On the determination of the spin of the black hole in Cyg X-1 from X-ray reflection spectra

TL;DR

This study measures the black hole spin in Cygnus X-1 using X-ray reflection spectra, finding a high spin value of approximately 0.97 and analyzing the accretion disc's properties in the strong gravity regime.

Contribution

It provides a precise measurement of the black hole spin and disc inclination using reflection modeling, confirming previous estimates and exploring the emissivity profile in the strong gravity regime.

Findings

Black hole spin in Cyg X-1 is approximately 0.97.

Inner disc radius lies within 2 gravitational radii.

Emissivity profile steepens within 2r_g in strong gravity.

Abstract

The spin of Cygnus X-1 is measured by fitting reflection models to Suzaku data covering the energy band 0.9-400 keV. The inner radius of the accretion disc is found to lie within 2 gravitational radii (r_g=GM/c^2) and a value for the dimensionless black hole spin is obtained of 0.97^{+0.014}_{-0.02}. This agrees with recent measurements using the continuum fitting method by Gou et al. and of the broad iron line by Duro et al. The disc inclination is measured at 23.7^{+6.7}_{-5.4} deg, which is consistent with the recent optical measurement of the binary system inclination by Orosz et al of 27+/-0.8 deg. We pay special attention to the emissivity profile caused by irradiation of the inner disc by the hard power-law source. The X-ray observations and simulations show that the index q of that profile deviates from the commonly used, Newtonian, value of 3 within 3r_g, steepening considerably within 2r_g, as expected in the strong gravity regime.