Gamma ray attenuation in X-ray binaries: An application to LSI +61 303

TL;DR

This paper models gamma-ray attenuation in the LSI +61 303 binary system, constraining the nature of the compact object and the system's parameters, and discusses the role of attenuation in observed gamma-ray modulation.

Contribution

It introduces a gamma-ray attenuation model applied to LSI +61 303, providing new constraints on the compact object's mass and circumstellar matter density.

Findings

The compact object likely has a mass >2.5 solar masses, indicating a black hole.

Attenuation alone cannot fully explain the gamma-ray modulation.

The derived column density conflicts with X-ray data, questioning attenuation's role.

Abstract

The X-ray binary LSI +61 303, consisting of a main sequence Be star and a compact object has been detected in the TeV range with MAGIC and VERITAS, and showed a clear intensity modulation as a function of the orbital phase. We describe a gamma-ray attenuation model and apply it to this system. Our first result is that interaction of high energy photons with the background radiation produced by the main sequence star alone does not account for the observed modulation. We then include interactions between very high energy radiation and matter, and are able to constrain fundamental parameters of the system such as the mass of the compact object and the density of circumstellar matter around the Be star. In our analysis of the TeV data, we find that the compact object has mass $M_2>2.5M_{\odot}$ at the 99% confidence level, implying it is most likely a black hole. However, we find a column density which conflicts with results from X-ray observations, suggesting that attenuation may not play an important role in the modulation.