Studies of accretion flows around rotating black holes - III. Shock oscillations and an estimation of the spin parameter from QPO frequencies

Abstract

In the present communication of our series of papers dealing with the accretion flows in the pseudo-Kerr geometry, we discuss the effects of viscosity on the accretion flow around a rotating black hole. We find the solution topologies and give special attention to the solutions containing shocks. We draw the parameter space where standing shocks are possible and where the shocks could be oscillating and could produce quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of X-rays observed from black hole candidates. In this model, the extreme locations of the shocks give the upper limits of the QPO frequencies (νQPO) which could be observed. We show that both the viscosity of the flow and the spin of the black hole a increase the QPO frequency while, as expected, the black hole mass reduces the QPO frequencies. Our major conclusion is that the highest observed frequency gives a strict lower limit of the spin. For instance, a black hole exhibiting νQPO ∼ 400 and 700 Hz must have the spin parameters of a> 0.25 and >0.75, respectively, provided viscosity of the flow is small. We discuss the implications of our results in the light of observations of QPOs from black hole candidates.