Related papers: Testing wind as an explanation for the spin proble…
All prior work on measuring the spins of stellar-mass black holes via the X-ray continuum-fitting method has relied on the use of weakly-Comptonized spectra obtained in the thermal dominant state. Using a self-consistent Comptonization…
The spins of ten stellar black holes have been measured using the continuum-fitting method. These black holes are located in two distinct classes of X-ray binary systems, one that is persistently X-ray bright and another that is transient.…
The two established techniques for measuring black hole spin in X-ray binaries often yield conflicting results, which must be resolved before either method may be deemed robust. In practice, black hole spin measurements based on fitting the…
In the last decade, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy has revolutionized our understanding of the role of accretion disk winds in black hole X-ray binaries. Here I present a brief review of the state of wind studies in black hole X-ray…
The X-ray spectra of accretion discs of eight stellar-mass black holes have been analyzed to date using the thermal continuum fitting method, and the spectral fits have been used to estimate the spin parameters of the black holes. However,…
Cygnus X-1 is one of the brightest X-ray sources observed and shows the X-ray intensity variations on time scales from milliseconds to months in both the soft and hard X-rays. The accretion onto the black hole is believed to be wind fed due…
The accretion of matter onto black holes and neutron stars often leads to the launching of outflows that can greatly affect the environments surrounding the compact object. In supermassive black holes, these outflows can even be powerful…
Angular momentum, or spin, is a fundamental property of black holes (BHs), yet it is much more difficult to estimate than mass or accretion rate (for actively accreting systems). In recent years, high-quality X-ray observations have allowed…
The spin of a black hole is an important quantity to study, providing a window into the processes by which a black hole was born and grew. Further, spin can be a potent energy source for powering relativistic jets and energetic particle…
Powerful outflows along the accretion disk, known as disk winds, are sometimes launched in black hole X-ray binaries. These winds often manifest themselves in X-ray spectra as blueshifted, highly ionized absorption lines. Previous…
We explore the effect of anisotropic wind driving on the properties of accretion onto black holes in close binaries. We specifically focus on line-driven winds, which are common in high-mass X-ray binaries. In close binary systems, the…
Three classical modes of accretion are briefly discussed: wind-fed, spherical, and disk. The three modes are illustrated with the mass transfer onto black holes in high-mass X-ray binaries. Then a new regime of mini-disk accretion is…
Despite early theoretical expectations that large-scale, massive outflows would be triggered by accretion onto black holes and neutron stars, their presence was not firmly established until the 2000s. Since then, these accretion disc winds…
We have carried out radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of thermally-driven accretion disc winds in low-mass X-ray binaries. Our main goal is to study the luminosity dependence of these outflows and compare with observations. The simulations…
Building upon a new dynamical model for the X-ray binary LMC X-3, we measure the spin of its black hole primary via the continuum-fitting method. We consider over one thousand thermal-state RXTE X-ray spectra of LMC X-3. Using a large…
Accretion onto black holes often leads to the launch of outflows that significantly influence their surrounding environments. The two primary forms of these outflows are X-ray disk winds-hot, ionized gases ejected from the accretion…
We discuss the application of simple relativistically-blurred X-ray reflection models to the determination of the spin and the inner radius of the disc in accreting black holes. Observationally, the nature of the corona is uncertain a…
The black-hole spin parameter, $a_*$, was measured to be close to its maximum value of 1 in many accreting X-ray binaries. In particular, $a_*\gtrsim 0.9$ was found in a number of studies of LMC X-1. These measurements were claimed to take…
In astronomy, the problem of black holes is arguably second in importance only to the problem of cosmology. A current frontier in black hole research is the measurement of spin. During the past three years, the spins of several stellar-mass…
Theoretical models of accretion discs and observational data indicate that the X-ray emission from the inner parts of an accretion disc can irradiate its outer regions and induce a thermal wind, which carries away the mass and angular…