Discovery of a correlation between the frequency of the mHz quasi-periodic oscillations and the neutron-star temperature in the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53

TL;DR

This study links millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in a neutron-star binary to surface temperature changes, suggesting QPO frequency variations are driven by thermal processes in the star's crust.

Contribution

It provides the first direct observational evidence of a correlation between mHz QPO frequency and neutron-star surface temperature, supporting models of crustal heating and cooling effects.

Findings

QPO frequency correlates with neutron-star surface temperature.

QPO disappears after X-ray burst and reappears later.

Results support crustal cooling as a driver of QPO frequency drift.

Abstract

We detected millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in an XMM-Newton observation of the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53. These QPOs have been interpreted as marginally-stable burning on the neutron-star surface. At the beginning of the observation the QPO was at around 8 mHz, together with a possible second harmonic. About 12 ks into the observation a type I X-ray burst occurred and the QPO disappeared; the QPO reappeared ~25 ks after the burst and it was present until the end of the observation. We divided the observation into four segments to study the evolution of the spectral properties of the source during intervals with and without mHz QPO. We find that the temperature of the neutron-star surface increases from the QPO segment to the non-QPO segment, and vice versa. We also find a strong correlation between the frequency of the mHz QPO and the temperature of a black-body component in the energy spectrum representing the temperature of neutron-star surface. Our results are consistent with previous results that the frequency of the mHz QPO depends on the variation of the heat flux from the neutron star crust, and therefore supports the suggestion that the observed QPO frequency drifts could be caused by the cooling of deeper layers.