A precise measurement of the magnetic field in the corona of the black hole binary V404 Cygni.
Yigit DallilarStephen S EikenberryAlan GarnerRichard D StelterAmy GottliebPoshak GandhiPiergiorgio CasellaVik S DhillonThomas R MarshStuart P LittlefairLiam HardyRob FenderKunal P MooleyDominic J WaltonFelix FuerstMatteo BachettiA J Castro-TiradoMiguel CharcosMichelle L EdwardsNestor M Lasso-CabreraAntonio Marin-FranchS Nicholas RainesKendall AckleyJohn G BennettA Javier CenarroBrian ChinnH Veronica DonosoRaymond FrommeyerKevin HannaMichael D HerlevichJeff JulianPaola MillerScott MullinCharles H MurpheyChris PackhamFrank VarosiClaudia VegaCraig WarnerA N RamaprakashMahesh BurseSujit PunnadiPravin ChordiaAndreas GerartsHéctor de Paz MartínMaría Martín CaleroRiccardo ScarpaSergio Fernandez AcostaWilliam Miguel Hernández SánchezBenjamin SiegelFrancisco Francisco PérezHimar D Viera MartínJosé A Rodríguez LosadaAgustín NuñezÁlvaro TejeroCarlos E Martín GonzálezCésar Cabrera RodríguezJordi MolgóJ Esteban RodriguezJ Israel Fernández CáceresLuis A Rodríguez GarcíaManuel Huertas LopezRaul DominguezTim GaggstatterAntonio Cabrera LaversStefan GeierPeter PessevAta SarajediniPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2018)
Observations of binary stars containing an accreting black hole or neutron star often show x-ray emission extending to high energies (>10 kilo--electron volts), which is ascribed to an accretion disk corona of energetic particles akin to those seen in the solar corona. Despite their ubiquity, the physical conditions in accretion disk coronae remain poorly constrained. Using simultaneous infrared, optical, x-ray, and radio observations of the Galactic black hole system V404 Cygni, showing a rapid synchrotron cooling event in its 2015 outburst, we present a precise 461 ± 12 gauss magnetic field measurement in the corona. This measurement is substantially lower than previous estimates for such systems, providing constraints on physical models of accretion physics in black hole and neutron star binary systems.