Radiation Pressure and Mass Ejection in Rho-like States of GRS 1915+105

Abstract

We present a unifying scenario to address the physical origin of the diversity of X-ray lightcurves within the rho variability class of the microquasar GRS 1915+105. This 'heartbeat' state is characterized by a bright flare that recurs every ~50-100 seconds, but the profile and duration of the flares varies significantly from observation to observation. Based on a comprehensive, phase-resolved study of heartbeats in the RXTE archive, we demonstrate that very different X-ray lightcurves do not require origins in different accretion processes. Indeed, our detailed comparison of the phase-resolved spectra of a double-peaked oscillation and a single-peaked oscillation shows that different cycles can have basically similar X-ray spectral evolution. We argue that all heartbeat oscillations can be understood as the result of a combination of a thermal-viscous radiation pressure instability, a local Eddington limit in the disk, and a sudden, radiation-pressure-driven evaporation or ejection event in the inner accretion disk. This ejection appears to be a universal, fundamental part of the rho state, and is largely responsible for a hard X-ray pulse seen in the lightcurve of all cycles. We suggest that the detailed shape of oscillations in the mass accretion rate through the disk is responsible for the phenomenological differences between different rho-type lightcurves, and we discuss how future time-dependent simulations of disk instabilities may provide new insights into the role of radiation pressure in the accretion flow.

Accepted for publication in ApJ. 10 pages, 7 figures. Uses emulateapj. Comments welcome

References in corpus (6)

• The Accretion Disk Wind in the Black Hole GRO J1655-40
• The faint "heartbeats" of IGR J17091-3624: an exceptional black-hole candidate
• An Extreme X-ray Disk Wind in the Black Hole Candidate IGR J17091-3624
• On the Eddington limit in accretion discs
• Accretion Disc Wind Variability in the States of the Microquasar GRS 1915+105
• The complex behaviour of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 in the rho class observed with BeppoSAX. II: Time-resolved spectral analysis

Cited by in corpus (25)

• Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) Instrument on AstroSat and Some Preliminary Results from its performance in the orbit
• The Disk-Wind-Jet Connection in the Black Hole H 1743-322
• Spectral and timing properties of IGR J00291+5934 during its 2015 outburst
• Why is IGR J17091-3624 so faint? Constraints on distance, mass, and spin from `phase-resolved' spectroscopy of the `heartbeat' oscillations
• Disk-Wind Connection During the Heartbeats of GRS 1915+105
• The universal "heartbeat" oscillations in black hole systems accross the mass-scale
• The Novel Obscured State of Stellar-mass Black Hole GRS 1915+105
• On the energy dependence of the QPO phenomenon in the black hole system MAXI J1535-571
• Study of timing evolution from non-variable to structured large-amplitude variability transition in GRS 1915+105 using AstroSat
• Non-linear oscillator models for the X-ray bursting of the microquasar GRS 1915+105
• AstroSat view of IGR J17091-3624 and GRS 1915+105: decoding the 'pulse' in the 'Heartbeat State'
• A model for the energy-dependent time-lag and rms of the heartbeat oscillations in GRS 1915+105
• Properties of unique hard X-ray dips observed from GRS 1915+105 and IGR J17091-3624 and their implications
• Time-resolved spectroscopy on the heartbeat state of GRS 1915+105 using AstroSat
• A non-linear mathematical model for the X-ray variability classes of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 -- II: transition and swaying classes
• Testing the dynamic origin of Quasi-periodic Oscillations in MAXI J1535-571 and H 1743-322
• A timing view of the heartbeat state of GRS 1915+105
• Interpreting the large amplitude X-ray variation of GRS 1915+105 and IGR J17091-3624 as modulations of an accretion disc
• An Insight-HXMT view of the mHz quasi-regular modulation phenomenon in the black hole X-ray binary 4U 1630-47
• Disc-corona interaction in the heartbeat state of GRS 1915+105
• A statistical analysis of the "heartbeat" behaviour of GRS 1915+105
• The complex time behaviour of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 in the ρ-class observed with BeppoSAX. III: The hard X-ray delay and limit cycle mapping
• A non-linear mathematical model for the X-ray variability classes of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 -- I: quiescent, spiking states and QPOs
• Time properties of the the rho-class burst of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 observed with BeppoSAX in April 1999
• NICER Spectral and Timing Analysis of 4U 1630$-$47 and its Heartbeat State