The low-spin black hole in LMC X-3
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Building upon a new dynamical model for the X-ray binary LMC X-3, we measure the spin of its black hole (BH) primary via the continuum-fitting method. We consider over one thousand thermal-state Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer X-ray spectra of LMC X-3. Using a large subset of these spectra, we constrain the spin parameter of the BH to be a[subscript *] = 0.25 [+0.20 over -0.29] (90% confidence). Our estimate of the uncertainty in a* takes into account a wide range of systematic errors. We discuss evidence for a correlation between a BH's spin and the complexity of its X-ray spectrum.
Date issued
2014-09Department
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space ResearchJournal
Astrophysical Journal. Letters
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Citation
Steiner, James F., Jeffrey E. McClintock, Jerome A. Orosz, Ronald A. Remillard, Charles D. Bailyn, Mari Kolehmainen, and Odele Straub. “The Low-Spin Black Hole in LMC X-3.” The Astrophysical Journal 793, no. 2 (September 12, 2014): L29. © 2014 The American Astronomical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
2041-8205
2041-8213