Related papers: New Insights into X-ray Binaries
High-mass X-ray binaries are fundamental in the study of stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis, structure and evolution of galaxies and accretion processes. Hard X-rays observations by INTEGRAL and Swift have broad- ened significantly our…
Recent discoveries have confirmed the existence of a large population of X-ray sources fuelled by accretion from the stellar wind of an OB supergiant. Such systems are powerful laboratories to study many aspects of astrophysics. Over the…
X-ray emission is a common feature of all varieties of isolated neutron stars (INS) and, thanks to the advent of sensitive instruments with good spectroscopic, timing, and imaging capabilities, X-ray observations have become an essential…
Recent X-ray observations have detected a class of very faint X-ray transients in the Galaxy which probably reveal a previously unrecognised type of accretion on to neutron stars or black holes. We show that these systems cannot have…
We review the nuclear astrophysics aspects of accreting neutron stars in X-ray binaries. We summarize open astrophysical questions in light of recent observations and their relation to the underlying nuclear physics. Recent progress in the…
The INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a major population of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries in our Galaxy, revolutionizing our understanding of binary systems and their evolution. This population, constituted of a compact object orbiting…
Accreting black holes are unique tools to understand the physics under extreme gravity. While black hole X-ray binaries differ vastly in mass from AGN, their accretion and ejection flows are assumed to be essentially similar. Black hole…
We model the X-rays reprocessed by an accretion disk in a fiducial low-mass X-ray binary system with a neutron star primary. An atmosphere, or the intermediate region between the optically thick disk and a Compton-temperature corona, is…
The thesis studies the X-ray emission from the Galactic compact objects (accreting neutron stars and black holes), using mainly the RXTE data. In particular following results have been included: spectral evolution of X-ray transients GRS…
X-ray astronomy is closely related to the study of black hole sources. The discovery that some unseen objects, more massive than any degenerate star, emit huge amounts of X-rays helped accept the concept that back holes are present in X-ray…
Simultaneous multiwavelength studies of X-ray binaries have been remarkably successful and resulted in improved physical constraints, a new understanding of the dependence of mass accretion rate on X-ray state, as well as insights on the…
The coalescence of close binary systems with two compact objects (neutron stars and black holes) are considered to be promising sources of gravitational waves for the currently built laser interferometers. Here, I review the current…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) represent a class of binary systems that are more luminous than any black hole in our Galaxy. The nature of these objects remained unclear for a long time. The most popular models for the ULXs involve…
Today's sensitive, high-resolution X-ray observations allow the study of populations of X-ray sources, in the luminosity range of Galactic X-ray binaries, in galaxies as distant as 20-30 Mpc. The traditional astronomical tools of…
X-ray binary systems are very popular objects for astrophysical investigations. Compact objects in these systems are neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes. Neutron stars and white dwarfs can have intrinsic magnetic fields. There is…
The spectrum of the hard X-ray background records the history of accretion processes integrated over the cosmic time. Several observational and theoretical evidences indicate that a significant fraction of the energy density is obscured by…
The properties of X-ray emission from accreting black holes are reviewed. The contemporary observational picture and current status of theoretical understanding of accretion and formation of X-ray radiation in the vicinity of the compact…
All stellar mass black holes have hitherto been identified by X-rays emitted by gas that is accreting onto the black hole from a companion star. These systems are all binaries with black holes below 30 M$_{\odot}$$^{1-4}$. Theory predicts,…
We review the properties of 40 X-ray binaries that contain either a confirmed black hole or a black hole candidate. After discussing briefly the significance of these Galactic black holes to both astronomy and physics, we present basic data…
In this review, I summarize the main X-ray/hard X-ray properties of the accretion flows around black holes and neutron stars based on recent broad-band spectral and timing observations performed by the BeppoSAX and Rossi X-ray Timing…