A quasi-periodic modulation of the iron line centroid energy in the black hole binary H 1743-322

TL;DR

This study provides strong evidence that the Type-C QPO in the black hole binary H 1743-322 is caused by Lense-Thirring precession, demonstrated by the systematic modulation of the iron line energy over the QPO cycle.

Contribution

First detection of Lense-Thirring precession effects in the iron line energy modulation in a black hole binary, confirming a key GR prediction.

Findings

Iron line centroid energy varies systematically over the QPO cycle

Supports Lense-Thirring precession as the origin of Type-C QPOs

Enables future inner disk mapping techniques

Abstract

Accreting stellar-mass black holes often show a `Type-C' quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in their X-ray flux, and an iron emission line in their X-ray spectrum. The iron line is generated through continuum photons reflecting off the accretion disk, and its shape is distorted by relativistic motion of the orbiting plasma and the gravitational pull of the black hole. The physical origin of the QPO has long been debated, but is often attributed to Lense-Thirring precession, a General Relativistic effect causing the inner flow to precess as the spinning black hole twists up the surrounding space-time. This predicts a characteristic rocking of the iron line between red and blue shift as the receding and approaching sides of the disk are respectively illuminated. Here we report on XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the black hole binary H 1743-322 in which the line energy varies systematically over the ~4 s QPO cycle (3.70 sigma significance), as predicted. This provides strong evidence that the QPO is produced by Lense-Thirring precession, constituting the first detection of this effect in the strong gravitation regime. There are however elements of our results harder to explain, with one section of data behaving differently to all the others. Our result enables the future application of tomographic techniques to map the inner regions of black hole accretion disks.