Origin Of Quasi-periodic Oscillations Research Articles

Broad-band noise and quasi-periodic oscillation characteristics of the X-ray pulsar RX J0440.9+4431

ABSTRACT We present a comprehensive timing analysis on the Be/X-ray binary pulsar RX J0440.9+4431 using observations from NICER and Insight-HXMT during the 2022–2023 outburst. The power density spectrum (PDS) of RX J0440.9+4431 exhibits typical aperiodic variability in X-ray flux across a wide frequency range. During a supercritical accretion state, we detect quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) at 0.2–0.5 Hz in the light curves of five pulses for RX J0440.9+4431. The observed QPOs manifest during flares, while the flares appear at the peaks of the pulse profiles on a time-scale of seconds and are primarily caused by an increase in hard photons. These flares can be explained by increased material ingestion in the accretion column at a fixed phase, primarily generating hard photons. Alternatively, an increase in accretion rate, independent of phase, may result in highly beamed hard photons within the accretion column, causing the flares. We argue the origin of QPOs to instabilities within the accretion flow. Additionally, we find that the break frequencies in the noise power spectra align well with $\propto L_{\mathrm{x}}^{3 / 7}$ across three orders of magnitude in the luminosity, which points to a relatively strong magnetic field in RX J0440.9+4431, estimated to be ~1013 G.

Evidence for a dynamic corona in the short-term time lags of black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070

ABSTRACT In X-ray observations of hard state black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs), rapid variations in accretion disc and coronal power-law emission are correlated and show Fourier-frequency-dependent time lags. On short ($\sim$0.1 s) time-scales, these lags are thought to be due to reverberation and therefore may depend strongly on the geometry of the corona. Low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are variations in X-ray flux that have been suggested to arise because of geometric changes in the corona, possibly due to general relativistic Lense–Thirring precession. Therefore, one might expect the short-term time lags to vary on the QPO time-scale. We performed novel spectral-timing analyses on Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR observations of the BHXRB MAXI J1820+070 during the hard state of its outburst in 2018 to investigate how the short-term time lags between a disc-dominated and a coronal power-law-dominated energy band vary on different time-scales. Our method can distinguish between variability due to the QPO and broad-band noise, and we find a linear correlation between the power-law flux and lag amplitude that is strongest at the QPO frequency. We also introduce a new method to resolve the QPO signal and determine the QPO phase dependence of the flux and lag variations, finding that both are very similar. Our results are consistent with a geometric origin of QPOs, but also provide evidence for a dynamic corona with a geometry varying in a similar way over a broad range of time-scales, not just the QPO time-scale.

QPOML: a machine learning approach to detect and characterize quasi-periodic oscillations in X-ray binaries

ABSTRACT Astronomy is presently experiencing profound growth in the deployment of machine learning to explore large data sets. However, transient quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) that appear in power density spectra of many X-ray binary (XRB) system observations are an intriguing phenomena heretofore not explored with machine learning. In light of this, we propose and experiment with novel methodologies for predicting the presence and properties of QPOs to make the first ever detections and characterizations of QPOs with machine learning models. We base our findings on raw energy spectra and processed features derived from energy spectra using an abundance of data from the NICER and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer space telescope archives for two black hole low-mass XRB sources, GRS 1915+105 and MAXI J1535−571. We advance these non-traditional methods as a foundation for using machine learning to discover global inter-object generalizations between – and provide unique insights about – energy and timing phenomena to assist with the ongoing challenge of unambiguously understanding the nature and origin of QPOs. Additionally, we have developed a publicly available python machine learning library, QPOML, to enable further machine learning aided investigations into QPOs.

First discovery of quasi-periodic oscillations in the dwarf nova HS 2325+8205 based on TESS photometry

ABSTRACT HS 2325+8205 is a long-period eclipsing dwarf nova with an orbital period above the period gap (Porb > 3 h) and is reported to be a Z Cam-type dwarf nova. We study the light variation and the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of HS 2325+8205 based on the photometry of theTransiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Using a continuous wavelet transform, a Lomb–Scargle periodogram (LSP), and sine fitting methods, we find for the first time that there is a QPO of ∼2160 s in the long outburst top light curves of HS 2325+8205. Moreover, we find that the oscillation intensity of the QPOs of HS 2325+8205 is related to the orbital phase, and the intensity in orbital phases 0.5–0.9 is stronger than in orbital phases 0.1–0.5. Therefore, the relationship between the oscillation intensity of QPOs and the orbital phase may become a topic of research into the origin of QPOs. In addition, we use the LSP to correct the orbital period of HS 2325+8205 to 0.19433475(6) d.

