Related papers: Orbital and superorbital variability and their cou…
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…
We present results of our detailed theoretical study of the observed orbital modulation of the radio emission in Cyg X-1. The modulation occurs due to free-free absorption in the wind from the companion star varying with the orbital phase,…
We present a broad-band X-ray timing study of the variations in pulse behavior with superorbital cycle in the low-mass X-ray binary Her X-1. This source shows a 35-day superorbital modulation in X-ray flux that is likely caused by…
Currently used model of spherical accretion onto a magnetized rotating neutron star encounters major difficulties in explaining the entry rate of accreting material into the stellar field and spin evolution of long-period X-ray pulsars.…
It has long been known that X-ray and optical/UV variability in active X-ray binaries is sometimes correlated. The expectation has been that this arises from rapid reprocessing of X-rays into longer wavelength photons, and hence that the…
The clumpy stellar wind from the companion star in high mass X-ray binaries causes variable, partial absorption of the emission from the X-ray source. We studied XMM-Newton observations from the 7.22 d-long "Cyg X-1 Hard state Observations…
Black hole binaries exhibit dramatic changes in their X-ray spectral and timing properties over time, providing important clues about the physical processes that occur in these systems. Black holes and black hole candidates are prime…
Accretion disks and nuclear shell burning are present in some symbiotic stars (SS) and probably all supersoft X-ray binaries (SSXBs). Both the disk and burning shell may be involved in the production of dramatic outbursts and, in some…
The variable source OGLE-UCXB-01 is the first OGLE-discovered ultracompact X-ray binary (UCXB). The 12-year long-term OGLE optical photometry of this source shows a period of P= 12.8 min and a fast period decreasing rate Pdot= -9.2E-11 s…
The orbital period evolution of X-ray binaries provides fundamental clues to understanding mechanisms of angular momentum loss from these systems. We present an X-ray eclipse timing analysis of the transient low mass X-ray binary AX…
Spectroscopy of the low mass X-ray binary Ser X-1 using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have revealed a ~2 hr periodic variability that is present in the three strongest emission lines. We tentatively interpret this variability as due to…
Bright and eclipsing, the high-mass X-ray binary Vela X-1 offers a unique opportunity to study accretion onto a neutron star from clumpy winds of O/B stars and to disentangle the complex accretion geometry of these systems. In Chandra-HETGS…
Binary systems with an accreting compact object are a unique chance to investigate the strong, clumpy, line-driven winds of early type supergiants by using the compact object's X-rays to probe the wind structure. We analyze the…
In Supergiant X-ray binaries (SgXB), a compact object captures a fraction of the wind of an O/B supergiant on a close orbit. Proxies exist to evaluate the efficiency of mass and angular momentum accretion but they depend so dramatically on…
Rapid, large amplitude variability at optical to X-ray wavelengths is now seen in an increasing number of Seyfert galaxies and luminous quasars. The variations imply a global change in accretion power, but are too rapid to be communicated…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients are obviously related to persistent Supergiant X-ray Binaries. Any convincing explanation for their behaviour must consistently take into account all types of X-ray sources powered by wind accretion. Here we…
The accretion flow / jet correlation in neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) is far less understood when compared to black hole (BH) LMXBs. In this paper we will present the results of a dense multi-wavelength observational…
The outbursts of black hole X-ray transients can be understood as caused by a limit cycle instability in the accretion disk, similar to dwarf nova outbursts. For adequately low mass overflow rates from the companion star long outburst…
Long-term observations have shown that black hole X-ray binaries exhibit strong, aperiodic variability on time-scales of a few milliseconds to seconds. The observed light curves display various characteristic features like a log-normal…
The optical/ultraviolet (UV) variability of quasars has been discovered to be correlated with other quasar properties, such as luminosity, black hole mass and rest-frame wavelength. However,the origin of variability has been a puzzle so…