First Observational Evidence for an Interconnected Evolution between Time Lag and QPO Frequency among AGNs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xia, Ruisong, Liu, Hao, Xue, Yongquan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Xia, Ruisong
Liu, Hao
Xue, Yongquan
author_facet Xia, Ruisong
Liu, Hao
Xue, Yongquan
contents Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been widely observed in black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs), which often exhibit significant X-ray variations. Extensive research has explored the long-term evolution of the properties of QPOs in BHBs. In contrast, such evolution in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) has remained largely unexplored due to limited observational data. By using the 10 new XMM-Newton observations for the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE J1034+396 from publicly available data, we analyze the characteristics of its X-ray QPOs and examine their long-term evolution. The hard-band (1--4 keV) QPOs are found in all 10 observations and the frequency of these QPOs evolves ranging at $(2.47\text{--}2.83)\times10^{-4}\rm\ Hz$. Furthermore, QPO signals in the soft (0.3--1 keV) and hard bands exhibit strong coherence, although, at times, the variations in the soft band lead those in the hard band (the hard-lag mode), while at other times, it is the reverse (the soft-lag mode). The observations presented here serendipitously captured two ongoing lag reversals within about two weeks, which are first seen in RE J1034+396 and also among all AGNs. A transition in QPO frequency also takes place within a two-week timeframe, two weeks prior to its corresponding lag reversal, indicating a possible coherence between the transitions of QPO frequency and lag mode with delay. The diagram of time lag versus QPO frequency clearly evidences this interconnected evolution with hysteresis, which is, for the first time, observed among AGNs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_04926
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First Observational Evidence for an Interconnected Evolution between Time Lag and QPO Frequency among AGNs
Xia, Ruisong
Liu, Hao
Xue, Yongquan
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been widely observed in black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs), which often exhibit significant X-ray variations. Extensive research has explored the long-term evolution of the properties of QPOs in BHBs. In contrast, such evolution in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) has remained largely unexplored due to limited observational data. By using the 10 new XMM-Newton observations for the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE J1034+396 from publicly available data, we analyze the characteristics of its X-ray QPOs and examine their long-term evolution. The hard-band (1--4 keV) QPOs are found in all 10 observations and the frequency of these QPOs evolves ranging at $(2.47\text{--}2.83)\times10^{-4}\rm\ Hz$. Furthermore, QPO signals in the soft (0.3--1 keV) and hard bands exhibit strong coherence, although, at times, the variations in the soft band lead those in the hard band (the hard-lag mode), while at other times, it is the reverse (the soft-lag mode). The observations presented here serendipitously captured two ongoing lag reversals within about two weeks, which are first seen in RE J1034+396 and also among all AGNs. A transition in QPO frequency also takes place within a two-week timeframe, two weeks prior to its corresponding lag reversal, indicating a possible coherence between the transitions of QPO frequency and lag mode with delay. The diagram of time lag versus QPO frequency clearly evidences this interconnected evolution with hysteresis, which is, for the first time, observed among AGNs.
title First Observational Evidence for an Interconnected Evolution between Time Lag and QPO Frequency among AGNs
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.04926