-3

Building upon a new dynamical model for the X-ray binary LMC X-3, we measure the spin of its black hole (BH) primary via the continuum-fitting method. We consider over one thousand thermal-state Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer X-ray spectra of LMC X-3. Using a large subset of these spectra, we constrain...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Steiner, James F., McClintock, Jeffrey E., Orosz, Jerome A., Bailyn, Charles D., Kolehmainen, Mari, Straub, Odele, Remillard, Ronald A
Other Authors: MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: IOP Publishing 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92991
Description
Summary:Building upon a new dynamical model for the X-ray binary LMC X-3, we measure the spin of its black hole (BH) primary via the continuum-fitting method. We consider over one thousand thermal-state Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer X-ray spectra of LMC X-3. Using a large subset of these spectra, we constrain the spin parameter of the BH to be a[subscript *] = 0.25 [+0.20 over -0.29] (90% confidence). Our estimate of the uncertainty in a* takes into account a wide range of systematic errors. We discuss evidence for a correlation between a BH's spin and the complexity of its X-ray spectrum.

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