Related papers: Constraining the Kerr parameters via X-ray reflect…
Recently, we have extended the X-ray reflection model relxill to test the spacetime metric in the strong gravitational field of astrophysical black holes. In the present Letter, we employ this extended model to analyze XMM-Newton, NuSTAR,…
We discuss a model of an X-ray illuminating source above an accretion disk of a rotating black hole. Within the so called lamp-post scheme we compute the expected (observed) polarization properties of the radiation reaching an observer. We…
The fluorescent iron K$\alpha$ emission line profile provides an excellent probe of the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei. Fe XXV and Fe XXVI in diffuse plasma above the accretion disc can affect the X-ray spectrum by iron…
The masses of compact objects in X-ray binaries are best constrained through dynamical measurements, relying on radial velocity curves of the companion star. In anticipation of upcoming high X-ray spectral resolution telescopes, we explore…
We present a generally applicable formalism for modeling the emission, absorption, reflection, and reprocessing of radiation by moving plasma streams close to a Kerr Black hole. The formalism can be used to investigate the observational…
We investigate stationary slim accretion disks around Kerr black holes. We construct a new numerical method based on the relaxation technique. We systematically cover the whole parameter space relevant to stellar mass X-ray binaries. We…
Astrophysical black hole systems are the ideal laboratories for testing Einstein's theory of gravity in the strong field regime. We have recently developed a framework which uses the reflection spectrum of black hole systems to perform…
Fitting the thermal continuum emission of accreting black holes observed across X-ray bands represents one of the principle means of constraining the properties (mass and spin) of astrophysical black holes. Recent ''continuum fitting''…
We report on a new general relativistic computational model enhancing, in various respects, the capability of presently available tools for fitting spectra of X-ray sources. The new model is intended for spectral analysis of black-hole…
We investigate the global properties of the radiation emitted by the accretion disk around Kerr black holes. Using the Kerr blackbody (KERRBB) numerical model, we build an analytic approximation of the disk emission features focusing on the…
The Kerr spacetime is symmetric with respect to a well-defined equatorial plane. When testing the equatorial reflection symmetry of an isolated black hole, one is at the same time testing the Kerr hypothesis in General Relativity. In this…
We present a new and complete library of synthetic spectra for modeling the component of emission that is reflected from an illuminated accretion disk. The spectra were computed using an updated version of our code XILLVER that incorporates…
General relativity has been tested by many experiments, which, however, almost exclusively probe weak spacetime curvatures. In this thesis, I create two frameworks for testing general relativity in the strong-field regime with observations…
We use a ray-tracing technique to compute the observed spectrum of a thin accretion disk around a Kerr black hole. We include all relativistic effects such as frame-dragging, Doppler boost, gravitational redshift, and bending of light by…
We present angle-dependent, broad-band intensity spectra from accretion disks around black holes of 10 M$_\odot$. In our computations disks are assumed to be slim, which means that the radial advection is taken into account while computing…
Light passing near a black hole can follow multiple paths from an emission source to an observer due to strong gravitational lensing. Photons following different paths take different amounts of time to reach the observer, which produces an…
X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study the strong gravity region of black holes. The next generation of astrophysical X-ray missions promises to provide unprecedented high-quality data, which could permit us to get very…
X-ray reflection spectra are an important component in the X-ray spectra of many active galactic nuclei and Galactic black hole candidates. It is likely that reflection takes place from highly ionized surfaces of the accretion disc in some…
The reflection spectroscopic model RELXILL is commonly implemented in studying relativistic X-ray reflection from accretion disks around black holes. We present a systematic study of the model's capability to constrain the dimensionless…
A black hole casts a shadow as an optical appearance because of its strong gravitational field. We study how to determine the spin parameter and the inclination angle by observing the apparent shape of the shadow, which is distorted mainly…