The evolution of GX 339-4 in the low-hard state as seen by NuSTAR and Swift

Abstract

We analyze eleven NuSTAR and Swift observations of the black hole X-ray binary GX 339-4 in the hard state, six of which were taken during the end of the 2015 outburst, five during a failed outburst in 2013. These observations cover luminosities from 0.5%-5% of the Eddington luminosity. Implementing the most recent version of the reflection model relxillCp, we perform simultaneous spectral fits on both datasets to track the evolution of the properties in the accretion disk including the inner edge radius, the ionization, and temperature of the thermal emission. We also constrain the photon index and electron temperature of the primary source (the "corona"). We find the disk becomes more truncated when the luminosity decreases, and observe a maximum truncation radius of $37R_g$. We also explore a self-consistent model under the framework of coronal Comptonization, and find consistent results regarding the disk truncation in the 2015 data, providing a more physical preferred fit for the 2013 observations.

arXiv comment15 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (38)

• On the Absorption of X-rays in the Interstellar Medium
• Advection-Dominated Accretion: A Self-Similar Solution
• The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission
• Atomic Data for Astrophysics. II. New Analytic Fits for Photoionization Cross Sections of Atoms and Ions
• Advection-Dominated Accretion and the Spectral States of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries: Application to Nova Muscae 1991
• Broad-band gamma-ray and X-ray spectra of NGC 4151 and their implications for physical processes and geometry
• Improved Reflection Models of Black-Hole Accretion Disks: Treating the Angular Distribution of X-rays
• X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. III. A complete grid of ionized reflection calculations
• Advection-Dominated Accretion and the Black Hole Event Horizon
• Irradiation of an Accretion Disc by a Jet: General Properties and Implications for Spin Measurements of Black Holes
• The role of the reflection fraction in constraining black hole spin
• X-ray reflected spectra from accretion disk models. I. Constant density atmospheres
• Broad emission lines for negatively spinning black holes
• The Constant Inner-Disk Radius of LMC X-3: A Basis for Measuring Black Hole Spin
• A Long, Hard Look at the Low-Hard State in Accreting Black Holes
• Dynamical Evidence for a Black Hole in GX 339-4
• Black hole accretion discs: reality confronts theory
• Black hole mass and spin coevolution by mergers
• Normalizing a Relativistic Model of X-ray Reflection: The Definition of the Reflection Fraction and its Implementation in relxill
• X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy of the Black Hole GX 339-4: Exploring the Hard State with Unprecedented Sensitivity
• A systematic look at the Very High and Low/Hard state of GX 339-4: Constraining the black hole spin with a new reflection model
• A unified accretion-ejection paradigm for Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Truncation of the Inner Accretion Disk around a Black Hole at Low Luminosity
• Suzaku Results on Cygnus X-1 in the Low/Hard State
• The mass function of GX 339-4 from spectroscopic observations of its donor star
• The complex accretion geometry of GX 339-4 as seen by NuSTAR and Swift
• A re--analysis of the iron line in the XMM-Newton data from the low/hard state in GX339--4
• The truncated and evolving inner accretion disc of the black hole GX 339-4
• Broadband X-ray Spectra of GX 339-4 and the Geometry of Accreting Black Holes in the Hard State
• Spectral analysis of the XMM-Newton data of GX 339-4 in the low/hard state: disc truncation and reflection
• The soft component and the iron line as signatures of the disc inner radius in Galactic black hole binaries
• Self-Consistent Black Hole Accretion Spectral Models and the Forgotten Role of Coronal Comptonization of Reflection Emission
• On Relativistic Disk Spectroscopy in Compact Objects with X-ray CCD Cameras
• X-Ray and Near-Infrared Observations of GX 339-4 in the Low/Hard State with Suzaku and IRSF
• An Empirical Method for Improving the Quality of RXTE PCA Spectra
• The return to the hard state of GX 339-4 as seen by Suzaku
• An imperfect double: probing the physical origin of the low-frequency QPO and its harmonic in black hole binaries
• NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of the 2015 outburst decay of GX 339-4

Cited by in corpus (54)

