The macroscopic precession model of quasiperiodic oscillations for rotating compact objects
- 1Università di Camerino
Abstract
Context. The relativistic precession model interprets twin kilohertz quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) as geodesic frequencies of test particles orbiting in the space-time of X-ray binaries hosting either a neutron star (NS) or a black hole. Aims. In several NS X-ray binaries, QPOs are well reproduced by effective geometries nearly degenerate with a Schwarzschild-de Sitter (SdS) space-time, hindering independent determinations of mass, angular momentum, and other observables. We propose to solve this physical limitation by incorporating orbiting matter spin effects, culminating in the introduction of the macroscopic precession model (MPM). Methods. We treated disk inhomogeneities as spinning test bodies governed by the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations and obtained non-minimal spin curvature corrections for the azimuthal and the radial epicyclic frequencies. We performed Monte chain Carlo Markov fits, based on the Metropolis algorithm, and modeled eight NS X-ray binary sources. Results. Our statistical analyses show that the data select the internal structure of the accreting matter without requiring corrections to the Kerr and Schwarzschild space-times through the introduction of any de Sitter phase. Conclusions. Physically, the MPM paradigm explains why an effective SdS-like structure could be statistically favored if spin is not employed, through non-minimal spin-curvature coupling, leaving the test particle hypothesis unaltered.
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BibTeX
@article{orlando2026macroscopic,
title = {{The macroscopic precession model of quasiperiodic oscillations for rotating compact objects}},
author = {Luongo Orlando and Muccino Marco},
journal = {Astronomy \& Astrophysics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202662415},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202662415},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The macroscopic precession model of quasiperiodic oscillations for rotating compact objects
AU - Luongo Orlando
AU - Muccino Marco
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202662415
UR - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202662415
AB - Context. The relativistic precession model interprets twin kilohertz quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) as geodesic frequencies of test particles orbiting in the space-time of X-ray binaries hosting either a neutron star (NS) or a black hole. Aims. In several NS X-ray binaries, QPOs are well reproduced by effective geometries nearly degenerate with a Schwarzschild-de Sitter (SdS) space-time, hindering independent determinations of mass, angular momentum, and other observables. We propose to solve this physical limitation by incorporating orbiting matter spin effects, culminating in the introduction of the macroscopic precession model (MPM). Methods. We treated disk inhomogeneities as spinning test bodies governed by the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations and obtained non-minimal spin curvature corrections for the azimuthal and the radial epicyclic frequencies. We performed Monte chain Carlo Markov fits, based on the Metropolis algorithm, and modeled eight NS X-ray binary sources. Results. Our statistical analyses show that the data select the internal structure of the accreting matter without requiring corrections to the Kerr and Schwarzschild space-times through the introduction of any de Sitter phase. Conclusions. Physically, the MPM paradigm explains why an effective SdS-like structure could be statistically favored if spin is not employed, through non-minimal spin-curvature coupling, leaving the test particle hypothesis unaltered.
SN - 0004-6361
SN - 1432-0746
ER -