Low and High Angular Momentum Accretion Flows in BHCs: Case Study of XTE J1550-564

The 1998 outburst of XTE J1550-564 started with a hard X-ray spike, rising in less than a day and declining after 3-4 days; at the same time, the soft X-ray flux was rising with a longer timescale (~ 10 days). We suggest that the soft and the initial hard X-ray emission are produced by two different components of the accretion flow: a higher angular momentum flow, which forms the disk, and a lower angular momentum flow feeding the hot inner region. Thus, we argue that the onset of the outburst is determined by an increased mass transfer rate from the companion star, but the outburst morphology is also determined by the distribution of specific angular momentum in the accreting matter. In XTE J1550-564, we attribute the initial, impulsive low angular momentum accretion to the breaking down of magnetic confinement by the magnetically active secondary star. We show that a hard X-ray spike is seen at the onset of an outburst in other BHCs.