Unveiling the rebrightening mechanism of GRS 1915+105: Insights from a change in the quasi-periodic oscillations and from a wind analysis

Abstract

We report a significant rebrightening event in the microquasar GRS 1915+105 that was observed in July 2021 with NICER and NuSTAR. This event was characterized by quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the soft state, but is typically free of these oscillations. It was also marked by an increase in the disk wind ionization degree. By employing the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT), we decomposed the stable low-frequency QPO from the light curves using data from NICER and NuSTAR. Our spectral analysis shows a weak change in the Fe XXV absorption lines and a strong change in the Fe XXV absorption edge with QPO phase. Other spectral parameters, including the photon index and the seed photon temperature, correlate positively with the QPO phase, but the electron temperature is inversely correlated. Based on our findings we propose that the observed QPOs were caused by magnetic activity and not by precession. The magnetic field drove a failed disk wind of high-ionization low-velocity material. These results support the accretion ejection instability model and provide deeper insights into the dynamics of accretion-ejection processes that are magnetized by a black hole.