Low-frequency QPO from the 11 Hz accreting pulsar in Terzan 5: not frame dragging

Abstract

We report on 6 RXTE observations taken during the 2010 outburst of the 11 Hz accreting pulsar IGR J17480-2446 located in the globular cluster Terzan 5. During these observations we find power spectra which resemble those seen in Z-type high-luminosity neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries, with a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the 35-50 Hz range simultaneous with a kHz QPO and broad band noise. Using well known frequency-frequency correlations, we identify the 35-50 Hz QPOs as the horizontal branch oscillations (HBO), which were previously suggested to be due to Lense-Thirring precession. As IGR J17480-2446 spins more than an order of magnitude more slowly than any of the other neutron stars where these QPOs were found, this QPO can not be explained by frame dragging. By extension, this casts doubt on the Lense-Thirring precession model for other low-frequency QPOs in neutron-star and perhaps even black-hole systems.

6 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJL

References in corpus (13)

• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• Global General Relativistic MHD Simulation of a Tilted Black-Hole Accretion Disk
• A physical model for the continuum variability and QPO in accreting black holes
• Modelling variability in black hole binaries: linking simulations to observations
• X-ray time variability across the atoll source states of 4U 1636--53
• Millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations and thermonuclear bursts from Terzan 5: A showcase of burning regimes
• Identification of black hole power spectral components across all canonical states
• Is there a link between the neutron-star spin and the frequency of the kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations?
• The spin and orbit of the newly discovered pulsar IGR J17480-2446
• Implications of burst oscillations from the slowly rotating accreting pulsar IGR 17480-2446 in the globular cluster Terzan 5
• The Peculiar Evolutionary History of IGR J17480-2446 in Terzan 5
• Terzan 5 transient IGR J17480-2446: variation of burst and spectral properties with spectral states
• kHz QPOs from the 2000 and 2010 X-ray transients located in the globular cluster Terzan 5: EXO1745-248 and IGR J17480-2446

Cited by in corpus (28)

• A review of quasi-periodic oscillations from black hole X-ray binaries: observation and theory
• An exact analytic treatment of propagating mass accretion rate fluctuations in X-ray binaries
• Black hole spin measurements through the relativistic precession model: XTE J1550-564
• Discovery of the Third Transient X-ray Binary in the Galactic Globular Cluster Terzan 5
• Solutions to the relativistic precession model
• Common Patterns in the Evolution between the Luminous Neutron Star Low-Mass X-ray Binary Subclasses
• Correlations in Horizontal Branch Oscillations and Break Components in XTE J1701-462 and GX 17+2
• The INTEGRAL view on Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Testing the relativistic precession model using low frequency and kHz quasi-periodic oscillations in neutron star low mass X-ray binaries with known spin
• A possible signature of Lense-Thirring precession in dipping and eclipsing neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries
• 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
• Relation between spectral changes and the presence of the lower kHz QPO in the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53
• The INTEGRAL view of the pulsating hard X-ray sky: from accreting and transitional millisecond pulsars to rotation-powered pulsars and magnetars
• Confronting models for the high-frequency QPOs with Lense-Thirring precession
• The stochastic X-ray variability of the accreting millisecond pulsar MAXI J0911-655
• On the geometric nature of low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries
• On the frequency correlations of low-frequency QPOs with kilohertz QPOs in accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars
• Mass and spin measurements for the neutron star 4U1608-52 through the relativistic precession model
• Spectral and Timing evolution of GX 340+0 along its Z-track
• Swift X-ray Telescope study of the Black Hole Binary MAXI J1659-152: Variability from a two component accretion flow
• Probing black-hole accretion through time variability
• On the formation of the peculiar low-mass X-ray binary IGR J17480$-$2446 in Terzan 5
• Very low-frequency oscillations from the 11 Hz pulsar in Terzan 5: frame-dragging back on the table
• AstroSat View of Transient Low-mass X-ray Binary XTE J1701-462: Spectral and Temporal Evolution along the Z-track
• Search For Gravitational Redshifted Absorption Lines In LMXB Serpens X-1
• Constraints on the magnetic field structure in accreting compact objects from aperiodic variability
• The stochastic X-ray variability of the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17062-6143
• Lense-Thirring precession of neutron-star accretion flows: Relativistic versus classical precession