Bolometric-correction accuracy across extended burst ensembles

Determine how accurately bolometric corrections can be estimated for ensembles of thermonuclear bursts spanning substantially larger time ranges, and consequently potentially different persistent-flux states, than the ensemble analyzed for SRGA J144459.2−604207.

Background

The ensemble mode of the BEANSP package compares averaged burst properties across observational epochs, including recurrence time, fluence, and optionally the alpha parameter, using the measured persistent flux. Reliable bolometric corrections are therefore important for converting observed fluxes into the bolometric quantities required by the burst models and for inferring system parameters such as distance and accretion rate.

The paper notes that its SRGA J144459.2−604207 data span a comparatively limited range of persistent-flux states. For ensembles covering much longer time intervals, changes in the source state could make the bolometric correction less straightforward, leaving the accuracy of such corrections unresolved.

References

A more pressing question for future work is how well bolometric corrections can be estimated in ensembles that span much larger time ranges (and hence potentially different source persistent flux states) than for the SRGA J144459.2−604207 data (cf. with Thompson et al. 2005).

— Constraining neutron-star properties with ensembles of thermonuclear bursts: application to SRGA J144459.2-604207  (2608.21196 - Galloway et al., 21 Aug 2026) in Section 5, Discussion, p. 7