A Variable Mid-Infrared Synchrotron Break Associated With the Compact Jet in Gx 339-4

Gandhi, P.; Blain, A. W.; Russell, D. M.; Casella, P.; Malzac, J.; Corbel, S.; D’Avanzo, P.; Lewis, Fraser; Markoff, Sera; Bel, M. Cadolle; Goldoni, P.; Wachter, Stefanie; Khangulyan, D.; Mainzer, Amy

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/740/1/l13

Cited by 156 publications

(245 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…We do not see evidence of a non-thermal power-law break at frequencies lower than the J band, suggesting that the break is located at frequencies greater than or equal to the J band. This is in agreement with Coriat et al (2009) but contrary to what was observed by Gandhi et al (2011). During 2010 when GX 339-4 was once again very bright during the hard state (V = 14.74 mag) Gandhi et al (2011) found the power-law break to be located in the mid-IR.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This is in agreement with Coriat et al (2009) but contrary to what was observed by Gandhi et al (2011). During 2010 when GX 339-4 was once again very bright during the hard state (V = 14.74 mag) Gandhi et al (2011) found the power-law break to be located in the mid-IR. They fit a power law to the radio-W4 data with a slope of +0.29 ± 0.02, significantly higher than slopes found in this paper and others.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Since the I band lies on the same spectral slope as the V band from the faintest to brightest magnitudes during the hard state (i.e., the V − I color is constant) then the I band is most likely the location of a break between the non-thermal and thermal SEDs. We do not observe a break in the non-thermal spectrum, however, we can say that the nonthermal break location must exist at frequencies greater than or equal to the J band, in agreement with Coriat et al (2009) but contrary to Gandhi et al (2011) (see Section 6 for further discussion of this point).…”

Section: Hard-state Sedsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Optical and Near-Infrared Monitoring of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary Gx 339-4 During 2002-2010

Buxton¹,

Bailyn²,

Capelo³

et al. 2012

The Astronomical Journal

102

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We present the optical/infrared (O/IR) light curve of the black hole X-ray binary GX 339-4 collected at the SMARTS 1.3 m telescope from 2002 to 2010. During this time the source has undergone numerous state transitions including hard-to-soft state transitions when we see large changes in the near-IR flux accompanied by modest changes in optical flux, and three rebrightening events in 2003, 2005, and 2007 after GX 339-4 transitioned from the soft state to the hard. All but one outburst show similar behavior in the X-ray hardness-intensity diagram. We show that the O/IR colors follow two distinct tracks that reflect either the hard or soft X-ray state of the source. Thus, either of these two X-ray states can be inferred from O/IR observations alone. From these correlations we have constructed spectral energy distributions of the soft and hard states. During the hard state, the near-IR data have the same spectral slope as simultaneous radio data when GX 339-4 was in a bright optical state, implying that the near-IR is dominated by a non-thermal source, most likely originating from jets. Non-thermal emission dominates the near-IR bands during the hard state at all but the faintest optical states, and the fraction of non-thermal emission increases with increasing optical brightness. The spectral slope of the optical bands indicate that a heated thermal source is present during both the soft and hard X-ray states, even when GX 339-4 is at its faintest optical state. We have conducted a timing analysis of the light curve for the hard and soft states and find no evidence of a characteristic timescale within the range of 4-230 days.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Hard-state Sedsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Optical and Near-Infrared Monitoring of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary Gx 339-4 During 2002-2010

Buxton¹,

Bailyn²,

Capelo³

et al. 2012

The Astronomical Journal

102

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“…Malzac 2014), and we are here probing slower timescales than this, in which case on these slow timescales the longer wavelengths may have more rms variability power than the shorter wavelengths, as observed between KS and J-bands. This may be consistent with the results of Gandhi et al (2011), who found that in GX 339-4, at wavelengths close to the jet spectral break the rms variability was of high amplitude, but the variations were slow, with smooth changes on timescales of minutes-hours. We therefore consider both options, optically thin and optically thick synchrotron, are plausible possibilities for the origin of the NIR spectrum and variability.…”

Section: Swift J13572-0933supporting

confidence: 92%

Polarized synchrotron emission in quiescent black hole X-ray transients

Russell¹,

Shahbaz²,

Lewis³

et al. 2016

Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.

