Optical QPOs with different periodicities in CSS and ZTF light curves of the quasar 4C 50.43

TL;DR

This study detects two distinct optical QPOs in the quasar 4C 50.43 with different periodicities in different datasets, highlighting the influence of red noise and variability on QPO detection and interpretation.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of optical QPO periodicities in the same quasar across different observational periods and discusses factors affecting their detection.

Findings

Detected 1124-day QPO in CSS V-band light curve.

Detected 513-day QPO in ZTF g/r band light curves.

Red noise significantly influences QPO periodicity detection.

Abstract

Long-standing optical quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with periodicity of hundreds to thousands of days have been accepted as indicators for central sub-pc binary black hole systems (BBHs) in broad line active galactic nuclei (BLAGN). However, there are so far no direct reports on whether such reported optical QPOs have their periodicities constant in different periods. Here, based on different methods applied to light curves of 4C 50.43 in different periods, optical QPOs with periodicity of 1124days was detected in the CSS V-band light curve, while a shorter periodicity of 513days was detected in the ZTF g/r band light curves. Despite the two periodicities near-harmonic 2:1 ratio, their absence of simultaneous detection in the lomb-scargle periodograms of the ZTF light curves suggests that they are unlikely to be harmonically related. Potential factors were considered to explain these two distinct periodicities, especially different temporal coverage, signal-to-noise ratio and time steps between the CSS and ZTF light curves, as well as the effects of red noises related to intrinsic AGN variability. Our analysis shows that red noises have strong influence on the different periodicities in 4C 50.43 supporting our previous simulations. The results in this manuscript strongly indicate that it should be cautioned for applications of determined optical QPOs in BLAGN having strong intrinsic AGN variability.