Failed-Transition outbursts in Black hole low-mass X-ray binaries

TL;DR

This study analyzes failed-transition outbursts in black hole low-mass X-ray binaries, revealing their frequency, similarities to full outbursts, and potential optical/infrared precursors, suggesting a common physical origin.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive comparison of full and failed outbursts, showing they share initial X-ray characteristics and identifying optical/IR brightness as a potential precursor.

Findings

Failed-Transition outbursts are common, constituting about 33% of all outbursts.

FT and full outbursts are indistinguishable in early X-ray data, indicating a shared physical process.

Optical/IR brightness before outbursts may predict the type of outburst to occur.

Abstract

Black hole low-mass X-ray binaries (BH LMXBs) evolve in a similar way during outburst. Based on the X-ray spectrum and variability, this evolution can be divided into three canonical states: low/hard, intermediate and high/soft state. BH LMXBs evolve from the low/hard to the high/soft state through the intermediate state in some outbursts (here called "full outbursts"). However, in other cases, BH LMXBs undergo outbursts in which the source never reaches the high/soft state, here called "Failed-Transition outburst" (FT outbursts). From a sample of 56 BH LMXBs undergoing 128 outbursts, we find that $\sim$36% of these BH LMXBs experienced at least one FT outburst, and that FT outbursts represent $\sim$33% of the outbursts of the sample, showing that these are common events. We compare all the available X-ray data of full and FT outbursts of BH LMXBs from RXTE/PCA, Swift/BAT and MAXI and find that FT and full outbursts cannot be distinguished from their X-ray light curves, HIDs or X-ray variability during the initial 10-60 days after the outburst onset. This suggests that both types of outbursts are driven by the same physical process. We also compare the optical and infrared (O/IR) data of FT and full outbursts of GX 339-4. We found that this system is generally brighter in O/IR bands before an FT outburst, suggesting that the O/IR flux points to the physical process that later leads to a full or an FT outburst. We discuss our results in the context of models that describe the onset and evolution of outbursts in accreting X-ray binaries.