Ultraluminous X-ray Sources with the SKA

  1. Mezcua, Mar
  2. Caballero García, María D.
  3. Casares Velázquez, Jorge
  4. Gonzalez Martin, Omaira
  5. Hernández García, Lorena
  6. Negueruela Díez, Ignacio
  7. Pérez Torres, Miguel Ángel
Libro:
The Spanish Square Kilometre Array White Book
  1. Pérez Torres, Miguel Ángel (ed. lit.)
  2. Verdes-Montenegro Atalaya, Lourdes (ed. lit.)
  3. Guirado, José Carlos (ed. lit.)
  4. Alberdi Odriozola, Antonio (ed. lit.)
  5. Martín-Pintado, Jesús (ed. lit.)
  6. Bachiller García, Rafael (ed. lit.)
  7. Herranz Muñoz, Diego (ed. lit.)
  8. Girart, Josep Miquel (ed. lit.)
  9. Gorgas García, Francisco Javier (ed. lit.)
  10. Hernández Monteagudo, Carlos (ed. lit.)
  11. Migliari, Simone (ed. lit.)
  12. Rodríguez Espinosa, José Miguel (ed. lit.)

Editorial: Sociedad Española de Astronomía

ISBN: 978-84-606-8955-3

Año de publicación: 2015

Páginas: 196-203

Tipo: Capítulo de Libro

Resumen

he discovery almost three decades ago of non-nuclear, point-like X-ray sources with X-ray luminosities LX = 3 × 1039 erg s-1 revolutionized the physics of black hole accretion. If of stellar origin, such Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) would have to accrete at super-Eddington rates in order to reach the observed high X-ray luminosities. Alternatively, ULXs could host sub-Eddington accreting intermediate-mass black holes, which are the long-time sought missing link between stellar and supermassive black holes and the possible seeds of the supermassive black holes that formed in the early Universe. The nature of ULXs can be better investigated in those cases for which a radio counterpart is detected. Radio observations of ULXs have revealed a wide variety of morphologies and source types, from compact and extended jets to radio nebulae and transient behaviours, providing the best observational evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole in some of them. The high sensitivity of the SKA will allow us to study the faintest ULX radio counterparts in the Local Universe as well as to detect new sources at much larger distances. It will thus perform a leap step in understanding ULXs, their accretion physics, and their possible role as seed black holes in supermassive black hole and galaxy growth.