The radio luminosity of persistent X-ray binaries

Abstract

We summarise all the reported detections of, and upper limits to, the radio emission from persistent (i.e. non-transient) X-ray binaries. A striking result is a common mean observed radio luminosity from the black hole candidates (BHCs) in the Low/Hard X-ray state and the neutron-star Z sources on the horizontal X-ray branch. This implies a common mean intrinsic radio luminosity to within a factor of twenty five (or less, if there is significant Doppler boosting of the radio emission). Unless coincidental, these results imply a physical mechanism for jet formation which requires neither a black hole event horizon or a neutron star surface. As a whole the populations of Atoll and X-ray pulsar systems are less luminous by factors of >5 and >10 at radio wavelengths than the BHCs and Z sources (while some Atoll sources have been detected, no high-field X-ray pulsar has ever been reliably detected as a radio source). We suggest that all of the persistent BHCs and the Z sources generate, at least sporadically, an outflow with physical dimensions > 1e12cm, i.e. significantly larger than the binary separations of most of the systems. We compare the physical conditions of accretion in each of the types of persistent X-ray binary and conclude that a relatively low (<1e10 G) magnetic field associated with the accreting object, and a high (>0.1 Eddington) accretion rate and/or dramatic physical change in the accretion flow, are required for formation of a radio-emitting outflow or jet.