A possible origin of kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations in low-mass X-ray binaries

Abstract

Abstract A possible origin of kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in low-mass X-ray binaries is proposed. Recent numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accretion disks with turbulent magnetic fields of magneto-rotational instability definitely show the presence of two-armed spiral structure in the quasi-steady state of accretion disks. In such deformed disks, two-armed ($m=2$) c-mode ($n=1$) oscillations are excited by wave–wave resonant instability. Among these excited oscillations, the fundamental in the radial direction ($n_{\rm r}=0$) will be the higher kHz QPO of twin QPOs, and the first overtone ($n_{\rm r}=1$) in the radial direction will be the lower kHz QPO of the twin. A possible cause of the twin high-frequency QPOs in black hole X-ray binaries is also discussed in the final section.