A magnetic reconnection model for quasi-periodic oscillations in black hole systems

TL;DR

This paper proposes a magnetic reconnection model involving large-scale magnetic fields and multiple magnetic connections in accretion disks to explain the quasi-periodic oscillations observed in black hole systems across different scales.

Contribution

It introduces a novel magnetic reconnection framework that accounts for various magnetic connections in accretion disks to explain QPOs in black hole systems.

Findings

Single QPO frequencies can be fitted using magnetic reconnection models.

The model successfully fits X-ray spectra for multiple black hole systems.

The approach applies to both stellar-mass and supermassive black holes.

Abstract

The quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black hole (BH) systems of different scales are interpreted based on the magnetic reconnection of the large-scale magnetic fields generated by the toroidal electric currents flowing in the inner region of accretion disk, where the current density is assumed to be proportional to the mass density of the accreting plasma. The magnetic connection (MC) is taken into account in resolving the dynamic equations of the accretion disk, in which the MC between the inner and outer disk regions, the MC between the plunging region and the disk, and the MC between the BH horizon and the disk are involved. It turns out that the single QPO frequency of several BH systems of different scales can be fitted by invoking the magnetic reconnection due to the MC between the inner and outer regions of the disk, where the BH binaries XTE J1859+226, XTE J1650-500 and GRS 1915+105 and the massive BHs in NGC 5408 X-1 and RE J1034+396 are included. In addition, the X-ray spectra corresponding to the QPOs are fitted for these sources based on the typical disk-corona model.