Cronograma de la propuesta

As can be seen in Figure 3.8 in section 3.3.3, there is an enhanced emission area in the sec- ond quadrant (+Vx,−Vy) of the Doppler maps of V2051 Oph. This feature is not consistent with the bright spot and has been noticed in previous Doppler maps by Papadaki et al. (2008) in the Balmer lines and HeI. Nevertheless, the two sets of Doppler maps show very different features, as the average spectra had highlighted (Section 3.3.1). The maps from Papadaki et al., showed an increase in the bright spot strength when moving to shorter wavelengths and as the bright spot strength decreased, the second quadrant feature increased. In our case, the reversed rela- tion between the strength of the bright spot and the second quadrant emission is maintained, however, the intensity of the bright spot decreases when moving towards shorter wavelengths in both Balmer lines and HeI (Figure 3.17). This fact, combined with the discrepancies between the values ofγof different epochs, makes us believe that the system might be experiencing a non-orbital scale precession. This precession would account for the different values ofγfound with the double Gaussian method by Watts et al. (1986), using 2.1 orbits of the system, Papadaki et al. (2008), using 2.7 orbits and this paper, with 2.3 orbits of the system, indicating that more than two orbital cycles should be necessary to get a reliable value forγ. We believe that for the time that our data were taken there was a difference of half a precession cycle with respect to the data of Papadaki et al., explaining for the contrasted lines behaviour. The value ofγderived by our method is independent from the disc and hence not affected by its variation.

Papadaki et al. report that their Doppler maps of the Fe II triplet do not show either bright spot or the second quadrant emission mentioned above. They explain this featureless disc by proposing the existence of a gas region above it where the triplet might be originated via fluorescence. We made Doppler maps of Fe II 5169 Å, the only line of the triplet that is not blended with HeI. The Doppler map of Fe II 5169 Å(the only line of the triplet that is not blended with He I), displayed a disc with no signs of the second quadrant emission, but with a notorious bright spot. The presence of the bright spot in our maps contradicts this theory of the origin of the Fe II triplet.

As seen in Figure 3.16, where the highly asymmetric disc of V2051 Oph led us towards a value ofK1slightly higher than the eclipse solution, the obtained value of the mass ratio was

q=0.18±0.05. When using the eclipse solution forK1=83±12 km/s we obtained q=0.16±0.03

andK2=519±84 km/s. Both estimated values ofqagree with the eclipse solution,q=0.19±0.03,

86 CHAPTER 3. EMISSION LINE TOMOGRAPHY OF CC SCL AND V2051 OPH −1000 −500 0 500 1000 VY (km/s) Hα Hβ − 1000 ₋500 0 500 ₁₀₀₀ VX(km/s) −1000 −500 0 500 1000 VY (km/s) Hγ − 1000 ₋500 0 500 ₁₀₀₀ VX(km/s) Hδ

Figure 3.17: Doppler maps of the most prominent Balmer lines of V2051 Oph.

3.5 Summary

Using the methods described in Section 2.4 we have derived a full orbital solution for the short period CVs CC Scl and V2051 Oph (Our best solutions are found in Table 3.2). Our best solutions are in agreement with the eclipse solutions. We showed the potential of CC Scl as a post-period bounce system and propose further infrared observations to either confirm or deny its evolu- tionary state. In the case of V2051 Oph, we proposed a non-orbital scale precession to explain the conflicting values ofγand the variable behaviour of its spectral features.

We found that Doppler map-based methods can provide strong and robust constraints for the orbital parameters of short period CVs. We compare these methods against classic double Gaussian methods finding advantages from the former over the later ones. Our methods give

3.5. SUMMARY 87

CC Scl V2051 Oph

γ[km/s] K1[km/s] Mass ratio γ[km/s] K1[km/s] Mass ratio

30+₋33₂₂ 37±14 0.08±0.03 0+₋12₁₇ 97±10 0.18±0.05 Table 3.2: Summary of the orbital parameters derived with our methods.

good estimates for the values ofγ,Φ0,K1andK2, but our optimal value ofqwill still depend of

the accuracy ofK1which is prone to distortions in the disc.

In Chapter 2 we used synthetic data to demonstrate that our methods should recover reliable parameters. Here we see that this is also the case using real data.

Four

Dynamical Constraints for the Low Mass

Black Hole Candidate 4U 1957+111

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we use some of the techniques described in Chapter 2 to study the low mass black hole candidate 4U 1957+111. Using spectroscopic data of several observing runs, we constructed Doppler tomograms from emission lines, including the Bowen blend, and derived several orbital parameters of this system. We present spectroscopic confirmation of the orbital period, confirm the presence of an accretion disc structure and show the first dynamical evidence of the elusive secondary star, allowing us to constrain the mass of the compact object.

4.2 4U 1957+111

Thus far, all of the confirmed black hole binaries are either X-ray transients or high mass X-ray binaries, while most of the persistently bright LMXBs are known to be neutron star systems (see Section 1.1.5). The main criterion to classify a system as a black hole binary is through dynami- cal evidence that the mass is≥3M¯, beyond the maximum NS mass (see for example: Remillard & McClintock 2006). This criterion led to∼20 confirmed black hole systems and a compara- ble number of black hole candidates, based on a similar X-ray timing and spectral behaviour (Casares & Jonker, 2014). 4U 1957+111 (hereafter 4U 1957) was classified as a black hole candi- date by White & Marshall (1983) mainly based on its ultra soft-X-ray spectra. This classification has been questioned by several groups, such as Yaqoob et al. (1993) and Barret et al. (1996). The main argument is that the spectral behaviour of 4U 1957 better fits with the one from neutron stars. Until now, there is no dynamical confirmation that proves either position. 4U 1957 has proved to be a very challenging target with complex orbital modulation and a highly variable light curve. The first proposed value for the orbital period came from Thorstensen (1987) find- ing a period of 9.33 h based on photometric observations of the optical counterpart. This period was only confirmed more than 20 years later, by Bayless et al. (2011) after an intensive photomet- ric campaign. They also proposed an ephemeris that, regretfully, was only valid for the season

90 CHAPTER 4. THE LOW MASS BLACK HOLE CANDIDATE 4U 1957+111

Figure 4.1: Light curves of 4U 1957. Top: Non sinusoidal light curve shown by Hakala et al. (1999). Bottom, sinusoidal light curve from Thorstensen (1987).

they observed due to its limited precision. In addition, Hakala et al. (1999) found some complex behaviour in the photometric light curve. Unlike the essentially sinusoidal profile observed by Thorstensen (1987) and Bayless et al. (2011), their light curve was not-sinusoidal, a feature in- terpreted as an evolving accretion disc (Figure 4.1). This theory was further supported by the X-ray observations of Nowak & Wilms (1999). After three years of optical monitoring, Russell et al. (2010) were unable to find the previously reported orbital modulation, even though they do not rule out the period found by Thorstensen (1987). Russell et al. claimed that the X-ray flux during their observations could have been stable over the time-scale that they observed, reveal- ing the sinusoidal variations from the heated face of the secondary. Recently, Mason et al. (2012) measured the orbital period, photometrically, well enough to derive an accurate ephemeris. This allowed us to merge data from different spectroscopic observing campaigns and to find the first dynamical evidence of the compact object, using the Bowen fluorescence technique, as shown in the following sections.