English

Radio / X-ray correlation in the low/hard state of GX 339--4

Astrophysics 2008-11-26 v1

Abstract

We present the results of a long-term study of the black hole candidate GX 339-4 using simultaneous radio (from the Australia Telescope Compact Array) and X-ray (from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and BeppoSAX) observations performed between 1997 and 2000. We find strong evidence for a correlation between these two emission regimes that extends over more than three decades in X-ray flux, down to the quiescence level of GX 339-4. This is the strongest evidence to date for such strong coupling between radio and X-ray emission. We discuss these results in light of a jet model that can explain the radio/X-ray correlation. This could indicate that a significant fraction of the X-ray flux that is observed in the low-hard state of black hole candidates may be due to optically thin synchrotron emission from the compact jet.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0301436,
  title  = {Radio / X-ray correlation in the low/hard state of GX 339--4},
  author = {S. Corbel and M. A. Nowak and R. P. Fender and A. K. Tzioumis and S. Markoff},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0301436},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

8 pages. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2003