XMM-Newton study of the persistent X-ray source 1E 1743.1-2843 located in the Galactic Center direction

We report the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the persistent X-ray source 1E 1743.1-2843 , located in the Galactic Center (GC) direction. We determine the position of the source at $\alpha_{\rm J2000}=17^{\rm h}\,46^{\rm m}\,21.0^{\rm s}$, $\delta_{\rm J2000}=-28^{\circ}\,43^{\prime}\,44^{\prime\prime}$ (with an uncertainty of 1.5 $^{\prime\prime}$), which is the most accurate to date, and will enable cross-identifications at other wavelengths. The source was bright during this observation ( $L_{\rm 2-10\,keV} \sim 2.7 \times 10^{36}\ d^{2}_{\rm 10\,kpc}$ erg s -1 for a power-law continuum), with no significant variability. We propose that 1E 1743.1-2843 may be explained in terms of a black hole candidate in a low/hard state. There is an indication that the source exhibits different states from a comparison of our results with previous observations (e.g., ART-P, BeppoSAX). However, the present spectral analysis does not rule out the hypothesis of a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary as suggested previously. If 1E 1743.1-2843 is actually located in the GC region, we might expect to observe significant 6.4 keV fluorescent iron line emission from nearby molecular clouds (e.g., GCM+0.25+0.01).