AN ULTRA-FAST X-RAY DISK WIND IN THE NEUTRON STAR BINARY GX 340+0

Abstract

We present a spectral analysis of a brief Chandra/HETG observation of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 340+0. The high-resolution spectrum reveals evidence of ionized absorption in the Fe K band. The strongest feature, an absorption line at approximately 6.9 keV, is required at the 5σ level of confidence via an F-test. Photoionization modeling with XSTAR grids suggests that the line is the most prominent part of a disk wind with an apparent outflow speed of v = 0.04c. This interpretation is preferred at the 4σ level over a scenario in which the line is H-like Fe xxvi at a modest redshift. The wind may achieve this speed owing to its relatively low ionization, enabling driving by radiation pressure on lines; in this sense, the wind in GX 340+0 may be the stellar-mass equivalent of the flows in broad absorption line quasars. If the gas has a unity volume filling factor, the mass ouflow rate in the wind is over 10⁻⁵ M ⊙ yr⁻¹, and the kinetic power is nearly 10³⁹ erg s⁻¹ (or, 5–6 times the radiative Eddington limit for a neutron star). However, geometrical considerations—including a small volume filling factor and low covering factor—likely greatly reduce these values.