Related papers: Hysteresis of spectral evolution in the soft state…

Black hole X-ray binaries show signs of non-thermal emission in the optical/near-infrared range. We analyze the optical/near-infrared SMARTS data on GX339$-$4 over the 2002--2011 period. Using the soft state data, we estimate the…

The brightest Ultra-Luminous X-ray source (ULX), ESO 243-49 HLX-1, with a 0.2 - 10 keV X-ray luminosity of up to 10^42 erg s^-1, provides the strongest evidence to date for the existence of intermediate mass black holes. Although small…

With the availability of the large database of black-hole transients from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, the observed phenomenology has become very complex. The original classification of the properties of these systems in a series of…

The dramatic changes seen in the X-ray spectral and timing properties of accreting black hole candidates (BHCs) provide important clues about the accretion and jet formation processes that occur in these systems. Dividing the different…

During the outbursts of black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs), their accretion flows transition through several states. The source luminosity rises in the hard state, dominated by non-thermal emission, before transitioning to the…

We have analysed X-ray outbursts from several Galactic black hole (GBH) transients, as seen by the ASM on board RXTE. We have used the best estimates of distance and black hole mass to find their luminosity (scaled to the Eddington limit),…

We systematically analyze all the available X-ray spectra of disc accreting neutron stars (atolls and millisecond pulsars) from the RXTE database. We show that while these all have similar spectral evolution as a function of mass accretion…

Understanding the dynamics behind black hole state transitions and the changes they reflect in outbursts has become long-standing problem. The X-ray reflection spectrum describes the interaction between the hard X-ray source (the power-law…

We have analyzed observations of the black hole transient {GX 339$-$4} made with the {\it Rossi} X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO). We have…

We investigate systematically four outbursts of black hole system GX 339-4 observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in both spectral and timing domains and find that these outbursts have some common properties although they…

We have carried out detailed analysis on the black hole candidate (BHC) X- ray transient Swift J1753.5-0127 observed by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) during its outburst in 2005 {2006. The spectral analysis shows that the emissions…

The X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 is a highly variable X-ray source that displays a wide range of observed spectral states. One of the main states is significantly harder than the others, peaking at ~ 20 keV, with only a weak low-energy…

Soft and hard spectral states of X-ray transient sources reflect two modes of accretion, accretion via a geometrically thin, optically thick disk or an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The luminosity at transition between these…

We present Swift broadband observations of the recently discovered black hole candidate, X-ray transient, XTE J1752-223, obtained over the period of outburst from October 2009 to June 2010. From Swift-UVOT data we confirm the presence of an…

Context. The disc instability model (DIM) successfully explains why many accreting compact binary systems exhibit outbursts, during which their luminosity increases by orders of magnitude. The DIM correctly predicts which systems should be…

We report on INTEGRAL observations of the bright black-hole transient GX 339-4 performed during the period August-September 2004. Our data cover three different spectral states, namely Hard/Intermediate State, Soft/Intermediate State and…

Recent work on the modes of accretion onto black holes (BHs) in Soft X-Ray Transients (SXTs) is reviewed, with an emphasis on uncertainties affecting models of accretion during quiescence (inner hot flow, outer thin disk). Various…

The luminous X-ray binary and black-hole candidate LMC X-1 has been observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) to search for quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO), previously reported in its high state. The source was observed monthly…

In the canonical understanding of transient X-ray sources the accretion during quiescence occurs via a geometrically thin disk in the outer part and via an advection-dominated hot coronal flow/ADAF in the inner part. The inner part…

Of all known persistent stellar-mass black hole candidates, only LMC X-1 and LMC X-3 consistently show spectra that are dominated by a soft, thermal component. We present results from long (170ksec) Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)…