The hard to soft transition of GX 339-4 as seen by Insight-HXMT

Abstract

We present an analysis of the relativistic reflection spectra of GX 339-4 during the hard-to-soft transition of its 2021 outburst observed by Insight-HXMT. The strong relativistic reflection signatures in the data suggest a high black hole spin ($a_{\ast }>0.86$) and an intermediate disk inclination angle (35-43 deg) of the system. The transition is accompanied by an increasing temperature of the disk and a softening of the corona emission while the inner disk radius remains stable. Assuming a lamppost geometry, the corona height is also found to stay close to the black hole across the state transition. If we include the Comptonization of the reflection spectrum, the scattering fraction parameter is found to decrease during the state transition. We also perform an analysis with a reflection model designed for hot accretion disks of stellar mass black holes where the surface of the innermost accretion disk is illuminated by emission from the corona and the thermal disk below. Our results support the scenario in which the state transition is associated with variations in the corona properties.

10 pages, 5 figures, Accepted by ApJ

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• High-density reflection spectroscopy of black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state
• Quasi-periodic oscillations in GX 339-4 during the 2021 Outburst observed with Insight-HXMT
• Measuring Black Hole Spins through X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy and the Relativistic Precession Model: the case of XTE J1859+226
• About the accuracy of the relxill/relxill_nk models in view of the next generation of X-ray missions
• Impact of reflection Comptonization on X-ray reflection spectroscopy: the case of EXO 1846-031
• Evolution of QPOs in GX 339-4 and EXO 1846-031 with Insight-HXMT and NICER
• Searching for quantum-gravity footprint around stellar-mass black holes
• Broad-band noises in GX 339-4 during the 2021 outburst observed with Insight-HXMT and NICER
• Testing Regular Black Holes with X-ray data of GX 339-4
• Modeling reflection spectra of super-Eddington X-ray sources
• NICER Spectral and Timing Analysis of 4U 1630$-$47 and its Heartbeat State
• Accretion Geometry of Black Hole X-ray Binaries: Insights from X-ray Observations