Systematic spectral analysis of GX 339-4: Influence of Galactic background and reflection models: Systematic spectral analysis of GX 339-4: Influence of Galactic background and reflection models

Black hole X-ray binaries display large outbursts, during which their properties are strongly variable. We develop a sys¬tematic spectral analysis of the 3–40 keV RXTE/PCA data in order to study the evolution of these systems and apply it to GX 339-4. Using the low count rate observations, we provide a precise model of the Galactic background at GX 339-4's location and discuss its possible impact on the source spectral parameters. At higher fluxes, the use of a Gaussian line to model the reflection component can lead to the detection of a high-temperature disk, in particular in the high-hard state. We demonstrate that this component is an artifact arising from an incomplete modeling of the reflection spectrum. (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)