Disc precession in Be/X-ray binaries drives superorbital variations of outbursts and colour

Abstract

ABSTRACT Superorbital periods that are observed in the brightness of Be/X-ray binaries may be driven by a misaligned and precessing Be star disc. We examine how the precessing disc model explains the superorbital variation of (i) the magnitude of the observed X-ray outbursts and (ii) the observed colour. With hydrodynamical simulations, we show that the magnitude of the average accretion rate on to the neutron star, and therefore the X-ray outbursts, can vary by over an order of magnitude over the superorbital period for Be star spin–orbit misalignments ≳70° as a result of weak tidal truncation. Most Be/X-ray binaries are redder at optical maximum when the disc is viewed closest to face-on since the disc adds a large red component to the emission. However, A0538-66 is redder at optical minimum. This opposite behaviour requires an edge-on disc at optical minimum and a radially narrow disc such that it does not add a large red signature when viewed face-on. For A0538-66, the misalignment of the disc to the binary orbit must be about 70–80° and the inclination of the binary orbit to the line of sight must be similarly high, although restricted to <75° by the absence of X-ray eclipses.