Echoes in X-ray binaries; mapping the accretion flow

In X-ray binaries much of the optical/UV emission arises from X-rays reprocessed by material in the accretion disk, stream and the companion star. The resulting reprocessed variability will be delayed in time with respect to the X-ray variability by an amount depending on the position of the reprocessing regions. We can determine a range of time-delays present in the system. This time-delay transfer function can be used to `echo-map' the geometry of the reprocessing regions in the binary system. We present our modeling of this transfer function and show results from our echo-mapping campaign using X-ray lightcurves from RXTE, simultaneous with HST. In the X-ray transient, GRO j1655-40, shortly after the 1996 outburst, we find evidence for reprocessing in the outer regions of a thick accretion disk.

K O'Brien, K Horne · 2001