Transient Quasi-Periodic Oscillations at $\gamma$-rays in the TeV Blazar PKS 1510-089

TL;DR

This study reports the detection of two transient quasi-periodic oscillations in the gamma-ray lightcurve of the TeV blazar PKS 1510-089, using multiple analysis techniques, suggesting possible physical origins such as binary black holes or jet precession.

Contribution

First detection of two transient gamma-ray QPOs in PKS 1510-089 with significance analysis, exploring various physical models for their origin.

Findings

3.6-day QPO detected at ~3.5σ significance

92-day QPO detected at ~7.0σ significance

Multiple physical models proposed for QPO origins

Abstract

We present periodicity search analyses on the $\gamma$-ray lightcurve of the TeV blazar PKS 1510-089 observed by the \textit{Fermi} Large Area Telescope. We report the detection of two transient quasi-periodic oscillations: a 3.6-day QPO during the outburst in 2009 that lasted five cycles (MJD 54906--54923); and a periodicity of 92 days spanning over 650 days from 2018 to 2020 (MJD 58200--58850), which lasted for seven cycles. We employed the Lomb-Scargle periodogram, Weighted Wavelet Z-transform, REDFIT, and the Monte Carlo lightcurve simulation techniques to find any periodicity and the corresponding significance. The 3.6-day QPO was detected at a moderate significance of $\sim$3.5$\sigma$, while the detection significance of the 92-day QPO was $\sim$7.0$\sigma$. We explore a few physical models for such transient QPOs including a binary black hole system, precession of the jet, a non-axisymmetric instability rotating around the central black hole near the innermost stable circular orbit, the presence of quasi-equidistant magnetic islands inside the jet, and a geometric model involving a plasma blob moving helically inside a curved jet.