A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
A Unified Lense-Thirring Precession Model for Optical and X-Ray Quasi-periodic Oscillations in Black Hole Binaries
Authors: Veledina A., Poutanen J., Ingram A.
Publication year: 2013
Journal: Astrophysical Journal
Journal acronym: MNRAS
Article number: 165
Volume: 778
Issue: 2
Number of pages: 8
ISSN: 0004-637X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/778/2/165
Recent observations of accreting black holes reveal the presence of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) in the optical power density spectra. The corresponding oscillation periods match those found in X-rays, implying a common origin. Among the numerous suggested X-ray QPO mechanisms, some may also work in the optical. However, their relevance to the broadband—optical through X-ray—spectral properties have not been investigated. For the first time, we discuss the QPO mechanism in the context of the self-consistent spectral model. We propose that the QPOs are produced by Lense-Thirring precession of the hot accretion flow, whose outer parts radiate in optical wavelengths. At the same time, its innermost parts are emitting X-rays, which explains the observed connection of QPO periods. We predict that the X-ray and optical QPOs should be either in phase or shifted by half a period, depending on the observer position. We investigate the QPO harmonic content and find that the variability amplitudes at the fundamental frequency are larger in the optical, while the X-rays are expected to have strong harmonics. We then discuss the QPO spectral dependence and compare the expectations to the existing data.