Mixed H/He bursts in SAX J1748.9-2021 during the spectral change of its 2015 outburst

TL;DR

This study analyzes the spectral evolution and burst properties of SAX J1748.9-2021 during its 2015 outburst, revealing state-dependent spectral parameters and burst recurrence behaviors consistent with mixed hydrogen/helium bursts.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spectral modeling of the source during state transitions and correlates burst recurrence times with accretion rates, highlighting the nature of mixed H/He bursts.

Findings

Spectral states show plasma temperature of 18 keV (hard) and 5 keV (soft).

Burst recurrence time scales inversely with accretion rate, ~$ ext{rec} o ext{rate}^{-1}$.

Burst properties are consistent with mixed hydrogen/helium composition.

Abstract

SAX J1748.9-2021 is a transiently accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar. It is also known as an X-ray burster source discovered by Beppo-SAX. We analysed the persistent emission and type-I X-ray burst properties during its 2015 outburst. The source varied from hard to soft state within half day. We modeled the broad-band spectra of the persistent emission in the 1 - 250 keV energy band for both spectral states using the quasi-simultaneous INTEGRAL and Swift data. The broad-band spectra are well fitted by an absorbed thermal Componization model, compps, in a slab geometry. The best-fits for the two states indicate significantly different plasma temperature of 18 and 5 keV and the Thomson optical depth of 3 and 4, respectively. In total, 56 type-I X-ray bursts were observed during the 2015 outburst, of which 26 detected by INTEGRAL in the hard state, 25 by XMM-Newton in the soft state, and 5 by Swift in both states. As the object transited from the hard to the soft state, the recurrence time for X-ray bursts decreased from $\approx 2$ to $\approx1$ hr. The relation between the recurrence time, $ \Delta t_{\rm rec}$, and the local mass accretion rate per unit area onto the compact object, $\dot m$, is fitted by a power-law model, and yielded as best fit at $\Delta t_{\rm rec} \sim \langle \dot{m} \rangle^{-1.02\pm0.03}$ using all X-ray bursts. In both cases, the observed recurrence times are consistent with the mixed hydrogen/helium bursts. We also discuss the effects of type-I X-ray bursts prior to the hard to soft transition.