J/MNRAS/522/268 QPOs in the 2021 outburst of GX 339-4 (Stiele+, 2023)
A journey from the hard to the soft state:
How do QPOs evolve in the 2021 outburst of GX 339-4?
Stiele H., Kong A.K.H.
<Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 522, 268-274 (2023)>
=2023MNRAS.522..268S 2023MNRAS.522..268S (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Binaries, X-ray ; Black holes ; X-ray sources
Keywords: X-rays: binaries - X-rays: individual: - binaries: close -
stars: black hole
Abstract:
We investigated the snapshots of five NICER observations of the black
hole transient GX 339-4 when the source transited from the hard state
into the soft state during its outburst in 2021. In this paper, we
focused our study on the evolution of quasi-periodic oscillations
(QPOs) and noise components using power-density spectra. In addition,
we derived hardness ratios by comparing count rates above and below
2keV. The evolution from the hard to the soft state was a somewhat
erratic process, showing several transitions between states that are
dominated by top-flat noise and can show type-C QPOs; those that are
dominated by red noise and can show type-B QPOs. From the parameters
that we studied, we only found a strong correlation between the
hardness ratio and the type of QPO observed. This implies that the
appearance of type-B QPOs is related to a change in the accretion
geometry of the system that also reflects in altered spectral
properties. We also observed that the type-B QPO forms from or
disintegrates into a broad peaked feature when the source comes out of
or goes to the hard intermediate state, respectively. This implies
some strong decoherence in the process that creates this feature.
Description:
Parameters of fits to power density spectra of snapshots of NICER
observations of GX 339-4 taken between 2021 March 27 and 31.
Objects:
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RA (2000) DE Designation(s)
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17 02 49.39 -48 47 23.1 GX 339-4 = V* V821 Ara
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File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
tablea1.dat 166 55 Parameters of the band limited noise and peaked
noise components of the PDS
tablea2.dat 81 43 Parameters of the fundamental QPOs
tablea3.dat 81 16 Parameters of the upper harmonic QPOs
tablea4.dat 80 14 Parameters of additional features
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tablea1.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 2 I2 --- Snap [1/53] Snapshot number
3 A1 --- SnapL [a/b] Letter if a snapshot is split into
two halves
5 I1 --- Obs [4/8] Last digit of NICER ObsID (413301010X)
7- 12 F6.4 Hz nuBLN1 [0.0148/6.728] Characteristic frequency of
first band limited noise component
14- 19 F6.4 Hz e_nuBLN1 [0.0031/1.9484] Lower error on nu_BLN1
21- 26 F6.4 Hz E_nuBLN1 [0.0035/8.0516] Upper error on nu_BLN1
28- 33 F6.4 --- rmsBLN1 [0.0063/0.0951] RMS of first BLN component
35- 40 F6.4 --- e_rmsBLN1 [0.0002/0.0144] Lower error on rms_BLN1
42- 47 F6.4 --- E_rmsBLN1 [0.0002/0.0072] Upper error on rms_BLN1
49- 54 F6.4 Hz nuBLN2 [0.0035/0.0976]?=- Characteristic frequency of
second band limited noise component
56- 61 F6.4 Hz e_nuBLN2 [0.0022/0.0446]?=- Lower error on nu_BLN2
63- 68 F6.4 Hz E_nuBLN2 [0.0019/0.0912]?=- Upper error on nu_BLN2
70- 75 F6.4 --- rmsBLN2 [0.0073/0.0299]?=- RMS of second BLN component
77- 82 F6.4 --- e_rmsBLN2 [0.0006/0.0045]?=- Lower error on rms_BLN2
84- 89 F6.4 --- E_rmsBLN2 [0.0006/0.1264]?=- Upper error on rms_BLN2
91- 96 F6.4 Hz nuPN [0.2872/2.6181]?=- Centroid frequency of the
peaked noise component (if present)
98- 103 F6.4 Hz e_nuPN [0.0017/0.5183]?=- Lower error on nu_PN
105- 110 F6.4 Hz E_nuPN [0.0137/0.2251]?=- Upper error on nu_PN
112- 117 F6.4 Hz DeltaPN [0.0004/2.1848]?=- Width of the PN component
