Résumé du preprint DAPNIA-02-107

DAPNIA-02-107
Energy dependence of a low frequency QPO in GRS 1915+105
J. Rodriguez, Ph. Durouchoux, F. Mirabel, Y. Ueda, M. Tagger, K. Yamaoka
We analyze a set of three RXTE Target of Opportunity observations
 of  the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105, observed on April 
 2000, during a multi-wavelength campaign. 
 During the three observations, a strong, variable low frequency 
(2-9 Hz) quasi periodic oscillation (hereafter QPO), often referred to 
as the ubiquitous QPO,  is detected together with its first
 harmonic.
We study the spectral properties of both features, and show that :
1) their frequency variations are better correlated with the soft X-ray flux (2-5 keV), favoring thus the location of the QPO in the
 accretion disk;
2) the QPO affects more the hard X-rays, usually taken as the
 signature of an inverse compton scattering of the soft 
photons in a corona; 
3) the fundamental and its harmonic do not behave in the same
 manner: the fundamental sees its power increase with the energy 
 up to 40 keV, whereas the harmonic increases up to \\sim 10 keV.
The results presented here could find an explanation in the context 
of the Accretion-Ejection Instability, which could appear as a
 rotating spiral or hot point located in the disk, between its innermost
 edge and the corotation radius. 
The presence of the harmonic could then be a signature of the  non-linear behavior of the instability.
The high-energy (>40 keV) decrease of the fundamental would 
favor an interpretation where most or all of the quasi-periodic
 modulation at high energies comes, not from the comptonized
 corona as usually assumed, but from a hot point in the optically
 thick disk.

 

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