Related papers: Strong-gravity effects acting on polarization from…
Accretion onto black holes often proceeds via an accretion disk or a temporary disk-like pattern. Variability features observed in light curves as well as theoretical models of accretion flows suggest that accretion disks tend to be…
We discuss the effects of strong gravity on the polarization properties of a black hole accretion disc. The intrinsic polarization is computed taking into account light scattered on the disc surface and using different approximations. The…
We study polarization from scattering of light on a cloud in radial motion along the symmetry axis of an accretion disk. Radiation drag from the disk and gravitational attraction of the central black hole are taken into account, as well as…
The effects of strong gravity on the polarization of the Compton reflection from an X-ray illuminated accretion disc are studied. The gravitational field of a rotating black hole influences Stokes parameters of the radiation along the…
Accretion onto supermassive black holes produces both the dramatic phenomena associated with active galactic nuclei and the underwhelming displays seen in the Galactic Center and most other nearby galaxies. I review selected aspects of the…
For an accretion disk around a black hole, the strong relativistic effects affect every aspect of the radiation from the disk, including its spectrum, light-curve, and image. This work investigates in detail how the images of a thin disk…
It is commonly assumed that in black hole accretion disks the angular momenta of the disk and the black hole are aligned. However, for a significant fraction of stellar mass black holes and supermassive black holes, the momenta may not be…
We study the modulation of the observed radiation flux and the associated changes in the polarization degree and angle that are predicted by the orbiting spot model for flares from accreting black holes. The geometric shape of the emission…
Since black holes can only accrete sub-Keplerian matter, a companion black hole orbiting on a circular and instantaneously Keplerian orbit around a central, massive black hole in a galactic Centre will loss angular momentum and energy to…
Accretion disks around stellar-mass black holes (BHs) emit radiation peaking in the soft X-rays when the source is in the thermal state. The emerging photons are polarized and, for symmetry reasons, the polarization integrated over the…
Most of the X-ray emission from luminous accreting black holes emerges from within 20 gravitational radii. The effective emission radius is several times smaller if the black hole is rapidly spinning. General Relativistic effects can then…
We present the results of our studies on accretion disks in the proximity of astrophysical black holes. These disks can be of varying degrees of opacity, geometrical shapes, sizes, and volumes. The central compact object is a Schwarzschild…
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 discuss the problem of the formation of a large-scale magnetic field in the accretion disks around black holes, taking into account the non-uniform vertical structure of the disk. The high electrical conductivity of the outer layers of…
Hot spots residing on the surface of an accretion disc have been considered as a model of short-term variability of active galactic nuclei. In this paper we apply the theory of random point processes to model the observed signal from an…
Fluid discs and tori around black holes are discussed within different approaches and with the emphasis on the role of disc gravity. First reviewed are the prospects of investigating the gravitational field of a black hole--disc system by…
I outline the theory of accretion onto black holes, and its application to observed phenomena such as X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts. The dynamics as well as radiative signatures of…
The X-ray polarimetric observing window re-opening is shedding new light on our current understanding of compact accreting sources. This is true, in particular, for stellar-mass black hole sources observed in the thermally-dominated state,…
The particles of a dark matter due to gravitational interaction deviate from straight trajectories in the vicinity of a massive body. This causes their density to become inhomogeneous. The developed density contrast causes a gravitation…
This paper reviews the effects of general relativity in an X-ray spectrum reflected from a cold matter accreting onto a black hole. The spectrum consists of the iron K$\alpha$ line and the Compton reflection. We sketch the overall picture…