RXTE monitoring of LMC X-3: Recurrent hard states

The black hole candidate LMC X-3 varies by a factor of four on a timescale of either 200 or 100 days (Cowley et al., 1991). We have monitored LMC X-3 with RXTE in three to four week intervals starting in December 1996, obtaining a large observational database that sheds light on the nature of the long term X-ray variability in this source. In this paper we present the results from this monitoring campaign, focusing on evidence of recurring hard states in this canonical soft state black hole candidate.