Title:	Synchrotron Cutoff in Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources
Authors:	Ghosh, Tanuman Sethi, Shiv Rana, Vikram
Issue Date:	8-May-2023
Publisher:	IOP Publishing Ltd
Citation:	The Astrophysical Journal, 2023, Vol 948, Article No.: 62
Abstract:	The origin of spectral curvature at energies E ≃ 10 keV in ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) is not well understood. In this paper, we propose a novel mechanism based on synchrotron radiation to explain this cutoff. We show that relativistic plasma can give rise to the observed spectral curvature for neutron star magnetic fields due to the variation in the latitude of synchrotron radiation. We analyze the NuSTAR data of two bright pulsar ULXs, NGC 5907 ULX1 and NGC 7793 P13, and provide estimates of the physical parameters of these sources. We fit the data for synchrotron emission at various latitudes and show that the spectral cutoff in these cases can be explained for a large range of acceptable physical parameters, e.g., a semirelativistic plasma with γ ≃ 20 for high latitudes or a highly relativistic plasma (γ ≃ 105) for emission close to the electron's orbital plane in a typical magnetic field of B ≃ 1012 G. We also discuss how such an emission mechanism can be distinguished from other proposed models. A corollary to our study is that most ULXs might be neutron stars as they display such a spectral cutoff.
Description:	Open Access
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/2289/8097
ISSN:	0004-637X 1538-4357 (Online)
Alternative Location:	https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023ApJ...948...62G/abstract https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.02682 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acbb60
Copyright:	2023 The Author(s)
Appears in Collections:	Research Papers (A&A)

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