1. Ron Remillard, MIT Primary Collaborator, Jeff McClintock CfA
The X-ray States and High Frequency Oscillations of Black Holes Binaries
Ron Remillard, MIT
Primary Collaborator, Jeff McClintock CfA

2. Outline
Three States of Active Accretion (1035 > Lx > 1039 erg/s)
Frequent, Rapid Transitions ; Distinct Spectral and Timing Properties
Quantitative Definitions ; Select Data to test Physical Models
3-state versus 2-state Prescriptions for States
Study Accretion in Strong Gravity
Thermal State: Relativistic Accretion Disk
Hard State: Steady Radio Jets ; Broad Fe Line
Steep Power Law: Poorly Understood; High-Frequency Oscillations
High-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations
Observational Properties
Frequency Link to radii, R < 10 Rg

3. Companion star: early K III
BH Outbursts & States
Companion star: early K III
Mx = M
(Orosz et al. 2002)
XTE J discovered, Sep. 6, 1998

4. BH Outbursts & States X-ray states: Thermal x Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D
Intermediate O

5. Thermal State disk emits > 75% of energy
Energy spectra Power density spectra State Definition
accretion disk
disk emits > 75% of energy
thermal power continuum: rms < no QPO with rms > 0.005
weak power
continuum
______
| |
weak
power law

6. Hard State G1 G2 thermal disk energy fraction < 0.2
Energy spectra Power density spectra State Definition
thermal
disk energy fraction < 0.2
hard state power law spectrum: G1 < 2.1
power continuum rms > 0.1
Broken power law
G G2
|______|
strong
power continuum
Fe line

7. Steep Power Law State power law G > 2.4
Energy spectra Power density spectra State Definition
Steep power law
Quasi-Periodic
Oscillations
Hz:
| |
power law G > 2.4
steep power law disk fraction < QPO (0.1 – 30 Hz)
continuum rms < 0.075
thermal
hard state
disk Fe

8. Physical Models for BHB States
Energy spectra Power density spectra State Physical Model
Disk + ??
steep power law
thermal
hard state

9. X-ray States: The Movie

10. X-ray States: The Movie

11. States of Black Hole Binaries
Sources “Agreeable” Problems (high % intermediate)
LMC X-3 LMC X-1 (soft, but high rms, G)
XTE J U (50% int.; bad fits)
GS V4641 Sgr (embedded; highly var.)
4U GRS /steady (high rms, G)
XTE J Cyg X-1 (very cool disk)
XTE J
GRO J
GX339-4
H (gaps between state parameters [4]
SL are more frequently occupied
XTE J in “problem” sources)
XTE J
XTE J
XTE J
XTE J

12. Unified Model for Jets in BH Binaries
Fender, Belloni, & Gallo 2004
Remillard 2005
Thermal x Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D Intermediate O
Hard Color

13. BH States: Overview Plots
GRO J
outburst
Thermal x
Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D
Intermediate O

14. BH States Overview H1743-322 Mx unknown (ISM dust)
HEAO-1 outburst: 1977
RXTE: 2003; smaller 2005
+ 5 faint ones
Thermal x
Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D
Intermediate O

15. BH States Overview 4U1543-47 Mx = 10 + 1.2 Mo Outbursts 2002 Thermal x
Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D
Intermediate O

16. BH States Overview XTE J1859+226 Mx = + 1.2 Mo Outburst 1999 Thermal x
Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D
Intermediate O

17. + 3 faint hard-state outbursts 2001, 2002, 2003
BH States Overview
XTEJ
Mx = Mo
Outburst 1998 ; smaller, 2000;
+ 3 faint hard-state outbursts 2001, 2002, 2003
Thermal x
Hard (jet) g
Steep Power Law D
Intermediate O

18. Short-cut to Sates Classification?
80-90% success in regions of plane:
Normalized hard color vs. 1-s flickering

19. 3-State Prescription vs. Hard/Soft States
Why is Steep Power Law a Distinct Type of Soft State?
Accretion disk theory (thermal state) does not naturally provide:
‘Corona’ of 10 – 500 keV (perhaps higher)
Means to convert up to 90% of the energy into a corona
Frequent and variable low-frequency QPOs ( Hz)
High-frequency QPOs > 100 Hz
The SPL is also different from the Hard State:
SPL is radio-dim or radio-off
Power-law photon index ~2.5 (vs. 1.7 for hard state)
Power-density spectrum lacks the strong rms of the hard state

