2024ApJ...972...32K

X-ray binaries are known to launch powerful accretion disk winds that can have a significant impact on the binary systems and their surroundings. To quantify the impact and determine the launching mechanisms of these outflows, we need to measure the wind plasma number density, an important ingredient in the theoretical disk wind models. While X-ray spectroscopy is a crucial tool for understanding the wind properties, such as their velocity and ionization, in nearly all cases, we lack the signal-to-noise ratio to constrain the plasma number density, weakening the constraints on the outflow location and mass outflow rate. We present a new approach to determining this number density in the X-ray binary Hercules X-1, by measuring the speed of the wind ionization response to the time-variable illuminating continuum. Hercules X-1 is powered by a highly magnetized neutron star, pulsating with a period of 1.24 s. We show that the wind number density in Hercules X-1 is sufficiently high to respond to these pulsations by modeling the ionization response with the time-dependent photoionization model TPHO. We then perform a pulse-resolved analysis of the best-quality XMM-Newton observation of Hercules X-1 and directly detect the wind response, confirming that the wind density is at least 10¹² cm^–3. Finally, we simulate XRISM observations of Hercules X-1 and show that they will allow us to accurately measure the number density at different locations within the outflow. With XRISM, we will rule out ∼3 orders of magnitude in density parameter space, constraining the wind mass outflow rate, energetics, and its launching mechanism.