A Statistical Study on the Low-Frequency QPO Amplitude Spectrum and Amplitude in GRS 1915+105

TL;DR

This study analyzes the energy dependence and amplitude of low-frequency QPOs in GRS 1915+105, revealing that their spectral properties are similar across different jet states and likely originate from the corona rather than the jets.

Contribution

It provides a detailed statistical analysis of the LFQPO amplitude spectrum and its relation to jet activity, offering insights into the origin of QPOs in black hole binaries.

Findings

LFQPO amplitude spectrum fits a power-law with exponential cutoff

LFQPO spectra are similar across different jet states

LFQPOs likely originate from the corona, not the jets

Abstract

A statistical study was made on both the energy dependence of the low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) amplitude (LFQPO amplitude spectrum) and the LFQPO amplitude from all the RXTE observations of GRS 1915+105. Based on the two-branch correlation of the LFQPO frequency and the hardness ratio, the observations that were suitable for evaluating the LFQPO amplitude spectrum were divided into two groups. According to a comparison between the radio and X-ray emissions, we deduced that the jets during the two groups of observations are very different. A negative correlation between the LFQPO frequency and the radio flux was found for one group. The LFQPO amplitude spectrum was fitted by a power-law with an exponential cutoff in order to describe it quantitatively. It reveals that as the LFQPO frequency increases, the power-law hardens. And the cutoff energy firstly decreases, and then smoothly levels off. The fit also shows that the LFQPO amplitude spectra of the two groups are essentially the same, suggesting that the LFQPO seems not to originate from the jet. The LFQPO amplitude spectra are hard, indicating a possible origin of the LFQPO in the corona. As the LFQPO frequency increases, the LFQPO amplitude firstly increases and then decreases. The effects of the low pass filter and the jet on the LFQPO amplitude are discussed.