Powerful jets from black hole X-ray binaries in low/hard X-ray states

By Robert P. Fender. 2000

366 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Four persistent (Cygnus X-1, GX 339−4, GRS 1758−258 and 1E 1740.7−2942) and three transient (GS 2023+38, GRO J0422+32 and GS 1354−64) black hole X-ray binary systems have been extensively observed at radio wavelengths during extended periods in the low/hard X-ray state, which is characterized in X-rays by a hard power-law spectrum and strong variability. All seven systems show a persistent flat or inverted (in the sense that α≳0, where S∝να) radio spectrum in this state, markedly different from the optically thin radio spectra exhibited by most X-ray transients within days of outburst. Furthermore, in none of the systems is a high-frequency cut-off to this spectral component detected, and there is evidence that it extends to near-infrared or optical regimes. Luminous persistent hard X-ray states in the black hole system GRS 1915+105 produce a comparable spectrum. This spectral component is considered to arise in synchrotron emission from a conical, partially self-absorbed jet, of the same genre as those originally considered for active galactic nuclei. Whatever the physical origin of the low/hard X-ray states, these self-similar outflows are an ever-present feature. The power in the jet component is likely to be a significant (5 per cent) and approximately fixed fraction of the total accretion luminosity. The correlation between hard X-ray and synchrotron emission in all the sources implies that the jets are intimately related to the Comptonization process, and do not have very large bulk Lorentz factors, unless the hard X-ray emission is also beamed by the same factor.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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Citations in the corpus

Refining the fundamental plane of accreting black holes (2006, background): “In the LH state the radio spectrum is always consistent with coming from a steady jet (Fender 2001), which can sometimes be directly imaged (Stirling et al. 2001).”
The 'universal' radio/X-ray flux correlation : the case study of the black hole GX 339-4 (2012, background): “Optically thin synchrotron emission from the compact jets may also play a role at high energy (Markoff, Falcke & Fender 2001; Homan et al. 2005; Russell et al. 2010; Laurent et al. 2011).”
On the Origin of Radio Emission in the X-Ray States of XTE J1650–500 during the 2001-2002 Outburst (2004, background): “The contribution in X-rays, as direct synchrotron emission (c.f. Markoff, Falcke, Fender 2001; Markoff et al. 2003) may also be negligible (see section 3.1.2), however a contribution as synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission from the base of the compact jet (e.g. Markoff & Nowak 2004) can not be ru”
Going with the Flow: Can the Base of Jets Subsume the Role of Compact Accretion Disk Coronae? (2005, background): “The high brightness temperatures and occasionally measured linear polarization (e.g., Fender 2001) argue strongly that nonthermal synchrotron is the dominant radio-emitting process.”
Broad Iron Lines in Active Galactic Nuclei (2000, methodology): “These models were first suggested for the case of Galactic BHC (Markoff et al., 2001, 2003; Fender, 2001, and references therein), and have recently also been applied to Seyfert galaxies (Ghisellini et al., 2004).”
Multiwavelength Observations of the 2002 Outburst of GX 339–4: Two Patterns of X-Ray-Optical/Near-Infrared Behavior (2005, result): “These slopes are very similar to those of the optically thick/self-absorbed radio spectra of black hole sources in their hard states (Fender 2001; Fender et al. 2001).”
The Soft Gamma-Ray Spectral Variability of Cygnus X-1 (2001, background): “Radio emission is also more pronounced in this state (Fender 2001), with evidence for a radio emitting relativistic jet (Stirling et al. 2001).”
The Milky Way in X-rays for an outside observer (2001, background): “The jets exist only in the hard spectral state (Fender 2001), thus decreasing the accretion efficiency at lower Ṁ .”
Long term variability of Cygnus X-1. I. X-ray spectral-temporal correlations in the hard state (2002, background): “Along these lines, based mainly on observations of microquasars, Fender (2001) and Fender et al. (1999) have recently attempted to unify the radio and X-ray observations into a geometrical picture of the region surrounding the central black hole.”
No evidence for black hole spin powering of jets in X-ray binaries (2010, background): “A variety of approaches may be taken to estimate the power of BH XRB jets in the hard X-ray state (e.g. Fender 2001; Fender, Gallo & Jonker 2003; Malzac, Merloni & Fabian 2004; Gallo et al. 2005; Körding, Fender & Migliari 2006); nearly all result in high normalisations for the relation, such that…”
A universal radio-X-ray correlation in low/hard state black hole binaries (2003, background): “Due to its high brightness temperature, ‘nonthermal’ spectrum and, in some cases, high degree of polarisation, radio emission from black hole binaries is believed to originate in synchrotron ⋆ egallo@science.uva.nl radiation from relativistic electrons ejected by the system with large bulk velocitie”
Radio/X-ray correlation in the low/hard state of GX 339-4 (2003, methodology): “A more complex relation, but still indicating a relation between radio emitting electrons and the hard X-ray power law dominated state (like that in the LHS of BHC), is found in GRS 1915+105 (Klein-Wolt et al. 2002).”
Jet-dominated states: an alternative to advection across black hole event horizons in ‘quiescent’ X-ray binaries (2003, methodology): “In models of optically thick jets (e.g. Blandford & Königl 1979; Falcke & Biermann 1996; Markoff, Falcke & Fender 2001; Heinz & Sunyaev 2003), the following scaling applies: Lradio ∝ L 1.4 J (3) Combining equations (2) and (3): LJ ∝ L 0.5 X (4) therefore Ltotal = LX + AL 0.5 X (5) which provides…”
Population X: Are the super-Eddington X-ray sources beamed jets in microblazars or intermediate mass black holes? (2001, methodology): “However, Markoff, Falcke, & Fender (2001) proposed that jets may be contributing to the X-ray emission from X-ray binaries (XRBs), implying that some X-ray sources may be relativistically beamed.”
A new simple model for high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in black hole candidates (2003, neutral): “On the other hand, a rather narrow range of black hole spins has been suggested as a possible explanation for the narrow range of radio-to-X-ray flux ratios in the Galactic X-ray binary systems (Fender 2001).”
A Unified Model for Black Hole X-Ray Binary Jets? (2004, methodology): “It has by now been established for several years that the canonical LS is associated with persistent flat- or inverted-spectrum radio emission which probably arises in a self-absorbed, self-similar outflow (Fender 2001).”
Hot Accretion Flows Around Black Holes (2014, background): “…in recent years with the recognition that essentially all low-luminosity AGNs are radio loud (Nagar et al. 2000, Falcke et al. 2000, Ho 2002) and the parallel discovery that virtually every BHB in the hard state has radio emission (Corbel et al. 2000; Fender 2001, 2006; Fender et al. 2004).”
Fluorescent iron lines as a probe of astrophysical black hole systems (2002, neutral): “[59,78–82].”
Accretion states and radio loudness in active galactic nuclei: analogies with X-ray binaries (2006, background): “However, it is also possible that the compact jet may contribute to the X-ray emission or even dominate it (Markoff, Falcke & Fender 2001; Markoff, Nowak & Wilms 2005).”
Hard X‐ray states and radio emission in GRS 1915+105 (2001, background): “In the Low/Hard state GX 339−4 and Cyg X-1 have a radio spectrum which is slightly inverted or flat (α∼0.14 and ∼ 0 respectively; see Fender 2001 and references therein), and during Low/Hard – High/Soft state transitions the sources probably show discrete ejections of expanding relativistic plasma…”