Related papers: Observational characteristics of accretion onto bl…
Accretion onto black holes is one of the most efficient energy source in the Universe. Black hole accretion powers some of the most luminous objects in the universe, including quasars, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events,…
The X-ray Background (XRB) probably originates from the integrated X-ray emission of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Modelling of its flat spectrum implies considerable absorption in most AGN. Compton down-scattering means that sources in…
Hard X-ray emission is ubiquitous in accreting black holes, both in Galactic binary systems and in Active Galactic Nuclei. I review the different spectra which can be seen from these systems, and possible ways of producing this emission.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Spectral features can arise by reflection of coronal X-rays on a black hole accretion disc. The resulting profile bears various imprints of strong gravitational field acting on the light emitting gas. The observed shape of the reflection…
Observed spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and luminous X-ray binaries in our Galaxy suggest that both hot (~10^9 K) and cold (~10^6 K) plasma components exist close to the central accreting black hole. Hard X-ray component of the…
Most of the luminosity of accreting black hole is emitted in the X-ray band. This radiation is believed to emerge, through inverse Compton process, from a hot (Te ~ 10^8 -10^9 K) optically thin (Thomson optical depth ~ 1) plasma probably…
Radiation emitted from an accretion disk around a massive black hole is a widely discussed model for the UV/soft X-ray excess emission observed in the spectra of many AGN. A self-consistent calculation of the structure and the emerging…
X-ray binaries, as bright local sources with short variability timescales for a wide range of accretion processes, represent ideal targets for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. In this chapter, we present a high-resolution X-ray spectral…
The X-ray emission from accreting black hole (BH) systems displays strong variability. Short reverberation lags are expected between the primary hard X-ray continuum and the reprocessed disc emission. These lags depend on light-travel…
We discuss the emergent spectra from accreting black holes, considering in particular the case where the accretion is characterized by relativistic bulk motion. We suggest that such accretion is likely to occur in a wide variety of black…
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…
Recent advances in the X-ray and soft gamma-ray observations of accreting black holes and microquasars, in particular, are reviewed. The radiative processes responsible for the emission are discussed briefly. The hybrid thermal/nonthermal…
The models that seek to explain the reflection spectrum in black hole binaries usually invoke a point-like primary source of hard X-rays. This source illuminates the accretion disk and gives rise to the discrete (lines) and…
The nature of the broad-band spectra of supermassive accreting black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is still unknown. The hard X-ray spectra of Seyferts as well as of Galactic stellar-mass black holes (GBHs) are well represented by…
The origin of dramatically different electron distributions responsible for Comptonization in black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) in their various states is discussed. We solve the coupled kinetic equations for photons and electrons without…
Black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) show rich phenomenology in the spectral and timing properties. We collected the spectral data of 20 BHXBs from the literature across different spectral states. The spectral properties are studied in the…