Millihertz Oscillation Frequency Drift Predicts the Occurrence of Type I X-ray Bursts

Abstract

Millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations reported in three neutron-star low mass X-ray binaries have been suggested to be a mode of marginally stable nuclear burning on the neutron star surface. In this Letter, we show that close to the transition between the island and the banana state, 4U~1636--53 shows mHz QPOs whose frequency systematically decreases with time until the oscillations disappear and a Type I X-ray burst occurs. There is a strong correlation between the QPO frequency $\nu$ and the occurrence of X-ray bursts: when $\nu \gtrsim 9$ mHz no bursts occur, while $\nu \lesssim 9$ mHz does allow the occurrence of bursts. The mHz QPO frequency constitutes the first identified observable that can be used to predict the occurrence of X-ray bursts. If a systematic frequency drift occurs, then a burst happens within a few kilo-seconds after $\nu$ drops below 9 mHz. This observational result confirms that the mHz QPO phenomenon is intimately related with the processes that lead to a thermonuclear burst.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in ApJ Letters - Uses emulateapj (misspelled author name corrected)

References in corpus (7)

• Calibration of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array
• Evidence for a Millisecond Pulsar in 4U 1636-53 During a Superburst
• The X-ray spectrum of the atoll source 4U 1608-52
• Millihertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations from Marginally Stable Nuclear Burning on an Accreting Neutron Star
• New class of low frequency QPOs: signature of nuclear burning or accretion disk instabilities?
• On the Correlated Spectral and Timing Properties of 4U 1636-53: an Atoll Source at High Accretion Rates
• Periodic Variability During the X-ray Decline of 4U 1636-53

Cited by in corpus (43)

• Intermittent millisecond X-ray pulsations from the neutron-star X-ray transient SAX J1748.9-2021 in the globular cluster NGC 6440
• X-ray time variability across the atoll source states of 4U 1636--53
• Thermonuclear X-ray bursts
• Accretion disks and coronae in the X-ray flashlight
• Millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations and thermonuclear bursts from Terzan 5: A showcase of burning regimes
• Measurement of neutron star parameters: a review of methods for low-mass X-ray binaries
• The effect of rotation on the stability of nuclear burning in accreting neutron stars
• Achromatic late-time variability in thermonuclear X-ray bursts - an accretion disk disrupted by a nova-like shell?
• Reaction Rate and Composition Dependence of the Stability of Thermonuclear Burning on Accreting Neutron Stars
• Low Frequency (11 mHz) Oscillations in H1743-322: A New Class of Black Hole QPOs?
• Constraining the properties of neutron star crusts with the transient low-mass X-ray binary Aql X-1
• Characterizing the Evolving X-Ray Spectral Features During a Superburst from 4U 1636-536
• Spectral and timing analysis of the mHz QPOs in the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53
• NICER Discovers mHz Oscillations in the "Clocked" Burster GS 1826-238
• Discovery of thermonuclear (Type I) X-ray bursts in the X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814 observed with NICER and NuSTAR
• Thermonuclear X-ray bursts in rapid succession in 4U 1636-536 with AstroSat-LAXPC
• Discovery of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray binary EXO 0748--676
• Millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in 4U 1636-53 associated with bursts with positive convexity only
• Millihertz Quasi-periodic Oscillations in 4U 1636-536: Putting Possible Constraints on the Neutron Star Size
• Discovery of a soft X-ray 8 mHz QPO from the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934
• Discovery of a correlation between the frequency of the mHz quasi-periodic oscillations and the neutron-star temperature in the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53
• Thermonuclear X-ray bursts from LMXB 4U 1636$-$536 observed with AstroSat
• The efficiency of nuclear burning during thermonuclear (Type I) bursts as a function of accretion rate
• Double-peaked thermonuclear bursts at the soft-hard state transition in the Rapid Burster
• The Thermal Stability of Helium Burning on Accreting Neutron Stars
• The Evolution of X-ray Bursts in the "Bursting Pulsar" GRO J1744-28
• The stochastic X-ray variability of the accreting millisecond pulsar MAXI J0911-655
• Discovery of a 7 mHz X-Ray Quasi-periodic Oscillation from the most Massive Stellar-mass Black Hole IC 10 X-1
• AXTAR: Mission Design Concept
• Phase-resolved analyses of mHz quasi-periodic oscillations in 4U 1636-53 using Hilbert-Huang transform
• Detection of Millihertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the X-Ray Binary 1RXS J180408.9$-$342058
• Detection of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1730--22 with NICER
• The thermonuclear X-ray bursts of 4U 1730-22
• XMM-Newton and NICER measurement of the rms spectrum of the millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53
• Drifts of the marginally stable burning frequency in the X-ray binaries 4U 1608--52 and Aql X--1
• Discovery of an accretion-rate independent absolute RMS amplitude of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in 4U 1636-53
• A $\sim$100 mHz QPO in the X-ray emission from IGR J17361-4441
• Discovery of twin kHz quasi periodic oscillations in the low mass X-ray binary XTE J1701-407
• The harmonic component of the millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in 4U 1636-53
• Quasi-periodic pulse amplitude modulation in the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934
• Thermonuclear Type-I X-ray Bursts and Burst Oscillations from the Eclipsing AMXP Swift J1749.4-2807
• NuSTAR and AstroSat observations of thermonuclear X-ray bursts with short-recurrence times in 4U 1636$-$536
• Recurrent Instability in LMXB Accretion Disks: How Strange is GRS 1915+105?