A weak compact jet in a soft state of Cygnus X-1

TL;DR

This study provides evidence for a weak, unresolved jet in Cygnus X-1 during a soft X-ray state, challenging the typical association of jets with hard states and revealing subtle jet activity during state transitions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of a weak, unresolved jet during a soft state in Cygnus X-1 using high-resolution radio and X-ray observations, a novel finding in black hole X-ray binaries.

Findings

Detected residual jet-related position scatter during state transition

No evidence of extended knots or shocks in the jet

Jet activity persists at a low level during soft states

Abstract

We present evidence for the presence of a weak compact jet during a soft X-ray state of Cygnus X-1. Very-high-resolution radio observations were taken with the VLBA, EVN and MERLIN during a hard-to-soft spectral state change, showing the hard state jet to be suppressed by a factor of about 3-5 in radio flux and unresolved to direct imaging observations (i.e. < 1 mas at 4 cm). High time-resolution X-ray observations with the RXTE-PCA were also taken during the radio monitoring period, showing the source to make the transition from the hard state to a softer state (via an intermediate state), although the source may never have reached the canonical soft state. Using astrometric VLBI analysis and removing proper motion, parallax and orbital motion signatures, the residual positions show a scatter of ~0.2 mas (at 4 cm) and ~3 mas (at 13 cm) along the position angle of the known jet axis; these residuals suggest there is a weak unresolved outflow, with varying size or opacity, during intermediate and soft X-ray states. Furthermore, no evidence was found for extended knots or shocks forming within the jet during the state transition, suggesting the change in outflow rate may not be sufficiently high to produce superluminal knots.