Related papers: Constraining the Kerr parameters via X-ray reflect…
We present modeling results for the reprocessed radiation expected from magnetic flares above AGN accretion disks. Relativistic corrections for the orbital motion of the flare and for the curved space-time in the vicinity of the black hole…
There are many simplifications in current relativistic reflection models and this introduces systematic uncertainties in the measurement of the properties of the source. In this paper, we study the impact of the radiation crossing the…
In a previous paper, we presented an extension of our reflection model RELXILL_NK to include the finite thickness of the accretion disk following the prescription in Taylor & Reynolds (2018). In this paper, we apply our model to fit the…
The reflection spectrum produced by a cold medium illuminated by X-ray photons is not isotropic and its shape depends on the emission angle. In the reflection spectrum of an accretion disk of a black hole, the value of the emission angle…
Recently, a covariant spherically symmetric model of a black hole within the framework of loop quantum gravity (LQG), characterized by a quantum parameter $r_0$ or $\lambda$, has been proposed. To derive constraints on the LQG-corrected…
The theory of general relativity (GR) is the standard framework for the description of gravitation and the geometric structure of spacetime. With the recent advancement of observational instruments, it has become possible to probe the…
Reynolds & Begelman (1997) have recently proposed a model in which the broad and extremely redshifted iron line seen during a deep minimum of the light curve of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15 originates from matter spiralling into a…
Recent observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton, aided by broad-band spectral coverage from RXTE, have revealed skewed relativistic iron emission lines in stellar-mass Galactic black hole systems. Such systems are excellent laboratories for…
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…
Einstein's theory of general relativity has been extensively tested in weak gravitational fields, mainly with experiments in the Solar System and observations of radio pulsars, and current data agree well with the theoretical predictions.…
Iron line emission is common in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes. When the line emission is broad or variable then it is likely to originate from close to the black hole. X-ray irradiation of the accretion flow by the power-law…
We test the weak cosmic censorship conjecture for magnetized Kerr-Newman spacetime via the method of injecting a test particle. Hence, we need to know how the black hole's parameters change when a test particle enters the horizon. This was…
Recent measurements of the Kerr parameters a* for two black-hole binaries in our Galaxy (Shafee et al. 2006), GRO J1655-40 and 4U 1543-47 of a*=0.65-0.75 and a*=0.75-0.85, respectively, fitted well the predictions of Lee et al. (2002), of…
We have simulated the X-ray polarization data that can be obtained with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, when observing accretion-powered millisecond pulsars. We estimated the necessary exposure times for SAX J1808.4$-$3658 in order…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global submillimeter wavelength very long baseline interferometry array, unveiled event-horizon-scale images of the supermassive black hole M87* as an asymmetric bright emission ring with a diameter of $…
In this paper we present an analytical treatment of gravitational lensing by Kerr black holes in the limit of very large deflection angles, restricting to observers in the equatorial plane. We accomplish our objective starting from the…
Being one of only two fundamental properties black holes possess, the spin of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is of great interest for understanding accretion processes and galaxy evolution. However, in these early days of spin…
We present a new code for radiation transport around Kerr black holes, including arbitrary emission and absorption terms, as well as electron scattering and polarization. The code is particularly useful for analyzing accretion flows made up…
Within 5-10 years, submillimeter VLBI facilities will be hopefully able to image the "shadow" of SgrA$^*$. When a black hole is surrounded by an optically thin emitting medium, the boundary of the shadow corresponds to the apparent photon…
Relativistic reflection observed in the hard states of accreting black holes often shows a weak amplitude relative to the main Comptonization component, which may result from either a disc truncation or a non-isotropy of the X-ray source,…