Related papers: Astrophysical Black Holes
Black holes are among the most intriguing objects in modern physics. Their influence ranges from powering quasars and other active galactic nuclei, to providing key insights into quantum gravity. We review the observational evidence for…
The existence of massive black holes was postulated in the sixties, when the first quasars were discovered. In the late nineties their reality was proven beyond doubt, in the Milky way and a handful nearby galaxies. Since then, enormous…
Following a short account of the history of the idea of black holes, we present a review of the current status of the search for observational evidence of their existence aimed at an audience of relativists rather than astronomers or…
Black holes are extremely dense and compact objects from which light cannot escape. There is an overall consensus that black holes exist and many astronomical objects are identified with black holes. White holes were understood as the exact…
Beyond all reasonable doubt, black holes are commonly found in the nuclei of most normal galaxies. In recent years, dynamical measurements of hole masses have transformed the study of their functioning and evolution. In particular, relating…
Stellar-mass black holes (BHs), with masses comparable to stars, are a major constituent of our Milky Way galaxy. This chapter describes the landscape of challenging, and long-sought efforts to identify these objects in the Galaxy. The…
Supermassive black holes are located at the center of most, if not all, massive galaxies. They follow close correlations with global properties of their host galaxies (scaling relations), and are thought to play a crucial role in galaxy…
Black holes are defined as a region in spacetime where gravity is so strong that particles and electromagnetic radiation cannot escape. According to their mass, they are classified into three types: stellar-mass black holes,…
Classical black holes are solutions of the field equations of General Relativity. Many astronomical observations suggest that black holes really exist in nature. However, an unambiguous proof for their existence is still lacking. Neither…
Relativistic outflows are a common phenomenon in accreting black holes. Despite the enormous differences in scale, stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries and collapsars, and super-massive black holes at the dynamic centre of galaxies…
Supermassive black holes containing ~0.5% of the stellar mass of their host galaxies appear to be ubiquitous components of galactic nuclei. The gravitational force from these central singularities can influence the motion of stars far…
A combination of ground-based and spacecraft observations has uncovered two black holes of 10 billion solar masses in the nearby Universe. The finding sheds light on how these cosmic monsters co-evolve with galaxies.
Recent developments have ushered in a new era in the field of black hole astrophysics, providing our first direct view of the remarkable environment near black hole event horizons. These observations have enabled astronomers to confirm…
The distribution of black hole masses in galaxies is constrained by photometric and kinematic studies of individual galaxies, and by the properties of the quasar population. I review our understanding of these topics, present new results of…
Masses of black holes in nearby galactic nuclei can be measured in a variety of ways, using stellar and gaseous kinematics. Reliable black hole masses are known for several dozen objects, so that demographic questions can start to be…
Quasars emit more energy than any other objects in the universe, yet are not much bigger than the solar system. We are almost certain that quasars are powered by giant black holes of up to $10^{10}$ times the mass of the Sun, and that black…
I present an elementary primer of black hole physics, including its general relativity basis, all peppered with astrophysical illustrations. Following a brief review of the process stellar collapse to a black hole, I discuss the…
The capture and subsequent inspiral of stellar mass black holes on eccentric orbits by central massive black holes, is one of the more interesting likely sources of gravitational radiation detectable by LISA. We estimate the rate of…
We analyze the mass distribution of stellar black holes derived from the light and radial velocity curves of optical stars in close binary systems using dynamical methods. The systematic errors inherent in this approach are discussed. These…
A star surrounded by a black hole generated by it is analyzed. For an outer static observer the black hole mass (and radius) depends on his position in the gravitational field of the star. In spite of the black hole presence, the geometry…