Effects of Dissipation Physics on High-frequency Quasi-periodic Oscillations in Black Hole X-ray Binaries

TL;DR

This study uses self-consistent numerical models to explore how black hole spin and dissipation profiles influence high-frequency QPOs in black hole X-ray binaries, providing insights into their physical origins.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, first-principles-based modeling approach that links dissipation physics and black hole spin to observable QPO properties without relying on ad-hoc assumptions.

Findings

HFQPO power spectra are sensitive to dissipation rate distribution.

Quality factors depend strongly on black hole spin.

Results have implications for interpreting steep power law spectra.

Abstract

We numerically investigate the effects of black hole spin and local dissipation profiles on high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (HFQPO) observed in black hole X-ray binaries (BHXB). Our HFQPO power spectra arise from self-consistent calculations that do not rely on ad-hoc assumptions regarding disk geometry. Our models combine radiative transfer and disk vertical structure equations with input motivated by first-principles three-dimensional simulations. We found that HFQPO power spectra may be sensitive to spatial distribution of dissipation rates while the quality factors are more sensitive to black hole spin. We discuss the observational implications of our results in context of steep power law (SPL) spectra from BHXBs that are seen together with HFQPOs, and how QPO properties may be indicators of the underlying physical oscillations.