Investigating a Fluctuating-accretion Model for the Spectral-timing Properties of Accreting Black Hole Systems

The fluctuating accretion model of Lyubarskii (1997) and its extension by Kotov et al. (2001), seeks to explain the spectral-timing properties of the X-ray variability of accreting black holes in terms of inward-propagating mass accretion fluctuations produced at a broad range of radii. The fluctuations modulate the X-ray emitting region as they move inwards and can produce temporal-frequency-dependent lags between energy bands, and energy-dependent power spectral densities (PSDs) as a result of the different emissivity profiles, which may be expected at different X-ray energies. Here we use a simple numerical implementation to investigate in detail the X-ray spectral-timing properties of the model and their relation to several physically interesting parameters, namely the emissivity profile in different energy bands, the geometrical thickness and viscosity parameter of the accretion flow, the strength of damping on the fluctuations and the temporal coherence (measured by the `quality-factor', Q) of the fluctuations introduced at each radius. We find that a geometrically thick flow with large viscosity parameter is favoured, and confirm that the predicted lags are quite robust to changes in the emissivity profile, and physical parameters of the accretion flow, which may help to explain the similarity of the lag spectra in the low/hard and high/soft states of Cyg X-1. We also demonstrate the model regime where the light curves in different energy bands are highly spectrally coherent. We compare model predictions directly to X-ray data from the Narrow Line Seyfert~1 galaxy NGC 4051 and the BHXRB Cyg X-1 in its high/soft state and show that this general scheme can reproduce simultaneously the time lags and energy-dependence of the PSD.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

On sign-changeable interaction in FLRW cosmology

We investigate an interacting two-fluid model in a spatially flat Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) Universe, when the energy transfer between these two dark components is produced by a factorisable nonlinear sign-changeable interaction depending linearly on the energy density and quadratically on the deceleration parameter. We solve the source equation and obtain the effective energy densities of the dark sector and their components. We show that the effective equation of state of the dark sector includes some of the several kind of Chaplygin gas equations of state as well as a generalization of the polytropic equation of state. We use bayesian statistics methods to constrain free parameters in the models during its most recent evolution considering supernovae type Ia and measurements of the Hubble expansion rate. The resulting constraints provide new information on sign-changeable interactions, its equivalences and compatibility with previous models and novel late time universe dynamics.Comment: 8 figure

The Energy-dependent X-ray Timing Characteristics of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Mkn 766

We present the energy-dependent power spectral density (PSD) and cross-spectral properties of Mkn 766, obtained from combining data obtained during an XMM-Newton observation spanning six revolutions in 2005 with data obtained from an XMM-Newton long-look in 2001. The PSD shapes and rms-flux relations are found to be consistent between the 2001 and 2005 observations, suggesting the 2005 observation is simply a low-flux extension of the 2001 observation and permitting us to combine the two data sets. The resulting PSD has the highest temporal frequency resolution for any AGN PSD measured to date. Applying a broken power-law model yields break frequencies which increase in temporal frequency with photon energy. Obtaining a good fit when assuming energy-independent break frequencies requires the presence of a Lorentzian at 4.6+/-0.4 * 10^-4 Hz whose strength increases with photon energy, a behavior seen in black hole X-ray binaries. The cross-spectral properties are measured; temporal frequency-dependent soft-to-hard time lags are detected in this object for the first time. Cross-spectral results are consistent with those for other accreting black hole systems. The results are discussed in the context of several variability models, including those based on inwardly-propagating viscosity variations in the accretion disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 18 pages, 9 figures. Uses emulateapj5.st