Is the plateau state in GRS 1915+105 equivalent to canonical hard states?

Authors
  • M. Nowak
  • J. Wilms
  • A.J. Castro-Tirado
  • J. Rodriguez
  • V. Dhawan
  • E. Harlaftis
Publication date 2010
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume | Issue number 409 | 2
Pages (from-to) 763-776
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy (API)
Abstract
GRS 1915+105 is a very peculiar black hole binary that exhibits accretion-related states that are not observed in any other stellar-mass black hole system. One of these states, however - referred to as the plateau state - may be related to the canonical hard state of black hole X-ray binaries. Both the plateau and hard state are associated with steady, relatively lower X-ray emission and flat/inverted radio emission, that is sometimes resolved into compact, self-absorbed jets. However, while generally black hole binaries quench their jets when the luminosity becomes too high, GRS 1915+105 seems to sustain them despite the fact that it accretes at near- or super-Eddington rates. In order to investigate the relationship between the plateau and the hard state, we fit two multiwavelength observations using a steady-state outflow-dominated model, developed for hard-state black hole binaries. The data sets consist of quasi-simultaneous observations in radio, near-infrared and X-ray bands. Interestingly, we find both significant differences between the two plateau states, as well as between the best-fitting model parameters and those representative of the hard state. We discuss our interpretation of these results, and the possible implications for GRS 1915+105's relationship to canonical black hole candidates.
Document type Article
Note ID: 273
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17339.x
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