Evidence for Millihertz Quasiperiodic Oscillations in the Bright Atoll Source GX 3+1
明亮的环礁源GX 3+1中的毫赫兹准周期振荡证据
We report evidence for millihertz (mHz) quasiperiodic oscillation (QPOs) in the bright atoll neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS LMXB) source GX 3+1 using NICER in the 0.5─10 keV energy band. Across seven observational data sets obtained over 6 days, we made eight candidate mHz QPO detections with local significance above 95%, one of which remains above 95% global significance after the trial correction. These mHz QPOs were detected in the 7─15 mHz frequency range and had fractional rms amplitudes ranging from 0.51% to 1.41%. Our studies indicate no association between the hardness intensity diagram location of the candidate QPOs and their rms amplitudes. There appears to be a monotonous increase in rms with energy, except in some observations where there is a pivot around 3─4 keV or at ∼5 keV. Previous studies of mHz QPOs in other sources in the literature indicate a pivot around 3 keV in the rms─energy relation, but in our study, some tentative detections suggest a pivot at around ∼5 keV, though the large uncertainties in most cases prevent a robust statistical claim. Although properties such as the frequency range of detection and fractional rms amplitudes of the mHz QPOs in our study are well in agreement with those in the literature for other NS LMXBs, the luminosity at which these candidate QPOs occur is higher than that of other sources. The rms─energy relation of the candidate mHz QPOs and the luminosity at which they occur challenge some of the existing considerations of mHz QPO origin.
展开 ▾首次在如此高光度的中子星LMXB中发现mHz QPOs;rms-能量关系暗示转折点可能位于约5 keV,而非通常的3 keV。
毫赫兹准周期振荡常见于低光度中子星双星系统,传统模型将其与热核爆发或吸积盘不稳定性相联系(Altamirano+ 2008;Heger+ 2007)。先前对其他源的研究显示,mHz QPOs的分数rms振幅随能量上升并在约3 keV处发生转折(Wijnands+ 1999)。本研究在更高光度的环礁源GX 3+1中也探测到此类振荡,但其转折能量可能更高,且与光度的关系偏离现有规律,表明吸积率对QPO性质有重要影响。这些结果将为区分热核爆发模型和吸积盘振荡模型提供新的观测依据,未来的大样本统计及宽能段时变分析有望厘清mHz QPOs的物理本质。
接收 2026-06-23 · 刊出 2026-07-22 · 收录 2026-07-28