A SPECTRAL STUDY OF THE RAPID TRANSITIONS OF TYPE-B QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN THE BLACK HOLE TRANSIENT XTE J1859+226

The fast transitions of type-B and type-A quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are rarely found, and they are observed at the peak of the outburst in black hole transient (BHT) sources. The associated spectral variations during such events are crucial to understand the origin and location of such QPOs in the accretion disk. During the 1999 outburst of XTE J1859+226, on four occasions a rapid transition of type-B/A QPOs was noted. We performed broadband spectral analysis on these four observations to unveil the responsible spectral parameter causing the rapid transitions. After invoking simple spectral models, it was observed that disk parameters were consistently varying along with disk and power-law fluxes, and almost no change was noted in the power-law index parameter. Though using a complex physical model showed consistent results, the spectral parameter variations across the transitions were not significant. It was observed that the type-B QPO was always associated with an inner disk front which is closer to the BH. In one observation, a type-A QPO appeared as the source count rate suddenly dropped, and the power-law index as well as disk normalization parameter considerably changed during this transition. The spectral changes in this particular observation were similar to the changes observed in XTE J1817-330, indicating a common underlying mechanism. We have also examined a similar observation of BHT source GX 339-4, where a sudden transition of a type-A/B QPO was noted. Similar spectral study again revealed that the disk parameters were changing. We discuss the results in the framework of a truncated disk model and conclude that the movement of the coupled inner disk-corona region is responsible for such rapid transitions of type-B QPOs.