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X-ray emission from AGN is believed to be produced via Comptonization of optical/UV seed photons emitted by the accretion disk, up-scattered by hot electrons in a corona surrounding the black hole. A critical compactness vs. temperature…
We study trajectories of test particles around a luminous, static, spherically symmetric neutron star, under the combined influence of gravity and radiation. In general relativity, for Schwarzschild spacetime, an equilibrium sphere (the…
To date, detailed core-collapse supernova simulations have not succeeded in elucidating the explosion mechanism. But whatever the mechanism turns out to be, there will be a neutrino-heated outflow between the hot, newly-born neutron star…
We calculate the neutrino energy emission rate due to singlet-state pairing of protons in the neutron star cores taking into account the relativistic correction to the non-relativistic rate. The non-relativistic rate is numerically small,…
We propose a model for the source of the X-ray background (XRB) in which low luminosity active nuclei (L<10^43 erg/s) are obscured by nuclear starbursts within the inner 100pc. The obscuring material covers most of the sky as seen from the…
Observations of thermal radiation from neutron stars allow one to measure the surface temperatures and confront them with cooling scenarios. Detection of gravitationally redshifted spectral lines can yield the mass-to-radius ratio. In the…
Galactic binary systems that contain a black hole candidate emit hard X-rays in their low luminosity mode. We show that this emission can be understood as due to the Compton scattering of photons from the companion star and/or the accretion…
The high energy X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) radiation fields of exoplanet host stars play a crucial role in controlling the atmospheric conditions and the potential habitability of exoplanets. Major surveys of the X-ray/UV emissions from…
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…
The nearby accreting neutron star binary Sco X-1 is the closest example of ongoing relativistic jet production at high Eddington ratios. Previous radio studies have revealed that alongside mildly relativistic, radio-emitting ejecta, there…
When a star undergoes core collapse, a vast amount of energy is released in a ~10 s long burst of neutrinos of all species. Inverse beta decay in the star's hydrogen envelope causes an electromagnetic cascade which ultimately results in a…
We identify combinations of observables for rotating neutron stars that can one day bear on the question of whether there can be first order phase transitions in the neutron matter therein. We employ the Hartle-Thorne theory for stationary,…
Ram pressure stripping can remove hot and cold gas from galaxies in the intracluster medium (ICM), as shown by observations of X-ray and HI galaxy wakes in nearby clusters of galaxies. However, ram pressure stripping, including…
Gravitational waves are tiny disturbances in space-time and are a fundamental, although not yet directly confirmed, prediction of General Relativity. Rapidly rotating neutron stars are one of the possible sources of gravitational radiation…
(Abridged) We present two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of slowly rotating gas that is under the influence of the gravity of a super massive black hole and is irradiated by a thin UV accretion disc and a spherical X-ray corona. We…
Elliptical galaxies are generally luminous sources of X-ray radiation, and contain large amounts of hot, interstellar gas. In the brighter X-ray galaxies, the inferred masses of hot gas are consistent with those expected given the present…
We report on a detailed study of the spectral and temporal properties of the neutron star low mass X-ray binary SLX 1737-282, which is located only ~1degr away from Sgr A. The system is expected to have a short orbital period, even within…
Observations of short gamma-ray bursts indicate ongoing energy injection following the prompt emission, with the most likely candidate being the birth of a rapidly rotating, highly magnetised neutron star. We utilise X-ray observations of…
We show that gravitational radiation drives an instability in hot young rapidly rotating neutron stars. This instability occurs primarily in the l=2 r-mode and will carry away most of the angular momentum of a rapidly rotating star by…
The observation of energetic X-ray emission from black holes, inconsistent with thermal emission from an accretion disk, has long indicated the presence of a "corona" around these objects. However, our knowledge of the geometry,…