Timing and spectral analysis of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1803–298 with Insight-HXMT data

Abstract We present a comprehensive analysis of the 2021 outburst of MAXI J1803–298 utilizing observations of the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) spanning from the low hard state to the high soft state. Within the Insight-HXMT dataset, compared to the previous work, we identify a more prolonged presence of type-C quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with centroid frequencies ranging from ∼0.16 to 6.3 Hz, which present correlations with the hardness ratio and the photon index of the Comptonized component. For QPO frequencies less than ∼2 Hz, the QPO phase lags are hard (photons of 10–19 keV arrive later than those of 1–4 keV), while at higher frequencies, lags transition to soft lags after reaching ∼4 Hz. Furthermore, the spectra in all Insight-HXMT observations consist of a multi-color blackbody component and a Comptonized component, as commonly observed in classical black-hole X-ray binaries. We analyze state transitions and the evolution of accretion geometry in this work. The fitted inner disk radius increases abnormally during the low hard state, hypothesized to result from the corona condensing onto the inner disk. Additionally, two significant drops in flux are observed during the soft intermediate state, maybe implying changes in the corona/jet and the disk, respectively.