Radio Spectral Index Analysis and Classes of Ejection in LS I +61 303

TL;DR

This study analyzes 6.7 years of radio spectral data from LS I +61 303, revealing dual outbursts with distinct spectral properties, supporting a shock-in-jet origin for the radio emission and linking it to accretion/ejection models.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spectral index analysis over multiple orbital cycles, confirming the shock-in-jet model and identifying two spectral evolution phases in LS I +61 303.

Findings

Radio outbursts consist of an optically thick and an optically thin phase.

Spectral evolution occurs twice per orbit, aligning with accretion/ejection models.

Radio emission likely originates from a jet, with variable TeV emission explained by shock-in-jet processes.

Abstract

LS I +61303 is a gamma-ray binary with periodic radio outbursts coincident with the orbital period of P=26.5 d. The origin of the radio emission is unclear,it could be due either to a jet, as in microquasars, or to the shock boundary between the Be star and a possible pulsar wind. We here analyze the radio spectral index over 6.7 yr from Green Bank Interferometer data at 2.2 GHz and 8.3 GHz. We find two new characteristics in the radio emission. The first characteristic is that the periodic outbursts indeed consist of two consecutive outbursts; the first outburst is optically thick, whereas the second outburst is optically thin. The spectrum of LS I +61 303 is well reproduced by the shock-in-jet model commonly used in the context of microquasars and AGNs: the optically thin spectrum is due to shocks caused by relativistic plasma ("transient jet") traveling through a pre-existing much slower steady flow ("steady jet"). This steady flow is responsible for the preceding optically thick spectrum. The second characteristic we find is that the observed spectral evolution, from optically thick to optically thin emission, occurs twice during the orbital period. We observed this occurrence at the orbital phase of the main 26.5 d outburst and also at an earlier phase, shifted by $\Delta \Phi \sim$ 0.3 (i.e almost 8 days before). We show that this result qualitatively and quantitatively agrees with the two-peak accretion/ejection model proposed in the past for LS I +61303. We conclude that the radio emission in LS I +61303 originates from a jet and suggest that the variable TeV emission comes from the usual Compton losses expected as an important by-product in the shock-in-jet theory.