2014MNRAS.444.2178S

Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been observed in the power-density spectra (PDS) of some low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) containing a black hole. The two major groups of QPOs - low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) - have rather different properties. That is why they are usually studied separately. In the literature, one can find a large number of models for the HF QPOs but not so many for the LF ones. HF QPOs have attracted significant research efforts due to their potential to provide indispensable information for the properties of the black hole, for its accretion disc and for strong field gravity in general. However, in order to interpret the data for the HF QPOs of the observed objects, we have to fix a model. Here, we propose a simple test which could allow us to sift the models. The test is based on five rather general assumptions concerning the nature of the central object in black hole binaries and the mechanism for the generation of the LF QPOs observed in the PDS of such objects. In other words, we combine facts that we know about the LF and the HF QPOs of several objects and search for conflicts. As a result, we single out a model for the HF QPOs - the 3: 2 non-linear resonance model. As a byproduct of this study, we propose loose constraints on the mass of the LMXB H 1743-322.