Related papers: Noise components from black-hole binaries in our g…
In this chapter I will review the status of our phenomenological understanding of the relation between accretion and outflows in accreting black hole systems. This understanding arises primarily from observing the relation between X-ray and…
The majority of known Galactic black holes reside in low-mass X-ray binaries. They are rare and fascinating objects, providing unique information on strong gravity, accretion disc physics, and stellar and binary evolution. There is no doubt…
Recent measurements of stellar orbits provide compelling evidence that the compact radio source Sagittarius A* at the Galactic Centre is a 3.6-million-solar-mass black hole. Sgr A* is remarkably faint in all wavebands other than the radio…
The accretion/ejection coupling in accreting black hole binaries has been described by empirical relations between the X-ray/radio and X-ray/optical-infrared luminosities. These correlations were initially supposed to be universal. However,…
Stellar mass black hole binaries have individual masses between 10-80 solar masses. These systems may emit gravitational waves at frequencies detectable at Megaparsec distances by space-based gravitational wave observatories. In a previous…
The high energy radiation emitted by black hole X-ray binaries originates in an accretion disk, hence the variability of the lightcurves mirrors the dynamics of the disc. We study the time evolution of the emitted flux in order to find…
How black holes accrete surrounding matter is a fundamental, yet unsolved question in astrophysics. It is generally believed that matter is absorbed into black holes via accretion disks, the state of which depends primarily on the…
Mergers of black-hole binaries are expected to release large amounts of energy in the form of gravitational radiation. However, binary evolution models predict merger rates too low to be of observational interest. In this paper we explore…
The last two decades have seen a great improvement in our understand- ing of the complex phenomenology observed in transient black-hole binary systems, especially thanks to the activity of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer satellite, com-…
We study low-mass binary X-ray sources involving stellar mass black holes within massive gravity. Regarding the accretion disk, we adopt the standard model for an optically thick, cool, and geometrically thin disk by Shakura-Sunyaev. For…
The complex spectral and timing properties of the high-energy emission from the accretion flow in black-hole binaries, together with their strong connection to the ejection of powerful relativistic jets from the system, can be simplified…
The observations and theory of the exciting new class of galactic black hole X-ray transients is reviewed. Seven of these systems have measured mass functions or mass estimates in excess of stable neutron stars, making them excellent black…
Current astrophysical research suggests that the most persistently luminous objects in the Universe are powered by the flow of matter through accretion disks onto black holes. Accretion disk systems are observed to emit copious radiation…
Active galactic nuclei and quasars are thought to be scaled up versions of Galactic black hole binaries, powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes with masses of 10^6-10^9 M_Sun, as opposed to the ~10 M_Sun in binaries. One example…
Stars with an initial mass more than ~25 Msun are thought to ultimately become black holes. Then stellar-mass black holes should be ubiquitous but fewer than 20 have been found in our Galaxy to date, all of which have been found through…
The state of the searches for isolated black holes, non-accreting black holes in binary systems and, finally, the accreting black holes in the X-ray binaries is presented. The third category is, by far, the most important source of…
I briefly outline the state-paradigm that has emerged from the study of black-hole binaries with RossiXTE. This is the starting point of a number of studies that address the connection between accretion and jet ejection and the physical…
The geometry of black hole spacetimes can be probed with exquisite precision in the gravitational-wave window, and possibly also in the optical regime. We study the accretion of bright spots -- objects which emit strongly in the optical or…
We propose a simple and unambiguous way to deduce the parameters of black holes which may reside in AGNs and some types of X-ray binaries. The black-hole mass and angular momentum are determined in physical units. The method is applicable…
The three X-ray states of active accretion in black-hole binaries have been re-defined to focus attention on different physical elements that may contribute radiation: the accretion disk, a jet, and a compact and radio-quiet corona.…