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We present near-infrared polarimetric observations of the black hole X-ray binaries Swift J1357.2-0933 and A0620-00. In both sources, recent studies have demonstrated the presence of variable infrared synchrotron emission in quiescence, most likely from weak compact jets. For Swift J1357.2-0933 we find that the synchrotron emission is polarized at a level of 8.0 ± 2.5 per cent (a 3.2 σ detection of intrinsic polarization). The mean magnitude and rms variability of the flux (fractional rms of 19-24 per cent in K S -band) agree with previous observations. These properties imply a continuously launched (stable on long timescales), highly variable (on short timescales) jet in the Swift J1357.2-0933 system in quiescence, which has a moderately tangled magnetic field close to the base of the jet. We find that for A0620-00, there are likely to be three components to the optical-infrared polarization; interstellar dust along the line of sight, scattering within the system, and an additional source that changes the polarization position angle in the reddest (H and K S ) wave-bands. We interpret this as a stronger contribution of synchrotron emission, and by subtracting the line-of-sight polarization, we measure an excess of ∼ 1.25±0.28 per cent polarization and a position angle of the magnetic field vector that is consistent with being parallel with the axis of the resolved radio jet. These results imply that weak jets in low luminosity accreting systems have magnetic fields which possess similarly tangled fields compared to the more luminous, hard state jets in X-ray binaries.

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“…This is exactly what one can expect when a source undergoes an LHS to HSS spectral transition: the colour changed and thermal processes started to dominate. During the rising LHS, Gandhi et al (2011) found that the jet spectrum was highly variable in the mid-IR. The break between optically thick (self-absorbed) and optically thin synchrotron emission in the jet spectrum was found to vary between ∼3.6 and 22 μm on timescales of minutes-hours.…”

Section: Spectral Energy Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of an extensive multi-wavelength study of GX 339−4 during the 2010 outburst

Bel

Rodríguez

D’Avanzo

et al. 2011

A&A

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Context. The microquasar GX 339−4 experienced a new outburst in 2010: it was observed simultaneously at various wavelengths from radio up to soft γ-rays. We focus on observations that are quasi-simultaneous with those made with the INTEGRAL and RXTE satellites: these were collected in 2010 March-April during our INTEGRAL target of opportunity programme, and during some of the other INTEGRAL observing programmes with GX 339−4 in the field-of-view. Aims. X-ray transients are extreme systems that often harbour a black hole, and are known to emit throughout the whole electromagnetic spectrum when in outburst. The goals of our programme are to understand the evolution of the physical processes close to the black hole and to study the connections between the accretion and ejection. Methods. We analysed radio, NIR, optical, UV, X-ray and soft γ-ray observations. We studied the source evolution in detail by producing light curves, hardness-intensity diagrams and spectra. We fitted the broadband data with phenomenological, then physical, models to study the emission coming from the distinct components. Results. Based on the energy spectra, the source evolved from the canonical hard state to the canonical soft state. The source showed X-ray spectral variations that were correlated with changes in radio, NIR and optical emission. The bolometric flux increased from 0.8 to 2.9 × 10 −8 erg cm −2 s −1 while the relative flux and contribution of the hot medium decreased on the average. Reprocessing in the disc was likely to be strong at the end of our observations. Conclusions. The source showed a behaviour similar to that of previous outbursts, with some small deviations in the hard X-ray parameter evolution. The radio, NIR and optical emission from jets was detected and observed to fade as the source softened. The results are discussed within the context of disc and jet models.

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A Variable Mid-Infrared Synchrotron Break Associated With the Compact Jet in Gx 339-4

Cited by 156 publications

References 45 publications

Optical and Near-Infrared Monitoring of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary Gx 339-4 During 2002-2010

Optical and Near-Infrared Monitoring of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary Gx 339-4 During 2002-2010

Polarized synchrotron emission in quiescent black hole X-ray transients

Overview of an extensive multi-wavelength study of GX 339−4 during the 2010 outburst

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