Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients - a short review

TL;DR

This review summarizes recent observational progress in understanding Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients, highlighting the need for further multifrequency studies of their supergiant companions to clarify their physical mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides an updated overview of SFXT phenomenology and emphasizes the importance of multifrequency observations for understanding their underlying physics.

Findings

Significant progress in X-ray phenomenology understanding

Need for detailed studies of supergiant companions

Multifrequency approach is crucial for future research

Abstract

I present a brief up-to-date review of the current understanding of Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients, with an emphasis on the observational point of view. After more than a decade since their discovery, a remarkable progress has been made in getting the picture of their phenomenology at X-ray energies. However, a similar in-depth investigation of the properties of the supergiant companions is needed, but has started more recently. A multifrequency approach is the key to fully understand the physical mechanism driving the SFXT behaviour, still under debate.