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Register a new userA VLT-ULTRACAM study of the fast optical quasi-periodic oscillations in the polar V834 Centauri
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Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of a few seconds have been detected in some Polars, the synchronised subclass of cataclysmic systems containing a strongly magnetised white dwarf (WD) which accretes matter from a red dwarf companion. The QPOs are thought to be related to instabilities of a shock formed in the accretion column, close to the WD photosphere above the impact region. We present optical observations of the polar V834 Centauri performed with the fast ULTRACAM camera mounted on the ESO-VLT simultaneously in three filters (u, He II 4686A, r) to study these oscillations and characterise their properties along the orbit. Fast Fourier transforms and wavelet analysis have been performed and the mean frequency, rms amplitude, and coherence of the QPOs are derived; a detailed inspection of individual pulses has also been performed. The observations confirm the probable ubiquity of the QPOs for this source at all epochs when the source is in a high state, with observed mean amplitude of 2.1 percent (r), 1.5 percent (He II), and 0.6 percent (u). Trains of oscillations are clearly observed in the r light curve and can be mimicked by a superposition of damped sinusoids with various parameters. The QPO energy distribution is comparable to that of the cyclotron flux, consistent for the r and He II filters but requiring a significant dilution in the u filter. New 1D hydrodynamical simulations of shock instabilities, adapted to the physical parameters of V834 Cen, can account for the optical QPO amplitude and X-ray upper limit assuming a cross section of the accretion column in the range (4-5) E14 cm2. However, the predicted frequency is larger than the observed one by an order of magnitude. This shortcoming indicates that the QPO generation is more complex than that produced in a homogeneous column and calls for a more realistic 3D treatment of the accretion flow in future modelling.
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We present high time resolution optical photometric data of the polar VV Puppis obtained simultaneously in three filters (u, HeII $lambda$4686, r) with the ULTRACAM camera mounted at the ESO-VLT telescope. An analysis of a long 50 ks XMM-Newton observation of the source, retrieved from the database, is also provided. Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are clearly detected in the optical during the source bright phase intervals when the accreting pole is visible, confirming the association of the QPOs with the basis of the accretion column. QPOs are detected in the three filters at a mean frequency of $sim$ 0.7 Hz with a similar amplitude $sim$ 1%. Mean orbitally-averaged power spectra during the bright phase show a rather broad excess with a quality factor Q= $ u$/$Delta u$ = 5-7 but smaller data segments commonly show a much higher coherency with Q up to 30. The XMM (0.5--10 keV) observation provides the first accurate estimation of the hard X-ray component with a high kT $sim$ 40 keV temperature and confirms the high EUV-soft/hard ratio in the range of (4--15) for VV Pup. The detailed X-ray orbital light curve displays a short $Delta phi simeq 0.05$ ingress into self-eclipse of the active pole, indicative of a accretion shock height of $sim$ 75 km. No significant X-ray QPOs are detected with an amplitude upper limit of $sim$30% in the range (0.1--5) Hz. Detailed hydrodynamical numerical simulations of the post-shock accretion region with parameters consistent with VV Pup demonstrate that the expected frequencies from radiative instability are identical for X-rays and optical regime at values $ u$ $sim$ (40--70) Hz, more than one order magnitude higher than observed. This confirms previous statements suggesting that present instability models are unable to explain the full QPO characteristics within the parameters commonly known for polars.
A number of black hole X-ray transients show quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the optical (ultraviolet) and X-ray bands at the same frequency, which challenge models for production of radiation at these wavelengths. We propose a model where the optical radiation is modulated by the oscillating X-ray flux resulting in varying irradiation of the outer parts of the accretion disc. The proposed QPO mechanism inevitably takes place in the systems with sufficiently small ratio of the outer disc radius to the QPO period. We show that, unlike in the case of the aperiodic variability, it is not possible to obtain the optical QPO profiles from those observed in the X-rays through the transfer function, because of different X-ray signals seen by the disc and by the observer. We demonstrate that with the increasing QPO frequency, occurring at the rising phase of the X-ray outburst, the rms should be constant for sufficiently low frequencies, then to increase reaching the peak and finally to drop substantially when the QPO period becomes comparable to the light-crossing time to the outer disc. We predict that the QPO rms in this model should increase towards shorter wavelengths and this fact can be used to distinguish it from other QPO mechanisms.
Evidence for the presence of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the optical polarization of the blazar PKS 2155-304, during a period of enhanced gamma-ray brightness, is presented. The periodogram of the polarized flux revealed the existence of a prominent peak at $Tsim 13$ min, detected at >99.7% significance, and $Tsim 30$ min, which was nominally significant at >99%. This is the first evidence of QPOs in the polarization of an active galactic nucleus, potentially opening up a new avenue of studying this phenomenon.
We performed axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations of oscillating tori orbiting a non-rotating black hole. The tori in equilibrium were constructed with a constant distribution of angular momentum in a pseudo-Newtonian potential (Klu{z}niak-Lee). Motions of the torus were triggered by adding sub-sonic velocity fields: radial, vertical and diagonal to the tori in equilibrium. As the perturbed tori evolved in time, we measured $L_{2}$ norm of density and obtained the power spectrum of $L_{2}$ norm which manifested eigenfrequencies of tori modes. The most prominent modes of oscillation excited in the torus by a quasi-random perturbation are the breathing mode and the radial and vertical epicyclic modes. The radial and the plus modes, as well as the vertical and the breathing modes will have frequencies in an approximate 3:2 ratio if the torus is several Schwarzschild radii away from the innermost stable circular orbit. Results of our simulations may be of interest in the context of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HF QPOs) observed in stellar-mass black hole binaries, as well as in supermassive black holes.
We analysed all archival RXTE observations of the neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1636-53 up to May 2010. In 528 out of 1280 observations we detected kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs), with ~ 65% of these detections corresponding to the so-called lower kHz QPO. Using this QPO we measured, for the first time, the rate at which the QPO frequency changes as a function of QPO frequency. For this we used the spread of the QPO frequency over groups of 10 consecutive measurements, sampling timescales between 320 and 1600 s, and the time derivative of the QPO frequency over timescales of 32 to 160 s. We found that: (i) Both the QPO-frequency spread and the QPO time derivative decrease by a factor ~ 3 as the QPO frequency increases. (ii) The average value of the QPO time derivative decreases by a factor of ~ 2 as the timescale over which the derivative is measured increases from less than 64 s to 160 s. (iii) The relation between the absolute value of the QPO time derivative and the QPO frequency is consistent with being the same both for the positive and negative QPO-frequency derivative. We show that, if either the lower or the upper kHz QPO reflects the Keplerian frequency at the inner edge of the accretion disc, these results support a scenario in which the inner part of the accretion disc is truncated at a radius that is set by the combined effect of viscosity and radiation drag.
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