Speaker
Description
Black hole X-ray binaries in outburst launch discrete, large-scale jet ejections which can propagate to parsec scales. The kinematics of these ejecta appear to be well described by relativistic blast wave models originally devised for gamma-ray burst afterglows. In kinematic-only modelling a crucial degeneracy prevents the ejecta energy and interstellar medium density from being accurately determined.
I will present the first joint Bayesian modelling of the lightcurves and kinematics of a large-scale jet ejection from the X-ray binary MAXI J1535-571. We find that the ejecta is launched perpendicular to the disc with an initial energy of $E_0 \approx 5 \times 10^{43} \, {\rm erg}$, and propagates into an underdense $n < 10^{-4} \, {\rm cm^{-3}}$ interstellar environment. We find that a long-lived reverse shock powers the bright, early ($t_{\rm obs} < 100$ days) ejecta emission. Further analysis suggests long lived reverse shocks are likely ubiquitous for outflows with moderate Lorentz factors, making them a unique laboratory for shock acceleration physics. This work lays the foundation for future parameter estimation studies using all available data of X-ray binary jet ejecta.
| Contribution | Oral talk |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | University of Oxford |
| alexander.cooper@physics.ox.ac.uk |
