State transitions and jet formation in black hole binaries

Abstract

The daily monitoring observations of black hole transients with RXTE provided important clues on the conditions of the state transitions, both in terms of spectra and timing. The recent addition of monitoring in the optical-infrared and the radio band significantly extended our knowledge of the relation between the jets and the spectral states. However, there are still very important unanswered questions, most importantly, whether the formation of the jet triggers any change in the spectral and temporal properties of the source. The answer to this question is also intrinsically related to the origin of the hard X-ray emission. In this work, the relation between the jet and the state transitions is discussed, using the data from GX 339−4, 4U 1543−47, H 1743−322, and GRO J1655−40, concentrating on the evolution of spectral and temporal parameters before, during and after the formation of the jet.