Wednesday Colloquium



23.07.2014

"Jet-dominated quiescent state in black hole X-ray binaries "

Fu-Guo Xie (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory)

Quiescent state (X-ray luminosity <10^34 ergs) is the dominate state most of black hole X-ray transients (BHXTs) stays, and its properties remain unclear, mainly because of low-luminosity and poor data quantity. We demonstrate that, the simultaneous multi-wavelength (including radio, optical, ultraviolet and X-ray bands) spectrum of V404 Cyg in its bright quiescent state can be well described by the radiation from the companion star and more importantly, the compact jet. Neither the outer thin disc nor the inner hot accretion flow is important in the total spectrum. Together with recent findings, i.e. the power-law X-ray spectrum and the non-variable X-ray spectral shape (or constant photon index) in contrast to the dramatic change in the X-ray luminosity, we argue the quiescent state spectrum of BHXTs is actually jet-dominated. Additional observational properties consistent with this jet model are also discussed as supporting evidences.