Paper detail

The hard X-ray shortages prompted by the clock bursts in GS 1826--238

We report on a study of GS 1826--238 using all available {\it RXTE} observations, concentrating on the behavior of the hard X-rays during type-I bursts. We find a hard X-ray shortage at 30--50 keV promoted by the shower of soft X-rays coming from type-I bursts. This shortage happens with a time delay after the peak of the soft flux of 3.6 $\pm$ 1.2 seconds.The behavior of hard X-rays during bursts indicates cooling and reheating of the corona, during which a large amount of energy is required. We speculate that this energy originates from the feedback of the type-I bursts to the accretion process, resulting in a rapid temporary increase of the accretion rate.