Does Low Frequency X-ray QPO Behavior in GRS 1915+105 Influence Subsequent X-ray and Infrared Evolution?

Abstract

Using observations with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, we examine the behavior of 2-10 Hz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) during spectrally-hard dips in the x-ray light curve of GRS 1915+105 that are accompanied by infrared flares. Of the twelve light-curves examined, nine are beta-class and three are alpha-class following the scheme of Belloni et al. (2000). In most cases, the QPO frequency is most strongly correlated to the power law flux, which partially contradicts some earlier claims that the strongest correlation is between QPO frequency and blackbody flux. Seven beta-class curves are highly correlated to blackbody features. In several cases, the QPO evolution appears to decouple from the spectral evolution. We find that beta-class light-curves with strong correlations can be distinguished from those without by their ``trigger spike'' morphology. We also show that the origin and strength of the subsequent infrared flare may be causally linked to the variations in QPO frequency evolution and not solely tied to the onset of soft x-ray flaring behavior. We divide the twelve alpha- and beta-class light-curves into three groups based on the evolution of the QPO, the morphology of the trigger spike, and the infrared flare strength. An apparent crossover case leads us to conclude that these groups are not unique modes but represent part of a continuum of accretion behaviors. We believe the QPO behavior at the initiation of the hard dip can ultimately be used to determine the terminating x-ray behavior, and the following infrared flaring behavior.

29 pages, 9 figures, to be published in ApJ

References in corpus (7)

• Fourier Techniques for Very Long Astrophysical Time Series Analysis
• Hard X-ray states and radio emission in GRS 1915+105
• Evidence for a Disk-Jet Interaction in the Microquasar GRS 1915+105
• Variable-Frequency QPOs from the Galactic Microquasar GRS 1915+105
• Infrared synchrotron oscillations in GRS 1915+105
• Faint Infrared Flares from the Microquasar GRS 1915+105
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• Accretion Disc Wind Variability in the States of the Microquasar GRS 1915+105
• QPO Frequency - Color Radius Connection in GRS 1915+105: a Possible Turnover supporting AEI predictions
• Accretion Flow Properties of GRS 1915+105 During Its $\theta$ Class Using AstroSat Data
• HST/NICMOS Observations of Fast Infrared Flickering in the Microquasar GRS 1915+105
• Investigating the connection between Quasi Periodic Oscillations and spectral components with NuSTAR data of GRS 1915+105