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High-Frequency QPOs and Overstable Oscillations of Black-Hole Accretion Disks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2013

Dong Lai
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA email: dong@astro.cornell.edu
Wen Fu
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA email: dong@astro.cornell.edu Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
David Tsang
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA email: dong@astro.cornell.edu Theoretical Astrophysics, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA
Jiri Horak
Affiliation:
Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Prague, CZ
Cong Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA email: dong@astro.cornell.edu Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PRC
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Abstract

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The physical origin of high-frequency QPOs (HFQPOs) in black-hole X-ray binaries remains an enigma despite many years of detailed observational studies. Although there exists a number of models for HFQPOs, many of these are simply “notions” or “concepts” without actual calculation derived from fluid or disk physics. Future progress requires a combination of numerical simulations and semi-analytic studies to extract physical insights. We review recent works on global oscillation modes in black-hole accretion disks, and explain how, with the help of general relativistic effects, the energy stored in the disk differential rotation can be pumped into global spiral density modes in the disk, making these modes grow to large amplitudes under certain conditions (“corotational instability”). These modes are robust in the presence of disk magnetic fields and turbulence. The computed oscillation mode frequencies are largely consistent with the observed values for HFQPOs in BH X-ray binaries. The approximate 2:3 frequency ratio is also expected from this model. The connection of HFQPOs with other disk properties (such as production of episodic jets) is also discussed.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

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