Bifang Liu

Wind is a key mechanism for supermassive black hole (SMBH) feedback to their host galaxies. In tidal disruption events (TDEs), black holes spend most of their time accreting at highly sub-Eddington rates, implying that feedback from persistent sub-Eddington winds could be significant. We investigate the effects of black hole mass, viscosity parameter, and stellar debris temperature on the properties of winds from hot accretion flows in TDEs. We find that more massive black holes yield a higher accreted fraction and launch faster winds, while the debris temperature has a negligible influence on the accretion flow. For α = 0.1, the mildly relativistic unbound winds (∼0.1 c ) are launched predominantly from the outside of the accretion flows along the equatorial plane, with a kinetic energy of ∼10 ⁻⁴ L _Edd . In contrast, convective bound outflows dominate for α = 0.01, which differs from the true winds typically seen in active galactic nucleus and X-ray binaries. Potential applications for explaining delayed radio brightening in TDEs at ∼10 ³ days and for searching for intermediate-mass black holes through radio and X-ray surveys are also discussed.

EP J171159.4−333253 is a new neutron star low-mass X-ray binary discovered in outburst by the Einstein Probe (EP) on 2025 June 23, exhibiting clocked type I X-ray bursts, eclipses, and dips. In this paper, we report on the results of the X-ray spectral and timing analyses for EP J171159.4−333253 using data collected by EP and NuSTAR during the first 21 days of the outburst. The X-ray burst recurrence time can be characterized over a subset of nine bursts spanning 1.6 days around the NuSTAR observation, and the result is t _rec = 8196 ± 177 s, with indications of a possible decreasing trend. From the X-ray eclipse events, the binary orbital period and the eclipse duration are estimated to be P _orb = 6.48301 ± 0.00003 hr and D ⋆ , X = 1245 . 5 − 6.5 + 6.9 s, respectively. These enable an estimate of the mass and radius of the companion star and the binary inclination, which are M ₂ ≈ 0.6–0.8 M _⊙ , R ₂ ≈ 0.7–0.8 R _⊙ , and i ≈ 73°–75°, respectively. We also report on joint ULTRACAM and EP observations on 2025 July 21–22, detecting the source optical counterpart and covering an eclipse in both X-ray and optical bands. The optical eclipse is wavelength dependent and broader than in X-rays, indicating that part of the optical emission arises from an extended region in the accretion flow. Despite a moderate variation in the source flux, the properties of the persistent X-ray emission are typical of a hard spectral state. We further evaluated the ratio of the accretion energy to the thermonuclear energy to be 120–130, implying helium bursts with the accreted hydrogen being depleted in between bursts.

Accretion in black hole X-ray binaries is commonly believed to be supplied by the Roche lobe overflow or the stellar wind. The former is thought to form a geometrically thin disc while the diffuse wind could form a geometrically thick hot accretion flow. In this paper, we instead consider a more generalized case, i.e. accretion with both cold and hot gas supplies, which feed a disc and a corona, respectively. We investigate the interaction of disc and corona by analysing the energy coupling and matter exchange, i.e. corona condensation/disc evaporation, with a semi-analytical method. It is found that the accretion geometry in the radial direction and the resultant emission spectrum depend strongly on both the total gas supply rate and the ratio of cold and hot gases. For gas supply rates of a few per cent of the Eddington value, diverse geometries and spectral shapes are possible, depending on the fraction of cold gas supply. This provides an interpretation for the various spectra observed in intermediate states. However, at higher accretion rates, regardless of the form of the feeding gas, the inner accretion flow is always disc-dominated, implying an inevitable transition to the soft state, while at very low gas supply rates, hard state spectrum dominated by the hot flow is expected. We also present the predicted hardness–intensity correlation of Cygnus X-1, and constrain the value of the viscosity parameter of the accretion flow to the range of 0.25–0.35 by comparing our results with MAXI observations.

