Related papers: Black Holes at Work
The central regions of galaxies show the presence of massive black holes and/or dense stellar systems. The question about their modes of formation is still under debate. A likely explanation of the formation of the central dense stellar…
The spin of a black hole retains the memory of how the black hole grew, and can be a potent source of energy for powering relativistic jets. To understand the diagnostic power and astrophysical significance of black hole spin, however, we…
We review the likely population, observational properties, and broad implications of stellar-mass black holes and ultraluminous x-ray sources. We focus on the clear empirical rules connecting accretion and outflow that have been established…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays create black holes in scenarios with extra dimensions and TeV-scale gravity. In particular, cosmic neutrinos will produce black holes deep in the atmosphere, initiating quasi-horizontal showers far above the…
A succinct summary is given of the problem of reconciling observation of black hole-like objects with quantum mechanics. If quantum black holes behave like subsystems, and also decay, their information must be transferred to their…
Black holes merge together different field of physics. From General Relativity over thermodynamics and quantum field theory, they do now also reach into the regime of particle and collider physics. In the presence of additional compactified…
Black holes are extreme outcomes of General Relativity, and can form through a variety of ways, including gravitational collapse of massive stars, or quantum fluctuations in the early universe. Here, we ask the question of whether they can…
The dynamics of black hole spacetimes play a crucial role in astrophysics, high energy physics and fundamental physics. In this thesis I have investigated the dynamics of black holes in generic spacetimes by extending established numerical…
Considerable evidence suggests that supermassive black holes reside at the centers of massive galactic bulges. At a lower galactic mass range, many dwarf galaxies contain extremely compact nuclei that structurally resemble massive globular…
Black holes can be produced in collapse of small-scale dark matter structures, which can happen at any time from the early to present-day universe. Microstructure black holes (MSBHs) can have a wide range of masses. Small MSBHs evaporate…
It is shown that there exists a range of parameters in which gravitational collapse with a spherically symmetric massive scalar field can be treated as if it were collapsing dust. This implies a criterion for the formation of black holes…
Accreting black holes can release enormous amounts of energy to their surroundings, in various forms. Such feedback may profoundly influence a black hole's environment. After briefly reviewing the possible types of feedback, I focus on the…
As star-forming galaxies approach or exceed a stellar mass around $10^{11} M_\odot$, they are increasingly likely to be quenched in a process generically called mass quenching. Central galaxies, which are quenched via mass rather than…
If a black hole has a low spin value, it must double its mass to reach a high spin parameter. Although this is easily accomplished through mergers or accretion in the case of supermassive black holes in galactic centers, it is impossible…
Classical black holes are solutions of the field equations of General Relativity. Many astronomical observations suggest that black holes really exist in nature. However, an unambiguous proof for their existence is still lacking. Neither…
We discuss and compare definitions of a black hole based on the existence of event and apparent horizons. In this connection we present a non-singular model of a black hole with a closed apparent horizon and discuss its properties. We…
What is going on (as of August 2008) at the interface between theoretical general relativity, string-inspired models, and observational astrophysics? Quite a lot. In this mini-survey I will make a personal choice and focus on four specific…
Obscured or narrow-line active galaxies offer an unobstructed view of the quasar environment in the presence of a luminous and vigorously accreting black hole. We exploit the large new sample of optically selected luminous narrow-line…
The masses of supermassive black holes are known to correlate with the properties of the bulge components of their host galaxies. In contrast, they appear not to correlate with galaxy disks. Disk-grown pseudobulges are intermediate in…
The distortion of the spacetime structure in the surroundings of black holes affects the trajectories of light rays. As a consequence, black holes can act as gravitational lenses. Observations of type Ia supernovas, show that our Universe…