• Stingray: A Modern Python Library For Spectral Timing
• Towards precision measurements of accreting black holes using X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• High Density Reflection Spectroscopy: II. the Density of the Inner Black Hole Accretion Disc in AGN
• The Analogous Structure of Accretion Flows in Supermassive and Stellar Mass Black Holes: New Insights from Faded Changing-Look Quasars
• Disk, Corona, Jet Connection in the Intermediate State of MAXI J1820+070 Revealed by NICER Spectral-Timing Analysis
• High Density Reflection Spectroscopy I. A case study of GX~339-4
• The NICER "Reverberation Machine": A Systematic Study of Time Lags in Black Hole X-Ray Binaries
• Reverberation Reveals the Truncated Disc in the Hard State of GX 339-4
• Reflection Modeling of the Black Hole Binary 4U~1630$-$47: the Disk Density and Returning Radiation
• Reflection Spectroscopy of the Black Hole Binary XTE J1752-223 in its Long-Stable Hard State
• The 2017 Failed Outburst of GX 339-4: Relativistic X-ray Reflection near the Black Hole Revealed by NuSTAR and Swift Spectroscopy
• A NICER Discovery of a Low-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillation in the Soft-Intermediate State of MAXI J1535-571
• Relativistic reflection and reverberation in GX 339-4 with NICER and NuSTAR
• Evolution of the accretion disk-corona during bright hard-to-soft state transition: A reflection spectroscopic study with GX 339-4
• Thermal and radiation driving can produce observable disk winds in hard-state X-ray binaries
• The spin measurement of the black hole in 4U 1543-47 constrained with the X-ray reflected emission
• Two major constraints on the inner radii of accretion disks
• Comparison of spectral models for disc truncation in the hard state of GX 339-4
• A spectral study of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 with AstroSat and NuSTAR
• Detailed analysis on the reflection component for the black hole candidate MAXI J1348-630
• Thermally-Driven Disc Winds as a Mechanism for X-ray Irradiation Heating in Black Hole X-ray Binaries: The Case Study of GX339-4
• A spectrally stratified hot accretion flow in the hard state of MAXI J1820+070
• The hard to soft transition of GX 339-4 as seen by Insight-HXMT
• Testing evolution of LFQPOs with mass accretion rate in GRS 1915+105 with Insight-HXMT
• A NICER look at the jet-like corona of MAXI J1535-571 through type-B quasi-periodic oscillations
• Does the disk in the hard state of XTE J1752-223 extend to the innermost stable circular orbit?
• A unified accretion-ejection paradigm for black hole X-ray binaries. VI. Radiative efficiency and radio-X-ray correlation during four outbursts from GX339-4
• X-ray Spectral and Timing evolution of MAXI J1727-203 with NICER
• Physical constraints from near-infrared fast photometry of the black-hole transient GX 339-4
• Broad-band spectral study of X-ray transient MAXI J1820+070 using Swift/XRT and NuSTAR
• A NuSTAR View of GRS 1716$-$249 in the Hard and Intermediate States
• High-density reflection spectroscopy of black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state
• Illumination of the accretion disk in black hole binaries: An extended jet as the primary source of hard X-rays
• Photoionization Models for High Density Gas
• RELXILL_NK: a relativistic reflection model for testing Einstein's gravity
• A Comprehensive X-ray Report on AT2019wey
• Black holes: Timing and spectral properties and evolution
• A strongly changing accretion morphology during the outburst decay of the neutron star X-ray binary 4U 1608-52
• Clues on jet behavior from simultaneous radio-X-ray fits of GX339-4
• Evolution of the truncated disc and inner hot-flow of GX 339-4
• X-ray spectral correlations in a sample of Low-mass black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state
• Reflection features in the X-ray spectrum of Fairall 9 and implications for tests of general relativity
• A NuSTAR and Swift View of the Hard State of MAXI J1813-095
• Detection of low-frequency breaks in power density spectrum of GX 339-4 in faint low/hard state observations using AstroSat data
• The origin of long soft lags and the nature of the hard-intermediate state in black hole binaries
• QPOs in compact binaries from small scale eruptions in an inner magnetized disk
• Evolution of QPOs in GX 339-4 and EXO 1846-031 with Insight-HXMT and NICER
• The spin measurement of MAXI J0637-430: a black hole candidate with high disk density
• Measuring black hole spins with x-ray reflection spectroscopy: A GRMHD outlook
• Investigating the consistency of the shape and flux of X-ray reflection spectra in the hard state with an accretion disk reaching close to the black hole
• Investigating disc-corona interaction in axisymmetric accretion disc models
• NICER Spectral and Timing Analysis of 4U 1630$-$47 and its Heartbeat State
• Interaction between disk and extended corona in a general relativistic framework
• Accretion Geometry of Black Hole X-ray Binaries: Insights from X-ray Observations