Accretion in black hole X-ray binaries is commonly believed to be supplied by the Roche lobe overflow or the stellar wind. The former is thought to form a geometrically thin disc while the diffuse wind could form a geometrically thick hot accretion flow. In this paper, we instead consider a more generalised case, i.e., accretion with both cold and hot gas supplies, which feed a disc and a corona respectively. We investigate the interaction of disc and corona by analysing the energy coupling and matter exchange, i.e. corona condensation/disc evaporation, with a semi-analytical method. It is found that the accretion geometry in the radial direction and the resultant emission spectrum depend strongly on both the total gas supply rate and the ratio of cold and hot gases. For gas supply rates of a few percent of the Eddington value, diverse geometries and spectral shapes are possible, depending on the fraction of cold gas supply. This provides an interpretation for the various spectra observed in intermediate states. However, at higher accretion rates, regardless of the form of the feeding gas, the inner accretion flow is always disc-dominated, implying an inevitable transition to the soft state, while at very low gas supply rates, hard state spectrum dominated by the hot flow is expected. We also present the predicted hardness-intensity correlation of Cygnus X-1, and constrain the value of the viscosity parameter of the accretion flow to the range of 0.25--0.35 by comparing our results with MAXI observations.

Black hole X-ray binaries (candidates) currently identified in our Galaxy are mainly transient sources, with the majority discovered through the detection of their X-ray outbursts. Among these, only four were found during faint outbursts exhibiting peak X-ray luminosities L _X ≲ 10³⁶ erg s⁻¹, likely due to the previous lack of sensitive, wide-field monitoring instruments in the X-ray band. In this Letter, we present the discovery of an intriguing X-ray transient, EP J182730.0−095633, via the Einstein Probe (EP) and subsequent multiwavelength follow-up studies. This transient, located on the Galactic plane, experienced a faint and brief X-ray outburst lasting about 20 days. Its X-ray spectrum is nonthermal and consistent with a power-law model with a nearly constant photon index of Γ ∼ 2 throughout the outburst. A long-lasting mHz quasiperiodic oscillation signal was detected in its X-ray light curve, centered around a frequency of ∼0.04 Hz. A transient near-infrared source was identified as its counterpart, although no optical emission was detectable, likely due to significant extinction. A radio counterpart was also observed, displaying an inverted radio spectrum with α ∼ 0.45. The X-ray spectral and temporal characteristics, along with the multiwavelength properties, indicate that the source is a faint low-mass X-ray binary, with the compact object likely being a black hole. This work demonstrates the potential of the EP in discovering new X-ray binaries by capturing faint-level X-ray outbursts.

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are a class of X-ray repeating burst phenomena discovered in recent years. Although many models have been proposed to study this phenomenon, there remains significant debate regarding the physical origin of QPEs. In our previous work, we developed a disk instability model with a large-scale magnetic field and successfully reproduced the light curves and spectral characteristics of several QPE sources. We further investigate this model in this work, aiming to explain two key observational features: the dispersion in eruption periods and the peak temperatures during eruptions. This model reveals critical thresholds ( M ̇ crit , β _1,crit) that separate systems into stable regimes with minimal period variations and unstable regimes where periods are highly sensitive to the accretion rate and magnetic field parameter, while peak temperatures remain nearly constant across the parameter space. This framework successfully explains both the regular eruptions observed in sources such as GSN 069 and the stochastic behavior in sources such eRO-QPE1, while simultaneously accounting for the observed temperature stability during long-term evolution of QPEs.

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are a class of X-ray repeating burst phenomena discovered in recent years. Many models have been proposed to study this phenomenon, there remains significant debate regarding the physical origin of QPEs. In our previous work, we developed a disk instability model with a large-scale magnetic field and successfully reproduced the light curves and spectral characteristics of several QPE sources. We further investigate the model in this work, aiming to explain two key observational features: the dispersion in eruption periods and the peak temperatures during eruptions. The model reveals critical thresholds ($\dot{M}_{\rm crit}$, $β_{1,\rm crit}$) that separate systems into stable regimes with minimal period variations and unstable regimes where periods are highly sensitive to accretion rate and magnetic field parameter, while peak temperatures remain nearly constant across the parameter space. This framework successfully explains both the regular eruptions observed in sources like GSN 069 and the stochastic behavior in sources like eRO-QPE1, and simultaneously accounting for the observed temperature stability during long-term QPEs evolution.