Studies of the Origin of High-frequency Quasi-periodic Oscillations of Mass-accreting Black Holes in X-Ray Binaries with Next-generation X-Ray Telescopes

Observations with RXTE (Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer) revealed the presence of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HFQPOs) of the X-ray flux from several accreting stellar-mass black holes. HFQPOs (and their counterparts at lower frequencies) may allow us to study general relativity in the regime of strong gravity. However, the observational evidence today does not yet allow us to distinguish between different HFQPO models. In this paper we use a general-relativistic ray-tracing code to investigate X-ray timing spectroscopy and polarization properties of HFQPOs in the orbiting Hotspot model. We study observational signatures for the particular case of the 166 Hz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the galactic binary GRS 1915+105. We conclude with a discussion of the observability of spectral signatures with a timing-spectroscopy experiment such as the LOFT (Large Observatory for X-ray Timing) and polarization signatures with space-borne X-ray polarimeters such as IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), PolSTAR (Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array), PRAXyS(Polarimetry of Relativistic X-ray Sources), or XIPE (X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer). A mission with high count rate such as LOFT would make it possible to get a QPO phase for each photon, enabling the study of the QPO-phase-resolved spectral shape and the correlation between this and the flux level. Owing to the short periods of the HFQPOs, first-generation X-ray polarimeters would not be able to assign a QPO phase to each photon. The study of QPO-phase-resolved polarization energy spectra would thus require simultaneous observations with a first-generation X-ray polarimeter and a LOFT-type mission.