Bibcode
Gandhi, P.; Dhillon, V. S.; Durant, M.; Fabian, A. C.; Kubota, A.; Makishima, K.; Malzac, J.; Marsh, T. R.; Miller, J. M.; Shahbaz, T.; Spruit, H. C.; Casella, P.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 407, Issue 4, pp. 2166-2192.
Advertised on:
10
2010
Citations
118
Refereed citations
91
Description
A rapid timing analysis of Very Large Telescope (VLT)/ULTRACAM (optical)
and RXTE (X-ray) observations of the Galactic black hole binary GX339-4
in the low/hard, post-outburst state of 2007 June is presented. The
optical light curves in the r',g' and u' filters show slow (~20s)
quasi-periodic variability. Upon this is superposed fast flaring
activity on times approaching the best time resolution probed (~50ms in
r' and g') and with maximum strengths of more than twice the local mean.
Power spectral analysis over ~0.004-10Hz is presented, and shows that
although the average optical variability amplitude is lower than that in
X-rays, the peak variability power emerges at a higher Fourier frequency
in the optical. Energetically, we measure a large optical versus X-ray
flux ratio, higher than that seen on previous occasions when the source
was fully jet dominated. Such a large ratio cannot be easily explained
with a disc alone. Studying the optical-X-ray cross-spectrum in Fourier
space shows a markedly different behaviour above and below ~0.2Hz. The
peak of the coherence function above this threshold is associated with a
short optical time lag with respect to X-rays, also seen as the dominant
feature in the time-domain cross-correlation at ~150ms. The rms energy
spectrum of these fast variations is best described by distinct physical
components over the optical and X-ray regimes, and also suggests a
maximal irradiated disc fraction of 20 per cent around 5000Å. If
the constant time delay is due to propagation of fluctuations to (or
within) the jet, this is the clearest optical evidence to date of the
location of this component. The low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation
is seen in the optical but not in X-rays, and is associated with a low
coherence. Evidence of reprocessing emerges at the lowest Fourier
frequencies, with optical lags at ~10s and strong coherence in the blue
u' filter. Consistent with this, simultaneous optical spectroscopy also
shows the Bowen fluorescence blend, though its emission location is
unclear. However, canonical disc reprocessing cannot dominate the
optical power easily, nor explain the fast variability.
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