State transitions of GX 339-4 during its outburst rising phase

We investigate systematically four outbursts of black hole system GX 339-4 observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in both spectral and timing domains and find that these outbursts have some common properties, although they experience different 'q' tracks in the hardness-intensity diagram (HID). While the spectral indices are around 1.5 in the low/hard state (LHS) and 2.4 in the soft intermediate state (SIMS) and high/soft state (HSS), the spectral parameters of thermal, non-thermal, and reflection components vary significantly in transitions from the LHS to HIMS. Also, the quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) shows a peculiar behaviour during the state transition between the LHS and HIMS: the RMS drop of the type C fundamental QPO is accompanied by the appearance of the second harmonic. Interestingly, the QPO RMS is found to have a similar linear relationship with the non-thermal fraction of emission in different outbursts. These findings provide more clues to aid our understanding of the outbursts of a black hole X-ray binary system.

Automated summary

By systematically investigating four outbursts of the black hole system GX 339-4 observed by RXTE, common properties were identified in both spectral and timing domains, despite different 'q' tracks in the hardness-intensity diagram. Spectral indices were around 1.5 in LHS and 2.4 in SIMS and HSS, with significant variations in spectral parameters during transitions from LHS to HIMS. Additionally, peculiar behavior was observed in QPO during state transitions between LHS and HIMS, with the appearance of the second harmonic accompanying the RMS drop of the type C fundamental QPO.