The Disk Awakens: IXPE's Sequel Observation of GS 1354-64 Suggests Changing-Look Behavior in the Steep-Power-Law State
After decades of only failed transitions, the black hole X-ray binary GS 1354-64 has undergone a complete outburst again. We present its first X-ray polarimetric investigation in the fading steep-power-law (SPL) state, following an earlier intermediate-state IXPE campaign during the same outburst. The 2-8 keV emission has a polarization degree (PD) of 2.3 +/- 0.2% and polarization angle (PA) of 5 +/- 3 degrees. Compared with the intermediate state, where PD=3.9 +0.3/-0.2% and PA=-2 +/-2 degrees, the broadband PD is lower while the PA remains consistent. The intermediate-state type-C quasi-periodic oscillation state has also disappeared, marking a major reconfiguration of the accretion flow. Assuming a distance of 7 kpc, the observed the intensity drop from 2.5% to 1.6% of the Eddington luminosity over 10.2 days is punctuated by several broad hour-to-day-scale troughs, tracing two distinct tracks in hardness-intensity space. Simultaneous spectroscopy shows the troughs' spectra contains a cooler disk with smaller apparent normalization, while no change in the Compton component's photon index or normalization is required between tracks. The model-independent analysis identifies a steeper increase in PD with energy outside the troughs, yielding G_E=1.5 +/- 0.2%/keV, compared with G_E=0.7 +0.3/-0.5%/keV during the troughs. Their duration and spectropolarimetric morphology distinguish the troughs from traditional short absorption dips seen in X-ray binaries, providing a possible stellar-mass analog of the recurrent accretion changes that drive "changing-look" behavior in supermassive black hole systems.
Authors
- Michal Dovčiak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0079-1239)
- Herman L. Marshall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6492-1293)
- Adam Ingram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5311-9078)
- Lorenzo Marra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4644-194X)
- Sudeb Ranjan Datta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5975-1026)
- Fiamma Capitanio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6384-3027)
- Jakub Podgorný (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5418-291X)
- Megan Masterson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4127-0739)
- Romana Mikušincová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7374-843X)
- Edward Nathan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9633-9193)
- Guglielmo Mastroserio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4216-7936)
- James F. Steiner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5872-6061)
- Alexandra Veledina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5767-7253)
- Ö. Koenig
- Swati Ravi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2381-4184)
- Joey Neilsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8247-786X)
- Honghui Liu
- Elise Egron
- P. O. Petrucci
- Philip Kaaret
- Javier A. Garcia
- Yuexin Zhang
- Jiri Svoboda
Publication Details
- Journal
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Published
- 2026-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2610.39384
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
- Type
- preprint