Related papers: Testing the Kerr Nature of Black Hole Candidates u…
The iron K$\alpha$ line commonly observed in the X-ray spectrum of black hole candidates is produced by X-ray fluorescence of the inner accretion disk. This line can potentially be quite a powerful tool to probe the spacetime geometry…
The spacetime geometry around astrophysical black holes is supposed to be well approximated by the Kerr metric, but deviations from the Kerr solution are predicted in a number of scenarios involving new physics. Broad iron K$\alpha$ lines…
Astrophysical black hole candidates are thought to be the Kerr black holes predicted by General Relativity, but there is not yet clear evidence that the geometry of the space-time around these objects is really described by the Kerr metric.…
Recent X-ray observations of microquasars and Seyfert galaxies reveal broad emission lines in their spectra, which can arise in the innermost parts of accretion disks. Simulations indicate that at low inclination angle the line is measured…
The nature of the super-massive black hole candidates in galactic nuclei can be tested by analyzing the profile of the K$\alpha$ iron line observed in their X-ray spectrum. In this paper, we consider the possibility that the spacetime in…
The iron K$\alpha$ line commonly observed in the X-ray spectrum of both stellar-mass and supermassive black hole candidates is produced by the illumination of a cold accretion disk by a hot corona. In this framework, the activation of a new…
In a recent paper [Ghasemi-Nodehi & Bambi, EPJC 76 (2016) 290], we have proposed a new parametrization for testing the Kerr nature of astrophysical black hole candidates. In the present work, we study the possibility of constraining the…
It has been proposed that the supermassive black hole candidates at the centers of galaxies might be wormholes formed in the early Universe and connecting our Universe with other sister Universes. The analysis of the profile of the…
Under the assumption that astrophysical black hole candidates are the Kerr black holes of general relativity, the continuum-fitting method and the analysis of the K$\alpha$ iron line are today the only available techniques capable of…
It is thought that the spacetime geometry around black hole candidates is described by the Kerr solution, but an observational confirmation is still missing. Today, the continuum-fitting method and the analysis of the iron K$\alpha$ line…
Broad, skewed iron K$\alpha$ emission lines in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes encode key information about the spacetime geometry of the innermost disk. While the Kerr metric is standard for spin measurements, horizonless…
The construction of a generic parametrization to describe the spacetime geometry around astrophysical black hole candidates is an important step to test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. In the last few years, the Johannsen-Psaltis metric has…
Astrophysical black hole candidates are thought to be the Kerr black holes of general relativity, but the actual nature of these objects has still to be confirmed. The continuum-fitting and the iron line methods are currently the only…
(abridged) With most physicists and astrophysicists in agreement that black holes do indeed exist, the focus of astrophysical black hole research has shifted to the detailed properties of these systems. Nature has provided us with an…
The continuum-fitting and the iron line methods are currently the two leading techniques for probing the strong gravity region around accreting black holes. In the present work, we test the Kerr black hole hypothesis with the stellar-mass…
We present 6.4 keV iron K-alpha fluorescent line profiles predicted for a relativistic black hole accretion disk in the presence of a spiral motion in Kerr geometry, the work extended from an earlier literature motivated by recent…
The recent announcement of the detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration has opened a new window to test the nature of astrophysical black holes. Konoplya & Zhidenko have shown how the LIGO data of GW 150914 can…
The present paper is a sequel to our previous work [Y. Ni et al., JCAP 1607, 049 (2016)] in which we studied the iron K$\alpha$ line expected in the reflection spectrum of Kerr black holes with scalar hair. These metrics are solutions of…
We continue our study on the capabilities of present and future X-ray missions to test the nature of astrophysical black hole candidates via X-ray reflection spectroscopy and distinguish Kerr black holes from other solutions of…
In this paper we present a fully relativistic approach to modelling both the continuum emission and the reflected fluorescent iron line from a primary X-ray source near a Kerr black hole. The X-ray source is located above an accretion disc…