X-ray reverberation models of the disc wind in ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5408 X-1

TL;DR

This study uses reverberation mapping to analyze X-ray time-lags in ULX NGC 5408 X-1, constraining black hole mass and wind geometry, revealing variability with luminosity but no clear geometric trend.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed reverberation mapping approach with spectral binning to constrain ULX black hole mass and wind structure, improving mass estimates with luminosity-based modeling.

Findings

Black hole mass constrained to 75-90 solar masses with luminosity-based spectra.

Wind extends at distances of 10^4 to 10^6 gravitational radii.

Lag spectra vary with luminosity, but no clear geometric trend observed.

Abstract

Majority of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are believed to be super-Eddington objects, providing a nearby prototype for studying an accretion in super-critical regime. In this work, we present the study of time-lag spectra of the ULX NGC 5408 X-1 using a reverberation mapping technique. The time-lag data were binned using two different methods: time averaged-based and luminosity-based spectral bins. These spectra were fitted using two proposed geometric models: single and multiple photon scattering models. While both models similarly assume that a fraction of hard photons emitted from inner accretion disc could be down-scattered with the super-Eddington outflowing wind becoming lagged, soft photons, they are different by the number that the hard photons scattering with the wind: i.e. single vs multiple times. In case of averaged spectrum, both models consistently constrained the mass of ULX in the range of $\sim$80-500 M$_{\rm \odot}$. However, for the modelling results from the luminosity based spectra, the confidence interval of the BH mass is significantly improved and is constrained to the range of $\sim$75-90 M$_{\rm \odot}$. In addition, the models suggest that the wind geometry is extended in which the photons could down-scatter with the wind at the distance of $\sim$10$^{4}$ - 10$^{6}$ $r_{\rm g}$. The results also suggest the variability of the lag spectra as a function of ULX luminosity, but the clear trend of changing accretion disc geometry with the spectral variability is not observed.