Related papers: Black Hole Binaries in Quiescence
With their relatively fast variability time-scales, Galactic X-ray binaries provide an excellent laboratory to explore the physics of accretion and related phenomena, most notably outflows, over different regimes. After comparing the…
Weakly accreting black hole X-ray binaries launch compact radio jets that persist even in the quiescent spectral state, at X-ray luminosities <1e-5 of the Eddington luminosity. However, radio continuum emission has been detected from only a…
Black hole and neutron star X-ray binary systems routinely show quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in their X-ray flux. Despite being strong, easily measurable signals, their physical origin has long remained elusive. However, recent…
In this chapter I will review the status of our phenomenological understanding of the relation between accretion and outflows in accreting black hole systems. This understanding arises primarily from observing the relation between X-ray and…
We discuss the observational consequences of black hole spin in X-ray binaries within the framework of the standard thin accretion disk model. When compared to theoretical flux distribution from the surface of a thin disk surrounding a Kerr…
The outbursts of black hole X-ray transients can be understood as caused by a limit cycle instability in the accretion disk, similar to dwarf nova outbursts. For adequately low mass overflow rates from the companion star long outburst…
We report the results of observations of the black hole binaries XTE J1550-564 and H 1743-322 in their quiescent state using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Both sources are detected at their faintest level of X-ray emission ever observed…
A typical stellar mass black hole with a lighter companion is shown to succumb to a chaotic precession of the orbital plane. As a result, the optimal candidates for the direct detection of gravitational waves by Earth based interferometers…
We examine ~10 years of photometric data and find that the black hole X-ray binary V4641 Sgr has two optical states, passive and active, during X-ray quiescence. The passive state is dominated by ellipsoidal variations and is stable in the…
Massive black hole binaries are naturally predicted in the context of the hierarchical model of structure formation. The binaries that manage to lose most of their angular momentum can coalesce to form a single remnant. In the last stages…
X-rays trace accretion onto compact objects in binaries with low mass companions at rates ranging up to near Eddington. Accretion at high rates onto neutron stars goes through cycles with time-scales of days to months. At lower average…
The dramatic changes seen in the X-ray spectral and timing properties of accreting black hole candidates (BHCs) provide important clues about the accretion and jet formation processes that occur in these systems. Dividing the different…
We consider the accretion of dark energy by constituent black holes in binary formations during the present epoch of the Universe. In the context of an observationally consistent dark energy model, we evaluate the growth of black holes'…
The nature of black hole jets at the lowest detectable luminosities remains an open question, largely due to a dearth of observational constraints. Here, we present a new, nearly-simultaneous broadband spectrum of the black hole X-ray…
Recently a correlation between the radio and X-ray luminosities is found, $L_{\rm R}\propto L_{\rm X}^{0.7}$, in black hole sources including black hole candidates in our galaxy and active galactic nuclei. We first show that the correlation…
We review the formation scenarios for binary black holes, and show that their coalescence rate depends very strongly on the outcome of the second mass transfer. However, the observations of IC10 X-1, an binary with a massive black hole…
We consider current observational constraints on the presence of cool, optically thick disk material in quiescent black hole binaries, specifically focusing on a case study of the prototypical system A0620-00. Such material might be…
We present near-infrared and optical imaging of fifteen candidate black hole X-ray binaries. In addition to quiescent observations for all sources, we also observed two of these sources (IGR J17451-3022 and XTE J1818-245) in outburst. We…
This review summarizes the observational constraints on the mass spectrum of compact objects in X-ray binaries. We currently have 20 X-ray binaries with confirmed black holes, based on dynamical information (i.e. mass in excess of 3 Msun).…
We review the timing and spectral evolution of black hole X-ray binary systems, with emphasis on the current accretion-ejection paradigm. When in outburst, stellar mass black hole binaries may become the brightest X-ray sources in the sky.…