Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396

The X-ray quasiperiodic oscillation (QPO) is a remarkable form of variability in systems of compact object accretion. RE J1034+396, harboring the most significant X-ray QPO in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), is the most noteworthy source for in-depth analysis of AGN X-ray QPO properties. A long-term...

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Main Authors: Ruisong Xia, Hao Liu, Yongquan Xue
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adbe6a
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author Ruisong Xia
Hao Liu
Yongquan Xue
author_facet Ruisong Xia
Hao Liu
Yongquan Xue
author_sort Ruisong Xia
collection DOAJ
description The X-ray quasiperiodic oscillation (QPO) is a remarkable form of variability in systems of compact object accretion. RE J1034+396, harboring the most significant X-ray QPO in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), is the most noteworthy source for in-depth analysis of AGN X-ray QPO properties. A long-term evolution of its QPO has been observed over the course of the observations. However, the short-term variability of its QPO properties remains unexplored within each observation that has long good time intervals (GTIs). We collect 12 XMM-Newton observations of RE J1034+396 with GTIs longer than 60 ks from publicly available data and conduct a detailed wavelet analysis focusing on the short-time modulation of the QPO. The QPO signals are found to undergo amplitude modulation in both the soft and hard bands, with a typical timescale of 17 ks. The soft flux is significantly higher when the hard QPO is present. They are highly correlated, with an average cross-correlation function (CCF) peak coefficient of 0.61 and a lag of approximately 3 ks. This novel finding provides fresh insights into the potential connection between the components of the corona emitting soft and hard X-ray photons. The CCF lag between the soft flux and the hard QPO evolves across the observations, potentially sharing the same origin as the previously observed interconnected evolution between QPO frequency and time lag.
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spelling doaj-art-38590e69b62e47789caf1092e6ed7f202025-08-20T03:06:47ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198311310.3847/1538-4357/adbe6aStrong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396Ruisong Xia0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3916-1455Hao Liu1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5525-0400Yongquan Xue2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1935-8104CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China ; liuhao1993@ustc.edu.cn, xuey@ustc.edu.cn; School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China ; liuhao1993@ustc.edu.cn, xuey@ustc.edu.cn; School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China ; liuhao1993@ustc.edu.cn, xuey@ustc.edu.cn; School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of ChinaThe X-ray quasiperiodic oscillation (QPO) is a remarkable form of variability in systems of compact object accretion. RE J1034+396, harboring the most significant X-ray QPO in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), is the most noteworthy source for in-depth analysis of AGN X-ray QPO properties. A long-term evolution of its QPO has been observed over the course of the observations. However, the short-term variability of its QPO properties remains unexplored within each observation that has long good time intervals (GTIs). We collect 12 XMM-Newton observations of RE J1034+396 with GTIs longer than 60 ks from publicly available data and conduct a detailed wavelet analysis focusing on the short-time modulation of the QPO. The QPO signals are found to undergo amplitude modulation in both the soft and hard bands, with a typical timescale of 17 ks. The soft flux is significantly higher when the hard QPO is present. They are highly correlated, with an average cross-correlation function (CCF) peak coefficient of 0.61 and a lag of approximately 3 ks. This novel finding provides fresh insights into the potential connection between the components of the corona emitting soft and hard X-ray photons. The CCF lag between the soft flux and the hard QPO evolves across the observations, potentially sharing the same origin as the previously observed interconnected evolution between QPO frequency and time lag.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adbe6aGalaxy accretion disksX-ray active galactic nucleiActive galactic nuclei
spellingShingle Ruisong Xia
Hao Liu
Yongquan Xue
Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396
The Astrophysical Journal
Galaxy accretion disks
X-ray active galactic nuclei
Active galactic nuclei
title Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396
title_full Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396
title_fullStr Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396
title_full_unstemmed Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396
title_short Strong Amplitude Modulation of Hard-band X-Ray Quasiperiodic Oscillation with Soft-band Flux in RE J1034+396
title_sort strong amplitude modulation of hard band x ray quasiperiodic oscillation with soft band flux in re j1034 396
topic Galaxy accretion disks
X-ray active galactic nuclei
Active galactic nuclei
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adbe6a
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AT haoliu strongamplitudemodulationofhardbandxrayquasiperiodicoscillationwithsoftbandfluxinrej1034396
AT yongquanxue strongamplitudemodulationofhardbandxrayquasiperiodicoscillationwithsoftbandfluxinrej1034396