Statistics of X-ray flares of Sagittarius A*: evidence for solar-like self-organized criticality phenomenon

TL;DR

This study analyzes 3 million seconds of Chandra X-ray data from Sagittarius A* to reveal that its flare statistics resemble a solar-like self-organized criticality system, suggesting magnetic reconnection as the flare mechanism.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed statistical analysis linking Sgr A* X-ray flares to SOC phenomena, supporting a solar-like magnetic reconnection model.

Findings

Flare fluence distribution follows a power law with index 1.65.

Duration-fluence correlation is a power law with index less than 0.55.

Flares are consistent with a 3D SOC system with magnetic reconnection.

Abstract

X-ray flares have routinely been observed from the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A$^\star$ (Sgr A$^\star$), at our Galactic center. The nature of these flares remains largely unclear, despite of many theoretical models. In this paper, we study the statistical properties of the Sgr A$^\star$ X-ray flares, by fitting the count rate (CR) distribution and the structure function (SF) of the light curve with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. With the 3 million second \textit{Chandra} observations accumulated in the Sgr A$^\star$ X-ray Visionary Project, we construct the theoretical light curves through Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the $2-8$ keV X-ray light curve can be decomposed into a quiescent component with a constant count rate of $\sim6\times10^{-3}~$count s$^{-1}$ and a flare component with a power-law fluence distribution $dN/dE\propto E^{-\alpha_{\rm E}}$ with $\alpha_{\rm E}=1.65\pm0.17$. The duration-fluence correlation can also be modelled as a power-law $T\propto E^{\alpha_{\rm ET}}$ with $\alpha_{\rm ET} < 0.55$ ($95\%$ confidence). These statistical properties are consistent with the theoretical prediction of the self-organized criticality (SOC) system with the spatial dimension $S = 3$. We suggest that the X-ray flares represent plasmoid ejections driven by magnetic reconnection (similar to solar flares) in the accretion flow onto the black hole.