X-ray binary systems and nonextensivity

MORET, M. A.; ZEBENDE, G. F.; DE SENNA, V.; VAVELIUK, P.

PHYSICA A - STATISTICAL AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2010 vol. 389 p. 854 - 858

0378-4371

We study the x-ray intensity variations obtained from the time series of 155 light curves of x-ray binary systems collected by the instrument All Sky Monitor on board the satellite Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. These intensity distributions are adequately fitted by q-Gaussian distributions which maximize the Tsallis entropy and in turn satisfy a nonlinear Fokker–Planck equation, indicating their nonextensive and nonequilibrium behavior. From the values of the entropic index q obtained, we give a physical interpretation of the dynamics in x-ray binary systems based on the kinetic foundation of generalized thermostatistics. The present findings indicate that the binary systems display a nonextensive and turbulent behavior.