20. Steep Power Law Mechanisms
(Inverse Compton scattering is the expected radiation mechanism,
but “a corona of unspecified origin” is inadequate !)
Bulk Motion Comptonization in Plunging Region (Titarchuk 1997; Montanari et al ; Titarchuk & Seifina 2009)
… but how do you get 90% energy in the power law?
Shocks at Transition to Radial Flow (S. Charkrabarti 1990; Kinsuck et al. 2010)
… not confirmed by other groups
Strongly Magnetized Disks (vs. weakly magn. MRI in thermal state)
Mag. Spiral Waves (Tagger & Pellat 1998; Tagger & Varniere 2006 Fu & Lai 2009)
… can MHD simulations confirm this concept?

21. High Frequency QPOs (100-450 Hz)
8 Black Hole Binaries
with transient HFQPOs
4 with two QPOs
(seldom at the same time)
4 seen solo
several require
multiple observations
to gain a single detection

22. Preferred HFQPO Frequencies
HFQPO stability
Variable n ? constant to 5%
outliers can shift 15%
n correlation 3:2 ratio
X-ray state Steep Power Law
Luminosity range factors ~ 3-6

23. High Frequency QPOs source Frequency (Hz) GRO J1655-40 300, 450
XTE J , 276
GRS , 67, 113, 168
XTE J 4U
XTE J
H , 242
Cyg X

24. High Frequency QPOs 4 HFQPO pairs with frequencies in 3:2 ratio
source Frequency (Hz)
GRO J , 450
XTE J , 276
GRS , 67, 113, 168
XTE J 4U
XTE J
H , 241
Cyg X
4 HFQPO pairs with frequencies in 3:2 ratio

25. HFQPO Frequencies vs. BH Mass
no = 931 Hz / Mx
Same QPO mechanism and similar spin
Compare subclasses
while model efforts continue

26. HFQPO Frequencies vs. BH Mass
+2 BHBs with single HFQPO
(Q~4; broad energy range;
 harmonic 2)
Increase Mass accuracy (McClintock et al. ;
CfA and MIT time at Magellan)

27. HFQPOs Mechanisms Diskoseismology (Wagoner 1999 ; Kato 2001)
 obs. frequencies require nonlinear modes?
Resonance in Inner Disk (Abramowicz & Kluzniak 2001).
Parametric Resonance (coupling in GR frequencies for {r, q} Kluzniak et all. 2005; Horak & Karas 2006; Stuchlik et al. 2008)
Resonance with Global Disk Warp (S. Kato 2004)
Torus Models (Rezzolla et al. 2003; Fragile et al. 2005; Bursa 2007; Horak 2008)
Spiral Waves in a Magnetized Disk (AEI) (Tagger & Varniere 2006)
p-modes in Magnetized Disks (Fu & Lai 2009)
MHD Simulations and HFQPOs (Y. Kato 2004… retracted ?)
with spin-disk tilt (Fragile & Blaes 2009)

28. HFQPOs and States: GROJ1655-40 (1996)
300 Hz only ; 7-30 keV
both HFQPOs
450 Hz only ; keV

29. Dynamical Frequencies in General Relativity
nf “Keplerian” frequency

30. Dynamical Frequencies in General Relativity
nq polar angle
frequency

31. Dynamical Frequencies in General Relativity
nr radial frequency
ISCO
Innermost Stable Circular Orbit

32. Disk Radiation in General Relativity
Radius of peak emissivity
Page & Thorne 1974

33. QPO Frequencies
High-frequency QPOs

34. QPO Frequencies
High-frequency QPOs \

35. QPO Frequencies
QPOs:168
113 Hz 67

36. 67 Hz Detections in GRS
28 detections > 4 s ; stable to 2 Hz over 12 years

37. Quantitative Applications for General Relativity
Thermal State
Relativistic accretion disk theory
MHD simulations: viscosity from magneto-rotational instability
Hard State
Models for steady jets from accreting black holes
Impulsive, relativistic jets while crossing state boundaries
Model Fe line profiles to deduce spin
MHD simulations: effects of global B-field
Steep Power Law
Stable HFQPOs near dynamical frequencies for disk radii, R < 10 Rg and 3:2 frequency ratio
MHD simulations: what seed conditions  strongly magnetized disk?
Steep power law spectrum (and HFQPOs) need your attention !