Related papers: Computer modelling of accretion processes in binar…
Compact binaries have long been a paradigm for accretion theory. Much of our present view of how accretion occurs comes directly from the comparison of theory with observations of these sources. Since theory differs little for other objects…
The three X-ray states of active accretion in black-hole binaries have been re-defined to focus attention on different physical elements that may contribute radiation: the accretion disk, a jet, and a compact and radio-quiet corona.…
In X-ray binary star systems consisting of a compact object that accretes material from an orbiting secondary star, there is no straightforward means to decide if the compact object is a black hole or a neutron star. To assist this…
Although during the last decade new observations and new theoretical results have brought better understanding of the physics of accretion onto compact objects, many old and several new questions and problems await answers and solutions. I…
We have recently put forward a 'unified' semi-empirical model for the coupling between accretion and jet production in galactic black hole X-ray binaries (published in MNRAS, 2004). In this paper we summarise this model and briefly discuss…
Blurred reflection features are commonly observed in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes. In the presence of high-quality data and with the correct astrophysical model, X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a powerful tool to probe the…
Accretion onto supermassive black holes produces both the dramatic phenomena associated with active galactic nuclei and the underwhelming displays seen in the Galactic Center and most other nearby galaxies. I review selected aspects of the…
Circumbinary disks crucially affect the orbital and electromagnetic properties of binary systems across the universe, from stars in our galactic neighborhood to supermassive black hole binaries formed as the result of tumultuous galactic…
We perform three-dimensional, Newtonian hydrodynamic simulations with a nuclear equation of state to investigate the accretion dynamics in neutron star black hole systems. We find as a general result that non-spinning donor stars yield…
Radiation emitted from an accretion disk around a massive black hole is a widely discussed model for the UV/soft X-ray excess emission observed in the spectra of many AGN. A self-consistent calculation of the structure and the emerging…
We present an accretion cycle which can explain state transitions and other observed phenomena in black hole X-ray binaries. This model is based on the process of disc tearing, where individual rings of gas break off the disc and precess…
Recent work on the modes of accretion onto black holes (BHs) in Soft X-Ray Transients (SXTs) is reviewed, with an emphasis on uncertainties affecting models of accretion during quiescence (inner hot flow, outer thin disk). Various…
The non-axisymmetric structure of accretion disks around the neutron star in Be/X-ray binaries is studied by analyzing the results from three dimensional (3D) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations. It is found that ram pressure…
A widely accepted picture of an accretion flow in the luminous soft spectral state of X-ray binary systems is a geometrically thin disc structure much like the classic analytic solution of Shakura \& Sunyaev. Although the analytic models…
We calculate temperature profiles and X-ray spectra of accretion disks around rapidly rotating neutron stars considering the full effect of general relativity. Computed disk temperatures and luminosities are compared with the EXOSAT data to…
In this lecture the basic theory of accretion disks is introduced, with emphasis on aspects relevant for X-ray binaries and Cataclysmic Variables.
We revisit the system consisting of a neutron star that harbors a small, possibly primordial, black hole at its center, focusing on a nonspinning black hole embedded in a nonrotating neutron star. Extending earlier treatments, we provide an…
Recent discoveries have confirmed the existence of a large population of X-ray sources fuelled by accretion from the stellar wind of an OB supergiant. Such systems are powerful laboratories to study many aspects of astrophysics. Over the…
(Abridged) We here study the structure of a hyperaccretion disk around a neutron star. We consider a steady-state hyperaccretion disk around a neutron star, and as a reasonable approximation, divide the disk into two regions, which are…
The accretion of the stellar wind material by a compact object represents the main mechanism powering the X-ray emission in classical supergiant high mass X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients. In this work we present the…