119- 124 F6.4 Hz e_DeltaPN [0.0004/0.3114]?=- Lower error on delta_PN
126- 131 F6.4 Hz E_DeltaPN [0.0227/0.8009]?=- Upper error on delta_PN
133- 138 F6.4 --- rmsPN [0.0047/0.0494]?=- RMS of the PN component
140- 145 F6.4 --- e_rmsPN [0/0.0067]?=- Lower error on rms_PN
147- 152 F6.4 --- E_rmsPN [0/0.9641]?=- Upper error on rms_PN
154- 160 F7.2 --- Q [0.39/1575.63]?=- PN quality factor (G1)
162- 166 F5.2 --- sigma [1.6/18.56]?=- Detection significance of the
PN component
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tablea2.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 2 I2 --- Snap [1/53] Snapshot number
3 A1 --- SnapL [a/b] Letter if a snapshot is split into
two halves
5 I1 --- Obs [4/8] Last digit of NICER ObsID (413301010X)
7- 12 F6.4 Hz nuQPO [3.0586/6.3872] Centroid frequency of the
quasi-periodic oscillation
14- 19 F6.4 Hz e_nuQPO [0.0058/0.3608]?=- Lower error on nu_QPO
21- 26 F6.4 Hz E_nuQPO [0/0.2707]?=- Upper error on nu_QPO
28- 33 F6.4 Hz DeltaQPO [0/1.105] QPO half width at half maximum
35- 40 F6.4 Hz e_DeltaQPO [0/0.3482]?=- Lower error on delta_QPO
42- 47 F6.4 Hz E_DeltaQPO [0.0139/0.4238]?=- Upper error on delta_QPO
49- 54 F6.4 --- rmsQPO [0.0101/0.0318] QPO root mean square
56- 61 F6.4 --- e_rmsQPO [0.0006/0.003] Lower error on rms_QPO
63- 68 F6.4 --- E_rmsQPO [0.0006/0.0034] Upper error on rms_QPO
70- 75 F6.2 --- Q [2.59/113.83] QPO quality factor (G1)
77- 81 F5.2 --- sigma [1.94/14.33] Detection significance of the QPO
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tablea3.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 2 I2 --- Snap [1/16] Snapshot number
4 I1 --- Obs [4/8] Last digit of NICER ObsID (413301010X)
6- 12 F7.4 Hz nuQPO [6.2603/11.331] Centroid frequency of the
quasi-periodic oscillation
14- 19 F6.4 Hz e_nuQPO [0.0005/0.2324]?=- Lower error on nu_QPO
21- 26 F6.4 Hz E_nuQPO [0.0006/0.3366]?=- Upper error on nu_QPO
28- 33 F6.4 Hz DeltaQPO [0.0003/0.7145] QPO half width at half maximum
35- 40 F6.4 Hz e_DeltaQPO [0.0003/0.3038]?=- Lower error on delta_QPO
42- 47 F6.4 Hz E_DeltaQPO [0.0018/0.5269]?=- Upper error on delta_QPO
49- 54 F6.4 --- rmsQPO [0.0106/0.0251] QPO root mean square
56- 61 F6.4 --- e_rmsQPO [0.0011/0.004] Lower error on rms_QPO
63- 68 F6.4 --- E_rmsQPO [0.0011/0.0037] Upper error on rms_QPO
70- 76 F7.2 --- Q [5.12/2593.17] QPO quality factor (G1)
78- 81 F4.2 --- sigma [2.26/8.42] Detection significance of the QPO
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: tablea4.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 2 I2 --- Snap [1/46] Snapshot number
3 A1 --- SnapL [a/b] Letter if a snapshot is split into
two halves
5 I1 --- Obs [4/7] Last digit of NICER ObsID (413301010X)
7- 12 F6.4 Hz nuQPO [1.3589/9.6455] Centroid frequency of the
quasi-periodic oscillation
14- 19 F6.4 Hz e_nuQPO [0.005/0.5178] Lower error on nu_QPO
21- 26 F6.4 Hz E_nuQPO [0/0.6419] Upper error on nu_QPO
28- 33 F6.4 Hz DeltaQPO [0/1.1856] QPO half width at half maximum
35- 40 F6.4 Hz e_DeltaQPO [0/0.509] Lower error on delta_QPO
42- 47 F6.4 Hz E_DeltaQPO [0.0311/2.7122] Upper error on delta_QPO
49- 54 F6.4 --- rmsQPO [0.0048/0.0278] QPO root mean square
56- 61 F6.4 --- e_rmsQPO [0.0007/0.0051] Lower error on rms_QPO
63- 68 F6.4 --- E_rmsQPO [0.0008/0.9722] Upper error on rms_QPO
70- 74 F5.2 --- Q [1.26/44.26] QPO quality factor (G1)
76- 80 F5.2 --- sigma [1.12/19.86] Detection significance of the QPO
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Global notes:
Note (G1): The quality factor Q=v0/(2{DELTA}), where v0 is the centroid
frequency, and {DELTA} is the half width at half maximum.
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Acknowledgements:
Holger Stiele, h.stiele(at)fz-juelich.de
(End) Holger Stiele [JSC, FZJ, Germany], Patricia Vannier [CDS] 19-Apr-2023