Related papers: Stellar disruption events support the existence of…
Black holes have the peculiar and intriguing property of having an event horizon, a one-way membrane causally separating their internal region from the rest of the Universe. Today astrophysical observations provide some evidence for the…
It has been justifiably questioned that if the Black Hole Candidates (BHCs) have a ``hard surface'' why Type I X-ray bursts are not seen from them (Nayayan, R., Black Holes in Astrophysics, New J. Phys., 7, 199-218, 2005). It is pointed out…
Astronomers have discovered many candidate black holes in X-ray binaries and in the nuclei of galaxies. The candidate objects are too massive to be neutron stars, and for this reason they are considered to be black holes. While the evidence…
Event horizons are a defining feature of black holes. Consequently, there have been many efforts to probe their existence in astrophysical black hole candidates, spanning ten orders of magnitude in mass. Nevertheless, horizons remain an…
Roughly a dozen X-ray binaries are presently known in which the compact accreting primary stars are too massive to be neutron stars. These primaries are identified as black holes, though there is as yet no definite proof that any of the…
The capability of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to image the nearest supermassive black hole candidates at horizon-scale resolutions offers a novel means to study gravity in its strongest regimes and to test different models for these…
In light of increasing observational evidence supporting the existence of ultra-compact objects, we adopt the term astrophysical black hole to refer to any object having a huge mass confined within a sufficiently small region of spacetime.…
Horizon-scale images of black holes (BHs) and their shadows have opened an unprecedented window onto tests of gravity and fundamental physics in the strong-field regime. We consider a wide range of well-motivated deviations from classical…
Black holes in general relativity are characterized by their trapping horizon, a one-way membrane that can be crossed only inwards. The existence of trapping horizons in astrophysical black holes can be tested observationally using a…
It has been well known that in the point of view of a distant observer, all in-falling matter to a black hole (BH) will be eventually stalled and "frozen" just outside the event horizon of the BH, although an in-falling observer will see…
In a talk given in 2013, S. Hawking conjectured that the event horizon of black holes does not exist and suggested redefining black holes as bound states of the gravitational field. Inspired by this idea, we investigated the coupling of the…
There are many observational evidences for the detection of compact objects with masses significantly larger (in galactic cases) or much larger (in extragalactic cases) than the upper limits of masses of em cold Neutron Stars. Such compact…
During the tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole (BH) of mass MBH <~ 10^7 Msun, stellar debris falls back to the BH at a rate well above the Eddington rate. A fraction of this gas is subsequently blown away from the BH,…
Black holes are among the most compelling predictions of general relativity (GR) and are now strongly supported by observations from gravitational-wave detectors and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). While standard black hole solutions…
A star that wanders too close to a massive black hole (BH) is shredded by the BH's tidal gravity. Stellar gas falls back to the BH, releasing a flare of energy. In anticipation of upcoming transient surveys, we predict the light curves and…
Recent observation of Sagittarius A$^*$ (Sgr A$^*$) by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has uncovered various unanswered questions in black hole (BH) physics. Besides, it may also probe various beyond the Standard Model (BSM)…
Black holes (BHs) formed by collapsing and/or merging of magnetized progenitors, have magnetic fields penetrating the event horizon, and there are several possible scenarios. Thus, the no-hair theorem that assumes the outside medium is a…
The images of supermassive black holes captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration have allowed us to have access to the physical processes that occur in the vicinity of the event horizons of these objects. This has enabled…
Type I X-ray bursts are very common in neutron star X-ray binaries, but no Type I burst has been seen in the dozen or so binaries in which the accreting compact star is too massive to be a neutron star and therefore is identified as a black…
Ultralight bosons, as important candidates of dark matter, can condense around spinning black holes (BHs) to form long-lived ``boson clouds'' due to superradiance instability. The boson-BH system can be observed through gravitational wave…