Modelling multiwavelength emission of Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources accreting above the Eddington limit

TL;DR

This paper models the multiwavelength emission of ULXs accreting above the Eddington limit, using binary evolution and super-Eddington accretion physics to match observed properties.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model of super-critical accretion in binary systems, predicting their optical and X-ray properties and applying it to observed ULXs.

Findings

Massive black holes (35-55 Msol) fit ULX observations.

Tracks on the color-magnitude diagram depend on donor evolution.

Similar shapes of tracks regardless of black hole mass.

Abstract

We model the multiwavelength properties of binaries accreting at super-critical rates with the aim to better understand the observational properties of Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources (ULXs). We calculate an extended grid of binary systems which evolve through Roche Lobe Overflow and undergo case A mass transfer from massive donors (up to 25 Msol) onto massive Black Holes (BH) (up to 100 Msol). Angular momentum loss with the ejection of mass through an outflow is incorporated. We apply our super-Eddington accretion model to these systems, computing their evolutionary tracks on the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) for the Johnson and HST photometric systems. We found that the tracks occupy specific positions on the CMD depending on the evolutionary stage of the donor and of the binary. Moreover, their shapes are similar, regardless the BH mass. More massive BHs lead to more luminous tracks. We additionally compute their optical-through-X-ray Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) considering the effects of a Comptonizing corona which surrounds the innermost regions of the disc. We apply our model to four ULXs: NGC4559 X-7, NGC 5204 X-1, Holmberg II X-1 and NGC 5907 ULX-2. We found that accretion onto BHs with mass in the range 35-55 Msol is consistent with to the observational properties of these sources. We finally explore and discuss the possibility to extend our model also to ULXs powered by accreting Pulsars (PULXs).