A UV flux drop preceding the X-ray hard-to-soft state transition during the 2010 outburst of GX 339-4

Abstract

The black hole X-ray transient GX 339$-$4 was observed with the {\it Swift} satellite across the hard-to-soft state transition during its 2010 outburst. The ultraviolet (UV) flux measured with the filter UVW2 of the {\it Swift}/UVOT started to decrease nearly 10 days before the drop in the hard X-ray flux when the hard-to-soft state transition started. The UV flux $F_\mathrm{UV}$ correlated with the X-ray flux $F_\mathrm{X}$ as $F_\mathrm{UV}\propto F_\mathrm{X}^{0.50\pm0.04}$ before the drop in the UV flux. During the UV drop lasting about 16 days, the X-ray flux in 0.4--10 keV was increasing. The drop in the UV flux indicates that the jet started to quench 10 days before the hard-to-soft state transition seen in X-rays, which is unexpected.