A possible connection between the ridge and hypotenuse in the bispectrum of black hole X-ray binaries through quasi-periodic modulation

Abstract

Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black-hole X-ray binaries show nonlinear coupling with broadband variability, producing characteristic ridge, hypotenuse, and web-like structures in the bicoherence. However, the origin of these structures remains unclear. We develop a mathematical model in which a modulator phase-locked to the QPO acts multiplicatively on the underlying variability. The resulting frequency mixing naturally produces both the ridge and hypotenuse associated with the fundamental QPO, as two parts of the same modulation-induced bispectral structure, and the same mechanism extends to the second harmonic. The model further predicts opposite-sign biphases between each ridge and its corresponding hypotenuse. We test these predictions using NICER observations of Swift~J1727.8$-$1613 and MAXI~J1820$+$070. The bispectral maps show QPO-related ridge--hypotenuse structures broadly consistent with the model, with qualitatively opposite-sign biphases between each ridge and its corresponding hypotenuse. In particular, the biphase map provides a complementary diagnostic that reveals weak coupling structures that are difficult to identify from the bicoherence alone. We also compare the measured bispectral modulus with the predictions for isolated ridges and hypotenuses. These predictions broadly reproduce the observed frequency dependence, while localized deviations remain near the fundamental-QPO and second-harmonic frequencies, where different bispectral structures overlap. Our results provide a simple mathematical framework in which the web-like pattern in the bispectrum could arise naturally from multiplicative coupling between a QPO-phase-locked modulator and the underlying variability.

arXiv comment14 pages, 16 figures, submitted to MNRAS