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IONeq: An X-ray absorption model including ionization equilibrium conditions.

IONeq is an X-ray high-resolution photoabsorption model which computes the optical depth τ(E) simultaneously for ions of all abundant elements, assuming ionization equilibrium and taking into account turbulent broadening. This model has been developed by Efrain Gatuzz and Eugene Churazov. A complete description of the science behind the model is described in Gatuzz & Churazov (2017).

Required Files

File Description Size Version
ioneq.v1.1.tar.gz Complete Model 71 Mb 1.1

The contents of the tarfile include:

  • atomic_data/AtomicData.fits -- atomic database binary .fits file. This must reside in the directory atomic_data inside the folder where the model is located
  • ioneq.f90 -- source code for IONeq
  • rates.com, rates.h, com-auger.com, com-file.com -- global variables definition
  • tab-auger-Wijk.dat -- Auger probabilities
  • lmodel_ioneq.dat -- local model definition file needed by xspec
  • compile_linux.sh -- installation script written in bash for LINUX
  • compile_mac.sh -- installation script written in bash for MAC

Installation

The models require the FFTW library (libfftw3). FFTW is part of HEASoft as of version 6.27.

For older versions of HEASoft, FFTW must be installed on your system. FFTW is available with most well-known GNU/Linux distributions and is also available on OS X using macports or fink. For some distributions the library and the development packages are separate, in which case both must be installed. FFTW can be download from here. The FFTW library must be linked to the Xspec local models library. This can be done by rebuilding the XSPEC binary (see the "Third-Party Libraries In Local Models Build" section in the XSPEC manual).

  1. The HEASoft package must be installed on your machine, and it must be built from source. Local models cannot be installed from a binary installation.
  2. Set up your headas environment. eg. 
      > setenv HEADAS /path/to/architecture
  > source $HEADAS/headas-init.csh
  3. Untar the model tarfile somewhere in your user area.
  4. Build the model.
    • Either with the compile_linux(mac).sh file 
              > sh compile_linux(mac).sh
    • Or manually update the 'local_dir' variables in ioneq.f90 to your current working directory, then set up and use this model as described in the xspec manual: 
              > xspec
        XSPEC12> initpackage ioneq lmodel_ioneq.dat path-to-model-directory
      where path-to-model-directory is the full path of the model directory.
  5. After the build is complete, load the model 
      XSPEC12> lmod ioneq path-to-current-directory
    If you see an error about a missing symbol '_dfftw_cleanup_', then the '-lfftw' flag should be added, as described in the "Third-Party Libraries In Local Models Build" section in the XSPEC manual.

    6. In subsequent sessions, you don't need to do the initpackage step again, just the lmod.

    Parameters

    The input parameters include the hydrogen column density (in units of 1022 cm-2), the temperature (log T), the ionization parameter (log ξ), the O, Fe and Ne atomic abundances (relative to Grevesse & Sauval, 1998), the Fe metallic iron abundance and the turbulence broadening (in units of km/s). The redshift is also a model parameter.

    Note that the IONeq does not solve the thermal equilibrium equations, that is the balance heating rate=cooling rate, from which one obtains the gas temperature. Instead, we treat both, the gas temperature T and the ionization parameter ξ, as independent (free) parameters of the model.

    Atomic Data

    With the default set up - that is, if you have run compile_linux(mac).sh - the model will look for the cross-section data file in atomic_data/AtomicData.fits, relative to the directory in which the module is located.

    The XSPEC xset command can be used to set the IONEQROOT variable; if this is set then it is used instead of the path to the module. So after 

      XSPEC12> xset IONEQROOT /data/ioneq/
    then the model will use the file /data/ioneq/atomic_data/AtomicData.fits (the IONEQROOT refers to the directory containing the atomic_data/ directory). Note that IONEQROOT over-rides any changes made by running compile_linux(mac).sh when building the model.

    The location of the file can be found by setting the XSPEC chatter level to 20 or higher - e.g. 

      XSPEC12> chatter 20
    before evaluating the model.

    We include in our model the following atomic data, in order to compute the ion fractions assuming ionization equilibrium:

    • Collisional ionization: ionization rates from Voronov (1997).
    • Radiative recombination: rates from Verner & Ferland (1996).
    • Dielectronic recombination: rates from Arnaud & Rothenflug (1985).
    • Photoionization: cross sections from Verner et al. (1996) and Auger probabilities from Kaastra & Mewe (1993).

    NOTE: In order to compute the optical depth, IONeq uses the same high-resolution photoabsorption cross-sections included in the XSTAR photonionization code.

    The figure below shows the best-fit obtained with the IONeq model for Cygnus X-2 and PKS2155-304 high-resolution Chandra spectra. Absorption lines identified in the Ne and O absorption edge regions are indicated (for more details see Gatuzz & Churazov 2017).

    f2

    This model was used to analyze the neutral-warm-hot ISM phases using high-resolution X-ray spectra. The figure below shows the column densities obtained for the different phases using galactic (blue points) and extragalactic (red points) sources (for more details see Gatuzz & Churazov 2017).

    f1

    Additional models

    As is indicated in Gatuzz & Churazov 2017, we provide two versions of the IONeq model. For one version, the value of the thermal velocity (Vth) was pre-computed for each ion by setting the temperature "T" in Equation (5) to the temperature at which the ion fraction is maximal in CIE. That is the version provided in the link above.

    The second version of the IONeq model performs the proper optical depth convolution for each ion using the temperature parameter and can be downloaded from here.

    Updates


    The IONeq will be continuously expanded and improved. For comments or questions about its implementation please contact Efrain Gatuzz or Eugene Churazov.

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    Last modified: Monday, 27-Jul-2020 22:51:20 EDT

    HEASARC Staff Scientist Position - Applications are now being accepted for a Staff Scientist with significant experience and interest in the technical aspects of astrophysics research, to work in the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD. Refer to the AAS Job register for full details.