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Tian P, Zhang P, Wang W, Wang P, Sun X, Liu J, Zhang B, Dai Z, Yuan F, Zhang S, Liu Q, Jiang P, Wu X, Zheng Z, Chen J, Li D, Zhu Z, Pan Z, Gan H, Chen X, Sai N. Subsecond periodic radio oscillations in a microquasar. Nature 2023; 621:271-275. [PMID: 37495697 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06336-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Powerful relativistic jets are one of the ubiquitous features of accreting black holes in all scales1-3. GRS 1915 + 105 is a well-known fast-spinning black-hole X-ray binary4 with a relativistic jet, termed a 'microquasar', as indicated by its superluminal motion of radio emission5,6. It has exhibited persistent X-ray activity over the last 30 years, with quasiperiodic oscillations of approximately 1-10 Hz (refs. 7-9) and 34 and 67 Hz in the X-ray band10. These oscillations probably originate in the inner accretion disk, but other origins have been considered11. Radio observations found variable light curves with quasiperiodic flares or oscillations with periods of approximately 20-50 min (refs. 12-14). Here we report two instances of approximately 5-Hz transient periodic oscillation features from the source detected in the 1.05- to 1.45-GHz radio band that occurred in January 2021 and June 2022. Circular polarization was also observed during the oscillation phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfu Tian
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Ping Zhang
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
| | - Pei Wang
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaohui Sun
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Yunan University, Kunming, People's Republic of China
| | - Jifeng Liu
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Bing Zhang
- Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
| | - Zigao Dai
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, People's Republic of China
| | - Feng Yuan
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Shuangnan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Qingzhong Liu
- Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People's Republic of China
| | - Peng Jiang
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Guizhou Radio Astronomy Observatory, Guizhou University, Guiyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Xuefeng Wu
- Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People's Republic of China
| | - Zheng Zheng
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiashi Chen
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Di Li
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Zhijiang Lab, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Zonghong Zhu
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhichen Pan
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Guizhou Radio Astronomy Observatory, Guizhou University, Guiyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Hengqian Gan
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Guizhou Radio Astronomy Observatory, Guizhou University, Guiyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao Chen
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Na Sai
- Department of Astronomy, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
- WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
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Abstract
We present a unified model for X-ray quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) seen in Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies, γ-ray and optical band QPOs that are seen in Blazars. The origin of these QPOs is attributed to the plasma motion in corona or jets of these AGN. In the case of X-ray QPOs, we applied the general relativistic precession model for the two simultaneous QPOs seen in NLSy1 1H 0707-945 and deduce orbital parameters, such the radius of the emission region, and spin parameter a for a circular orbit; we obtained the Carter’s constant Q, a, and the radius in the case of a spherical orbit solution. In other cases where only one X-ray QPO is seen, we localized the orbital parameters for NLSy1 galaxies REJ 1034+396, 2XMM J123103.2+110648, MS 2254.9-3712, Mrk 766, and MCG-06-30-15. By applying the lighthouse model, we found that a kinematic origin of the jet based γ-ray and optical QPOs, in a relativistic MHD framework, is possible. Based on the inbuilt Hamiltonian formulation with a power-law distribution in the orbital energy of the plasma consisting of only circular or spherical trajectories, we show that the resulting Fourier power spectral density (PSD) has a break corresponding to the energy at ISCO. Further, we derive connection formulae between the slopes in the PSD and that of the energy distribution. Overall, given the preliminary but promising results of these relativistic orbit models to match the observed QPO frequencies and PSD at diverse scales in the inner corona and the jet, it motivates us to build detailed models, including a transfer function for the energy spectrum in the corona and relativistic MHD jet models for plasma flow and its polarization properties.
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