Related papers: Problems in the astrophysics of accretion onto com…
The population of compact binaries in dense stellar systems is affected strongly by frequent dynamical interactions between stars and their interplay with the stellar evolution. In this contribution, we consider these effects on binaries…
Aperiodic broad-band variability (also known as flickering) is observed throughout all types of accreting compact objects. Many statistical properties of this variability can be naturally explained with the fluctuating accretion disk model,…
Current stellar evolution models predict that during the core collapse of massive stars, a considerable amount of the stellar material will fall back onto the compact, collapsed remnants (neutron stars or black holes), usually in the form…
In this chapter, I present a summary of observational tests of the basic picture of disk accretion. An emphasis is placed on tests relevant to black holes, but many of the fundamental results are drawn from studies of other classes of…
Black hole X-ray binaries are transient probably because their discs are subject to the same thermal-viscous instability which is present in dwarf nova binary systems. I discuss applications of the dwarf-nova instability model to transient,…
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…
Understanding how mass and angular momentum flow through accretion discs remains a fundamental unsolved problem in astrophysics. Accreting white dwarfs offer an ideal laboratory for addressing this question: their variability occurs on…
Astronomers have discovered many potential black holes in X-ray binaries and galactic nuclei. These black holes are usually identified by the fact that they are too massive to be neutron stars. Until recently, however, there was no…
Astronomers have discovered many potential black holes in X-ray binaries and galactic nuclei. These black holes are usually identified by the fact that they are too massive to be neutron stars. Until recently, however, there was no…
Astrophysical jets seem to occur in nearly all types of accreting objects: from supermassive black holes to young stellar objects. Based on X-ray binaries, a unified scenario describing the disc/jet coupling has evolved and extended to many…
Applications of the thermal-viscous disc instability model to various classes of cataclysmic variable very often require the accretion disc to be truncated. I argue that in most cases this inner truncation must be due to the white dwarf's…
The X-ray light-curves of the recurring outbursts observed in low-mass X-ray binaries provide strong test beds for constraining (still) poorly understood disc-accretion processes. These light-curves act as a powerful diagnostic to probe the…
Accretion onto black holes is one of the most efficient energy source in the Universe. Black hole accretion powers some of the most luminous objects in the universe, including quasars, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events,…
The response of advection-dominated accretion disks to local disturbances is examined by one-dimensional numerical simulations. It is generally believed that advection-dominated disks are thermally stable. We, however, find that any…
Our understanding of the structure and properties of accretion disks in quiescent Dwarf Novae and X-ray Transients is very limited. Observations during quiescence challenge some of the standard Disk Instability Model (DIM) predictions. Our…
Currently used model of spherical accretion onto a magnetized rotating neutron star encounters major difficulties in explaining the entry rate of accreting material into the stellar field and spin evolution of long-period X-ray pulsars.…
In this review I briefly describe the latest advances in studies of aperiodic variability of accreting X-ray binaries and outline the model which currently describe the majority of observational appearances of variability of accreting…
A geometrically thin, optically thick, warped accretion disk with a central source of luminosity is subject to non-axisymmetric forces due to radiation pressure; the resulting torque acts to modify the warp. Initially planar accretion disks…
Accretion discs around black holes power some of the most luminous objects in the Universe. Discs that are misaligned to the black hole spin can become warped over time by Lense-Thirring precession. Recent work has shown that strongly…
Accretion discs are fundamental to many astrophysical systems, providing the conversion of gravitational potential energy into radiation that we can observe. In many systems there is evidence that discs are warped; from spatially-resolved…