Related papers: Evidence for a black hole spin--orbit misalignment…
We study the properties of polarized radiation in turbulent magnetic fields from X-ray binary jets. These turbulent magnetic fields are composed of large- and small-scale configurations, which result in the polarized jitter radiation when…
Because of their inherently high flux allowing the detection of clear signals, black hole X-ray binaries are interesting candidates for polarization studies, even if no polarization signals have been observed from them before. Such…
Spin parameters of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries are currently being estimated by fitting the X-ray continuum spectra of their accretion disk emission. For this method, it is necessary to know the inclination of the…
Spin of an accreting black hole can be determined by spectroscopy of the emission and absorption features produced in the inner regions of an accretion disc. We discuss the method employing the relativistic line profiles of iron in the…
Measurements of the angular momentum (spin) of astrophysical black holes are extremely important, as they provide information on the black hole formation and evolution. We present simulated observations of a X-ray binary system with the…
New X-ray polarisation results are challenging our understanding of the accretion flow geometry in black hole binary systems. Even spectra dominated by a standard disc can give unexpected results, such as the high inclination black hole…
The low-mass X-ray binary microquasar GRO J1655-40 is observed to have a misalignment between the jets and the binary orbital plane. Since the current black hole spin axis is likely to be parallel to the jets, this implies a misalignment…
Accreting black holes are thought to emit the bulk of their power in the X-ray band by releasing the gravitational potential energy of the infalling matter. At the same time, they are capable of producing highly collimated jets of energy…
Cygnus X-1, the well-known accreting black hole system, exhibits several observational features hinting at an intricate interplay between the accretion disk, its atmosphere known as the corona and the putative relativistic jet. It has been…
Some X-shaped radio galaxies show a Z-symmetric morphology in the less luminous secondary lobes. Within the scenario of a merger between two galaxies, each hosting a supermassive black hole in its center, this structure has been explained…
Black-hole binary (BHB) systems comprise a stellar-mass black hole and a closely orbiting companion star. Matter is transferred from the companion to the black hole, forming an accretion disk, corona and jet structures. The resulting…
X-ray polarization is a powerful tool to investigate the geometry of accreting material around black holes, allowing independent measurements of the black hole spin and orientation of the innermost parts of the accretion disk. We perform…
We present simultaneous multi-band radio and X-ray observations of the black hole X-ray binary Cygnus X-1, taken with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array. With these data, we detect clear flux…
Some X-shaped radio galaxies (XRGs) show a Z-symmetric morphology in the less luminous secondary lobes. Our geometrical arguments strongly support a merger of two galaxies as mechanism for the formation of these sources (ZRG). They also…
The degree of black-hole spin-orbit misalignment ("tilts") in the astrophysical population could be a powerful diagnostic to distinguish between binary formation in isolation, in dynamical environments, or in hierarchical triples. However,…
Measuring the distribution of spin tilts-the angles between the spin vectors and the binary orbital angular momentum-in stellar-mass binary black holes detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA would provide valuable insight into their astrophysical…
Using observations of X-ray pulsar Her X-1 by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, we report on a highly significant ($>17\sigma$) detection of the polarization signal from an accreting neutron star. The observed degree of the linear…
We discover a pronounced dependence of the strength of the X-ray orbital modulation and the hardness in Cyg X-1 in the hard state on its superorbital phase. Our results can be well modelled as a combination of two effects: the precession of…
Relativistic jets powered by stellar mass black holes in X-ray binaries appear to come in two types: steady outflows associated with hard X-ray states and large scale discrete ejections associated with transient outbursts. We show that the…
We describe the first complete polarimetric dataset of the entire outburst of a low-mass black hole X-ray binary system and discuss the constraints for geometry and radiative mechanisms it imposes. During the decaying hard state, when the…