A UV flux drop preceding the X-ray hard-to-soft state transition during the 2010 outburst of GX 339-4

Abstract

The black hole X-ray transient GX 339$-$4 was observed with the {\it Swift} satellite across the hard-to-soft state transition during its 2010 outburst. The ultraviolet (UV) flux measured with the filter UVW2 of the {\it Swift}/UVOT started to decrease nearly 10 days before the drop in the hard X-ray flux when the hard-to-soft state transition started. The UV flux $F_{\mathrm{UV}}$ correlated with the X-ray flux $F_{\mathrm{X}}$ as $F_{\mathrm{UV}}\propto F_{\mathrm{X}}^{0.50\pm 0.04}$ before the drop in the UV flux. During the UV drop lasting about 16 days, the X-ray flux in 0.4--10 keV was increasing. The drop in the UV flux indicates that the jet started to quench 10 days before the hard-to-soft state transition seen in X-rays, which is unexpected.

accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Hot accretion flow in black hole binaries: a link connecting X-rays to the infrared
• Combining timing characteristics with physical broadband spectral modelling of black hole X-ray binary GX~339$-$4
• The connection between the UV/optical and X-ray emission in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary Aql X-1
• The Accretion-Ejection Connection in the Black Hole X-ray Binary MAXI J1820$+$070