Ma. Abramowicz et al., THE EVOLUTION OF ACCRETION DISKS WITH CORONAE - A MODEL FOR THE LOW-FREQUENCY QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN X-RAY BINARIES, The Astrophysical journal, 452(1), 1995, pp. 379-385
The global nonlinear time-dependent evolution of accretion disk-corona
systems in X-ray binary sources has been investigated to provide an u
nderstanding of the low-frequency (similar to 0.04 Hz) quasi-periodic
oscillations (QPOs) observed recently in the rapid burster MXB 1730-33
5 and in some black hole candidate sources (Cyg X-1 and GRO J0422+32).
We consider oc-viscosity models in which the viscous stress is propor
tional to the total pressure. In contrast to previous time-dependent s
tudies, it is assumed that all mass accretion and angular momentum tra
nsport take place in an optically thick disk, but that a fraction of t
he gravitational energy that is released is dissipated in a corona. It
is found that the coronal energy dissipation can effectively reduce t
he amplitudes of the mass flow variations generated from the thermal a
nd viscous instabilities (in comparison with models without a corona).
Provided that the disk is close to a marginally stable state, mild os
cillatory nonsteady behavior results. These oscillations are globally
coherent in the unstable regions of the disk. A model for the high and
low states of black hole candidate systems is also proposed. It is su
ggested that the low state, which is characterized by a hard X-ray spe
ctrum, corresponds to a disk configuration in which the inner disk is
in an advection-dominated, hot, optically thin state, whereas the high
state corresponds to a configuration in which the inner disk is in an
optically thick state surrounded by a corona. In this model, the mass
accretion rate in the system is higher in the low state than in the h
igh state. The hard X-ray spectrum of QPOs observed in the low state c
an be naturally explained by such a model.