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A jet model for the fast IR variability of the black hole X-ray binary GX 339-4.

Malzac, Julien and Kalamkar, Maithili and Vincentelli, Federico and Vue, Alexis and Drappeau, Samia and Belmont, Renaud and Casella, Piergiorgio and Clavel, Maïca and Corbel, Stphane and Coriat, Mickaël and Dornic, Damien and Ferreira, Jonathan and Henri, Gilles and Maccarone, Thomas J and Marcowith, Alexandre and O’Brien, Kieran and Péault, Mathias and Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier and Rodriguez, Jérome and Russell, David M and Uttley, Phil (2018) 'A jet model for the fast IR variability of the black hole X-ray binary GX 339-4.', Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society., 480 (2). pp. 2054-2071.

Abstract

Using the simultaneous Infra-Red (IR) and X-ray light curves obtained by Kalamkar et al., we perform a Fourier analysis of the IR/X-ray timing correlations of the black hole X-ray binary (BHB) GX 339-4. The resulting IR vs X-ray Fourier coherence and lag spectra are similar to those obtained in previous studies of GX 339-4 using optical light curves. In particular, above 1 Hz, the lag spectrum features an approximately constant IR lag of about 100 ms. We model simultaneously the radio to IR Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), the IR Power Spectral Density (PSD), and the coherence and lag spectra using the jet internal shock model ISHEM assuming that the fluctuations of the jet Lorentz factor are driven by the accretion flow. It turns out that most of the spectral and timing features, including the 100-ms lag, are remarkably well-reproduced by this model. The 100-ms time-scale is then associated with the travel time from the accretion flow to the IR emitting zone. Our exploration of the parameter space favours a jet which is at most mildly relativistic (¯ < 3), and a linear and positive relation between the jet Lorentz factor and X-ray light curve i.e. (t) − 1∝LX(t). The presence of a strong Low-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillation (LFQPO) in the IR light curve could be caused by jet precession driven by Lense–Thirring precession of the jet-emitting accretion flow. Our simulations confirm that this mechanism can produce an IR LFQPO similar to that observed in GX 339-4.

Item Type:Article
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Status:Peer-reviewed
Publisher Web site:https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty2006
Publisher statement:This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2018 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Date accepted:23 July 2018
Date deposited:05 October 2018
Date of first online publication:30 July 2018
Date first made open access:05 October 2018

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