Rapid timing studies of black hole binaries in optical and X-rays: correlated and non-linear variability

Details Rapid timing studies of black hole binaries in optical and X-rays: correlated and non-linear variability Rapid timing studies of black hole binaries in optical and X-rays: correlated and non-linear variability

Feb 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010ecsa.conf..256g&link_type=abstract

"JAXA Proceedings of conference "The Energetic Cosmos: from Suzaku to ASTRO-H" Otaru Hokkaido Jun 29 - Jul 02 2009. JAXA special

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Black Holes, X-Ray Binaries, Optical Variability

Scientific paper

In one of the fastest multi-wavelength timing studies of black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) with large telescopes to date, we have discovered correlated optical and X-ray variability in the low/hard state of the source GX 339-4. Only two other BHBs are currently known to show rapid (sub-second) aperiodic optical flickering: XTE J1118+480 and Swift J1753.5-0127. Our simultaneous VLT/Ultracam and RXTE/PCA data reveal intriguing patterns with characteristic peaks, dips and lags down to very short timescales (<=150 ms). Reprocessing can be ruled out as the origin of the aperiodic optical power. Instead, the variability may be driven by synchrotron emission from the inner accretion flow regions, with interactions between the disk, jet and corona resulting in the complex correlation patterns. We also show that both the optical and X-ray lightcurves are intrinsically non-linear, in the sense that the absolute variability r.m.s. amplitude linearly increases with flux. The implication is that variability at both wavelengths is not due to local fluctuations alone, but rather arises as a result of coupling of perturbations over a wide range of radii and timescales. These 'optical and X-ray rms-flux relations' thus provide new constraints to connect the outer disk with the inner hot flow and jet.

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