Advection-Dominated Accretion Model of X-Ray Nova Muscae in Outburst

Abstract

We present a model for the high-low state transition of the X-Ray Nova GS 1124-68 (Nova Muscae 1991) observed by Ginga. The model consists of an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) near the central black hole surrounded by a thin accretion disk. During the rise phase of the outburst, as the mass accretion rate increases, the transition radius between the thin disk and the ADAF moves closer to the center, until the thin disk extends all the way in to the last stable orbit. The transition radius increases again during decline. We reproduce the basic features of the spectra taken during and after outburst, and the light curves in the soft and hard X-ray bands. We estimate that the accretion rate in Nova Muscae decreased exponentially with a time scale $\sim$ 95 days during decline.

3 pages, including 2 figures, LaTeX; to appear in the Proceedings of the 18th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics