Related papers: Spectral components in black hole X-ray binaries
We systematically analyzed about a terabyte of data from Galactic binary systems to characterize how these spectra change as a function of mass accretion rate. With this volume of data we are able to identify the differences in behaviour of…
The recent detections of gravitational waves from binary systems of black holes are in remarkable agreement with the predictions of General Relativity. In this pedagogical mini-review, I will go through the physics of the different phases…
We discuss the expected X-ray spectral and variability properties of black hole accretion discs at high luminosity, under the hypothesis that radiation pressure dominated discs are subject to violent clumping instabilities and, as a result,…
We present results of a study of non-thermal, time-dependent particle injection in a corona around an accreting black hole. We model the spectral energy distribution of high-energy flares in this scenario. We consider particle interactions…
The nature of ultraluminous X-ray sources in nearby galaxies is one of the major open questions in modern X-ray astrophysics. One possible explanation for these objects is an inhomogeneous, radiation dominated accretion disk around a $\sim…
This is an unconventional review article on spectral problems in black hole perturbation theory. Our purpose is to explain how to apply various known techniques in quantum mechanics to such spectral problems. The article includes…
In X-ray binary star systems consisting of a compact object that accretes material from an orbiting secondary star, there is no straightforward means to decide if the compact object is a black hole or a neutron star. To assist this…
We review the multiwavelength properties of the few known gamma-ray binaries, focusing on extended emission recently resolved with Chandra. We discuss the implications of these findings for the nature of compact objects and for physical…
We consider the implications of the presence of ~1 stellar-mass black hole (BH) at the center of a dense globular cluster. We show that BH X-ray binaries formed through exchange interactions are likely to have extremely low duty cycles…
This paper reviews some of the recent observational results on stellar mass black hole candidates. Over the last decade, much of the progress in this field has been achieved through the study of transient X--ray binary sources which shine…
Recent high quality broad-band X-ray and gamma-ray observations of Galactic black holes by ASCA, Ginga, RXTE, and CGRO show that the spectra cannot be described by simple thermal Comptonization models (even including a fully relativistic…
Hard X-ray spectra of black hole binaries in the low/hard state are well modeled by thermal Comptonization of soft seed photons by a corona-type region with $kT$\thinspace$\sim 50${\thinspace}keV and optical depth around 1. Previous…
Black holes in dense astrophysical environments, such as globular clusters or in the vicinity of other massive objects, may possess accelerations. Such acceleration would modulate the characteristics of the quasi-periodic oscillations…
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…
The characteristics of black-hole X-ray binaries can be used to obtain information about their evolutionary history and the process of black-hole formation. In this paper I focus on systems with donor masses lower than the inferred…
Using simple analytical estimates we show how the physical parameters characterizing different spectral states of the galactic black hole candidates can be determined using spectral data presently available.
The past 10 years have seen remarkable progress in our capability of analyzing reflection features in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes. Today X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a mature technique and a powerful tool for studying the…
We consider a realistic model for calculating the cross-spectral density of partially coherent beams from an x-ray undulator in a modern storage ring. This two-point coherence function is seen to have a speckled structure associated with…
X-ray binaries are excellent laboratories to study collapsed objects. On the one hand, transient X-ray binaries contain the best examples of stellar-mass black holes while persistent X-ray binaries mostly harbour accreting neutron stars.…
We present a survey of how the spectral features of black hole X-ray binary systems depend on spin, accretion rate, viewing angle, and Fe abundance when predicted on the basis of first principles physical calculations. The power law…