Relation between the properties of the kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations and spectral parameters in 4U 1636$-$53

Abstract

We investigate the relation between the parameters of the energy spectrum and the frequency and amplitude of the kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) in the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636$-$53. We fit the $3-180$-keV spectrum of this source with a model that includes a thermal Comptonisation component. We show that the frequencies of both kHz QPOs follow the same relation as a function of the parameters of this spectral component, except for a systematic frequency shift, whereas the rms fractional amplitude of each QPO follows a different relation with respect to those same parameters. This implies that, while the dynamical mechanism that sets the frequencies of the QPO can be the same for both kHz QPOs, the radiative mechanisms that set the amplitudes of the lower and the upper kHz QPO are likely different. We discuss the implications of these results to the modelling of the kHz QPOs and the possibility that the lower kHz QPO reflects a resonance between the Comptonising medium and the photons from the accretion disc and/or the neutron star surface.

7 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (8)

• Modelling the behaviour of accretion flows in X-ray binaries
• X-ray time variability across the atoll source states of 4U 1636--53
• The coherence of kHz quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-rays from accreting neutron stars
• On the maximum amplitude and coherence of the kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations in low-mass X-ray binaries
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• Energy Dependent Time Delays of kHz Oscillations due to Thermal Comptonization
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• Relation between spectral changes and the presence of the lower kHz QPO in the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53

Cited by in corpus (7)

• The Comptonising medium of the neutron star in 4U 1636-53 through its lower kilohertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations
• Upper-twin-peak quasiperiodic oscillation in x-ray binaries and the energy from tidal circularization of relativistic orbits
• Epicyclic oscillations in the Hartle-Thorne external geometry
• High-frequency variability in neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries
• On one-parametric formula relating the frequencies of twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillations
• Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations in neutron-star X-ray binaries: Flattening of the lag spectrum with increasing luminosity
• Lags of the KiloHertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the transient source XTE J1701$-$462