Exploring the X-ray universe via timing: mass of the active galactic nucleus black hole XMMUJ134736.6+173403

AbstractA strong quasi-periodic modulation has recently been revealed in the X-ray flux of the X-ray source XMMUJ134736.6+173403. The two observed twin-peak quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) exhibit a 3:1 frequency ratio and strongly support the evidence for the presence of an active galactic nucleus black hole (AGN BH). It has been suggested that detections of twin-peak QPOs with commensurable frequency ratios and scaling of their periods with BH mass could provide the basis for a method intended to determine the mass of BH sources, such as AGNs. Assuming the orbital origin of QPOs, we calculate the upper and lower limit on the AGN BH mass M, reaching M ≍ 107–109M⊙. Compared to mass estimates of other sources, XMMUJ134736.6+173403 appears to be the most massive source with commensurable QPO frequencies, and its mass represents the current observational upper limit on the AGN BH mass obtained from the QPO observations.

Mass of the active galactic nucleus black hole XMMUJ134736.6+173403

A recent study of the X-ray source XMMUJ134736.6+173403 has revealed a strong quasi-periodic modulation in the X-ray flux. The observation of two quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) that occur on a daily timescale and exhibit a 3:1 frequency ratio strongly supports the evidence for the presence of an active galactic nucleus black hole (AGN BH). Assuming an orbital origin of QPOs, we calculated the upper and lower limit on AGN BH mass M and found M ≈ 107 − 109 M⊙. When we compare this to mass estimates of other sources, XMMUJ134736.6+173403 appears to be the most massive source with commensurable QPO frequencies, and its mass represents the current observational upper limit on AGN BH mass based on QPO observations. We note that it will be crucial for the falsification of particular resonance models of QPOs whether only a single QPO with a frequency that completes the harmonic sequence 3 : 2 : 1 is found in this source, or if a new different pair of QPOs with frequencies in the 3 : 2 ratio is found. The former case would agree with the prediction of the 3 : 2 epicyclic resonance model and BH mass M ≈ (5a2 + 8a + 8)×107 M⊙, where a is a dimensionless BH spin.

On one-parametric formula relating the frequencies of twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillations

Abstract Twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are observed in several low-mass X-ray binary systems containing neutron stars. Timing the analysis of X-ray fluxes of more than dozen of such systems reveals remarkable correlations between the frequencies of two characteristic peaks present in the power density spectra. The individual correlations clearly differ, but they roughly follow a common individual pattern. High values of measured QPO frequencies and strong modulation of the X-ray flux both suggest that the observed correlations are connected to orbital motion in the innermost part of an accretion disc. Several attempts to model these correlations with simple geodesic orbital models or phenomenological relations have failed in the past. We find and explore a surprisingly simple analytic relation that reproduces individual correlations for a group of several sources through a single parameter. When an additional free parameter is considered within our relation, it well reproduces the data of a large group of 14 sources. The very existence and form of this simple relation support the hypothesis of the orbital origin of QPOs and provide the key for further development of QPO models. We discuss a possible physical interpretation of our relation’s parameters and their links to concrete QPO models.

Quasi periodic oscillations in black hole binaries

AbstractFast time variability is the most prominent characteristic of accreting systems and the presence of quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) is a constant in all accreting systems, from cataclysmic variables to AGNs, passing through black hole and neutron star X‐ray binaries and through the enigmatic ultra‐luminous X‐ray sources. In this paper, I will briefly review the current knowledge of QPOs in black hole X‐ray binaries, mainly focussing on their observed properties, but also mentioning the most important models that have been proposed to explain the origin of QPOs over the last decades. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

DISKOSEISMOLOGY AND QPOs CONFRONT BLACK HOLE SPIN

We compare the determinations of the angular momentum of stellar mass black holes via the continuum and line methods with those from diskoseismology. The assumption being tested is that one of the QPOs (quasi-periodic oscillations) in each binary X-ray source is produced by the fundamental g-mode. This should be the most robust and visible normal mode of oscillation of the accretion disk, and therefore its absence should rule out diskoseismology as the origin of QPOs. The comparisons are consistent with the second highest frequency QPO being produced by this g-mode, but are not consistent with models in which one QPO frequency is that of the innermost stable circular orbit.

Disk Oscillations as the Origin of Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in Black Hole Candidates

Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of a few Hz are observed in the very high state of some black hole candidates (GX 339-4 and GS 1124-68). This is the Kepler frequency at the radius of a few hundred Schwarzschild radii. As a possible mechanism of the QPOs in these objects, the trapped oscillations in the accretion disks are considered. The trapped oscillations of the disks were investigated by several authors. They studied the trapped oscillations in the standard radiative cooling-dominated disks. Recently, the advection-dominated accretion flow is considered, as a possible model to explain the hard X-ray spectra of the black hole candidates or the active galactic nuclei. In particular, in the very high state of some black hole candidates, the spectrum can be explained by the disk-corona model which comprises the cold standard accretion disk and the advection-dominated corona above the cold disk. We thus investigated the trapped axi-symmetric oscillations in the advection-dominated corona by the global linear analysis.