Constraining the PG 1553+113 binary hypothesis: interpreting hints of a new, 22-year period
arxiv(2023)
摘要
PG 1553+113 is a well-known blazar exhibiting evidence of a ∼ 2.2-yr
quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in radio, optical, X-ray, and γ-ray
bands. Since QPO mechanisms often predict multiple QPOs, we search for a second
QPO in its historical optical light curve covering a century of observations.
Despite challenging data quality issues, we find hints of a 21.8 ± 4.7 yr
oscillation. On its own, this ∼ 22-yr period has a modest statistical
significance of 1.6σ when accounting for the look-elsewhere effect.
However, the joint significance of both the 2.2- and 22-yr periods arising
from colored noise alone is ∼ 3.6σ. The next peak of the 22-yr
oscillation is predicted to occur around July 2025. We find that such a
∼10:1 relation between two periods can arise in the gas dynamics of a
plausible supermassive black hole binary model of PG 1553+113. While the 22-yr
QPO is preliminary, an interpretation of PG 1553+113's two QPOs in this binary
model suggests that the binary engine has a mass ratio ≳ 0.2, an
eccentricity ≲ 0.1, and accretes from a disk with characteristic
aspect ratio ∼ 0.03. The putative binary radiates nHz gravitational waves,
but the amplitude is ∼10-100 times too low for detection by foreseeable
pulsar timing arrays.
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