X-Ray, optical, and infrared observations of GX 339-4 during its 2011 decay

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/753/1/55

We report multiwavelength observations of the black hole transient GX 339-4 during its outburst decay in 2011 using the data from RXTE, Swift, and SMARTS. Based on the X-ray spectral, temporal, and optical and infrared (OIR) properties, the source evolved from the soft intermediate to the hard state. Twelve days after the start of the transition toward the hard state, a rebrightening was observed simultaneously in the optical and the infrared bands. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were created from observations at the start, and close to the peak of the rebrightening. The excess OIR emission above the smooth exponential decay yields flat spectral slopes for these SEDs. Assuming that the excess is from a compact jet, we discuss the possible locations of the spectral break that mark the transition from optically thick to optically thin synchrotron components. Only during the rising part of the rebrightening, we detected fluctuations with the binary period of the system. We discuss a scenario that includes irradiation of the disk in the intermediate state, irradiation of the secondary star during OIR rise, and jet emission dominating during the peak to explain the entire evolution of the OIR light curve.