A microquasar classification from a disk instability perspective

Abstract

The spectacular variability of microquasars has led to a long string of efforts in order to classify their observed behaviors in a few states. The progress made in the understanding of the Quasi-Periodic Oscillations observed in these objects now makes it possible to develop a new way to find order in their behavior, based on the theorized physical processes associated with these oscillations. This will also have the interest of reuniting microquasars in a single classification based on the physical processes at work and therefore independent of their specificities (mass, variation timescale, outburst history, etc.). This classification is aimed to be a tool to further our understanding of microquasars behavior and not to replace phenomenological states. We start by considering three instabilities that can cause accretion in the disk. We compare the conditions for their development, and the Quasi-Periodic Oscillations they can be expected to produce, with the spectral states in which these Quasi-Periodic Oscillations are observed and sometimes coexist. From the three instabilities that we proposed to explain the three states of GRS 1915+105 we actually found the theoretical existence of four states. We compared those four states with observations and also how those four states can be seen in a model-independent fashion. Those four state can be used to find an order in microquasar observations, based on the properties of the Quasi-Periodic Oscillations and the physics of the associated instabilities.

accepted by A&A

References in corpus (9)

• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• Rossby Wave Instability and three-dimensional vortices in accretion disks
• Accretion-Ejection Instability, MHD Rossby Wave Instability, diskoseismology, and the high-frequency QPO of microquasars
• Two Years of INTEGRAL monitoring of GRS 1915+105 Part 2: X-Ray Spectro-Temporal Analysis
• High-frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations from GRS 1915+105 in its C state
• Two years of INTEGRAL monitoring of GRS 1915+105 Part 1: multiwavelength coverage with INTEGRAL, RXTE, and the Ryle radio Telescope
• A transient low-frequency QPO from the black hole binary GRS 1915+105
• The hard state of black hole candidates: XTE J1752-223
• The early phase of a H1743-322 outburst observed by INTEGRAL, RXTE, Swift, and XMM/Newton

Cited by in corpus (10)

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• Looking for the elusive 3:2 ratio of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in the microquasar XTE J1550-564
• Impact of inclination on quasi-periodic oscillations from spiral structures
• Impact of Schwarzschild black hole's gravity upon the Rossby wave instability
• X-ray Spectral Analysis of the Steady States of GRS 1915+105
• On the Rossby Wave Instability in accretion discs surrounding spinning black holes
• Rossby Wave Instability and High-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in accretion discs orbiting around black holes
• Can we disentangle between the emission of an accretion disc around a single black hole and a circumbinary disc ?