X-ray binary systems and nonextensivity

Abstract

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 qGaussian 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.