6533b829fe1ef96bd128a2ce
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Can gravity perturbations explain QPOs?
Diego MolteniGerardi GaetanoV. Teresisubject
Black holePhysicsGravitationNeutron starAmplitudeX-ray bursterGravitational fieldAstrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaX-ray binaryStellar black holeAstrophysicsdescription
We show the results of some numerical simulations trying to reproduce the QPO behavior in black hole and neutron star sources. Our simulations are based on the idea that a nearly periodic luminosity oscillation can be obtained from a perturbation of the source gravitational field with a sinusoidal time behavior. We find that some specific features of the QPO phenomenon can be described by this simple model, but the required amplitude of the gravity perturbation is more than 1% of the unperturbed gravitational field. If the hypothesis is formed that such a perturbation is due to a density fluctuation (of the accretion disk or the source itself, in the case of the neutron star) going around the source gravity center, a minimal perturbation amplitude of the 1% appears too large to be considered physically realistic in the known framework of compact sources. Our conclusion is therefore that this model needs further theoretical study and probably additional ‘ingredients’ and hypothesis.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-01-01 |