Data points used to describe geometrically the light curve of the 2003 outburst of XTE J1814−338. In this representation, the light curve is described as the piecewise function connecting the data points and its area is obtained by dividing it into trapezes, whose vertical lines are the dashed lines in this figure, and summing their areas; the light curve is shown for comparison in the box above (Papitto et al. 2007).