X-ray States of Black-Hole Binaries and Implications for the Mechanism of Steady Jets

Abstract

The three X-ray states of active accretion in black-hole binaries have been re-defined to focus attention on different physical elements that may contribute radiation: the accretion disk, a jet, and a compact and radio-quiet corona. Examples of state evolution are displayed on a time line, and on a hardness-intensity diagram. The latter format allows a synthesis of these states with the ``unified model for black hole binary jets'' by Fender, Belloni, & Gallo (2004). As suggested by Corbel (2004), the ``jet line'' appears to coincide with the hard limit of the SPL state. In GX339-4, the broad power peaks in the PDS are confined to intermediate and hard states, where a jet is present. This suggests that these Fourier components are temporal signatures of non-thermal processes related to the jet mechanism, rather than properties inherent to a standard accretion disk.