Constraining the PG 1553+113 binary hypothesis: interpreting hints of a new, 22-year period
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1866913316291477504 |
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| author | Adhikari, Sagar Penil, Pablo Westernacher-Schneider, John Ryan Dominguez, Alberto Ajello, Marco Buson, Sara Rico, Alba Zrake, Jonathan |
| author_facet | Adhikari, Sagar Penil, Pablo Westernacher-Schneider, John Ryan Dominguez, Alberto Ajello, Marco Buson, Sara Rico, Alba Zrake, Jonathan |
| contents | PG 1553+113 is a well-known blazar exhibiting evidence of a $\sim\! 2.2$-yr quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in radio, optical, X-ray, and $γ$-ray bands. Since QPO mechanisms often predict multiple QPOs, we search for a second QPO in its historical optical light curve covering a century of observations. Despite challenging data quality issues, we find hints of a $21.8 \pm 4.7$ yr oscillation. On its own, this $\sim\! 22$-yr period has a modest statistical significance of $1.6σ$ when accounting for the look-elsewhere effect. However, the joint significance of both the $2.2$- and $22$-yr periods arising from colored noise alone is $\sim 3.6σ$. The next peak of the 22-yr oscillation is predicted to occur around July 2025. We find that such a $\sim\,$10:1 relation between two periods can arise in the gas dynamics of a plausible supermassive black hole binary model of PG 1553+113. While the 22-yr QPO is preliminary, an interpretation of PG 1553+113's two QPOs in this binary model suggests that the binary engine has a mass ratio $\gtrsim 0.2$, an eccentricity $\lesssim 0.1$, and accretes from a disk with characteristic aspect ratio $\sim 0.03$. The putative binary radiates nHz gravitational waves, but the amplitude is $\sim10-100$ times too low for detection by foreseeable pulsar timing arrays. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_11696 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Constraining the PG 1553+113 binary hypothesis: interpreting hints of a new, 22-year period Adhikari, Sagar Penil, Pablo Westernacher-Schneider, John Ryan Dominguez, Alberto Ajello, Marco Buson, Sara Rico, Alba Zrake, Jonathan High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics of Galaxies PG 1553+113 is a well-known blazar exhibiting evidence of a $\sim\! 2.2$-yr quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in radio, optical, X-ray, and $γ$-ray bands. Since QPO mechanisms often predict multiple QPOs, we search for a second QPO in its historical optical light curve covering a century of observations. Despite challenging data quality issues, we find hints of a $21.8 \pm 4.7$ yr oscillation. On its own, this $\sim\! 22$-yr period has a modest statistical significance of $1.6σ$ when accounting for the look-elsewhere effect. However, the joint significance of both the $2.2$- and $22$-yr periods arising from colored noise alone is $\sim 3.6σ$. The next peak of the 22-yr oscillation is predicted to occur around July 2025. We find that such a $\sim\,$10:1 relation between two periods can arise in the gas dynamics of a plausible supermassive black hole binary model of PG 1553+113. While the 22-yr QPO is preliminary, an interpretation of PG 1553+113's two QPOs in this binary model suggests that the binary engine has a mass ratio $\gtrsim 0.2$, an eccentricity $\lesssim 0.1$, and accretes from a disk with characteristic aspect ratio $\sim 0.03$. The putative binary radiates nHz gravitational waves, but the amplitude is $\sim10-100$ times too low for detection by foreseeable pulsar timing arrays. |
| title | Constraining the PG 1553+113 binary hypothesis: interpreting hints of a new, 22-year period |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11696 |