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The quasi-periodic oscillations and very low frequency noise of Scorpius X-1 as transient chaos - A dripping handrail?We present evidence that the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) and very low frequency noise (VLFN) characteristic of many accretion sources are different aspects of the same physical process. We analyzed a long, high time resolution EXOSAT observation of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) Sco X-1. The X-ray luminosity varies stochastically on time scales from milliseconds to hours. The nature of this variability - as quantified with both power spectrum analysis and a new wavelet technique, the scalegram - agrees well with the dripping handrail accretion model, a simple dynamical system which exhibits transient chaos. In this model both the QPO and VLFN are produced by radiation from blobs with a wide size distribution, resulting from accretion and subsequent diffusion of hot gas, the density of which is limited by an unspecified instability to lie below a threshold.
Document ID
19930062263
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Scargle, Jeffrey D.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Steiman-Cameron, Thomas
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Young, Karl
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Donoho, David L.
(Stanford Univ. CA, United States)
Crutchfield, James P.
(Santa Fe Inst., NM; California Univ. Berkeley, United States)
Imamura, James
(Oregon Univ. Eugene, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
July 10, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters
Volume: 411
Issue: 2
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
93A46260
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: N00014-92-J-4024
CONTRACT_GRANT: NCA2-671
CONTRACT_GRANT: NCA2-488
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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