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Rotating axisymmetric objects amplify incoming waves by superradiant scattering. When enclosed in a cavity, the repeated interaction of a confined field with the object may trigger superradiant instabilities. Rotating binaries are…
According to current plans, the SIM/NASA mission will be launched just after the end of operations for the Gaia/ESA mission. This is a new situation which enables long term astrometric projects that could not be achieved by either mission…
A small group of X-ray binaries currently provides the best evidence for the existence of stellar-mass black holes. These objects are interacting binary systems where the X-rays arise from accretion of material onto a compact object (i.e.…
Many recent observational and theoretical studies suggest that globular clusters (GCs) host compact object populations large enough to play dominant roles in their overall dynamical evolution. Yet direct detection, particularly of black…
More than two dozen soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) have been detected so far. These are isolated compact objects. Many of them are either found to be associated with supernova remnants or their surface…
Understanding the formation, evolution, and chemical diversity of exoplanets are now central areas of astrophysics research. White dwarfs provide a uniquely sensitive laboratory for studying the end stages of planetary-system evolution and…
Probing gravity in its strongest regime is a central goal of modern physics, as the nature of the most compact objects reflects fundamental aspects of Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR). In GR, black holes are regarded as the most…
Most stellar remnants so far have been found in binary systems, where they interact with matter from their companions. Isolated neutron stars and black holes are difficult to find as they are dark, yet they are predicted to exist in our…
Einstein Telescope (ET) is a possible third generation ground-based gravitational wave observatory for which a design study is currently being carried out. A brief (and non-exhaustive) overview is given of ET's projected capabilities…
Our knowledge of the birth mass function of neutron stars and black holes is based on observations of binary systems but the binary evolution likely affects the final mass of the compact object. Gravitational microlensing allows us to…
Some tests of fundamental physics - the equation of state at supra-nuclear densities, the metric in strong gravity, the effect of magnetic fields above the quantum critical value - can only be measured using compact astrophysical objects:…
For many years, astronomers interested in white dwarf stars have promised that the study of these relatively simple compact objects would ultimately lead to useful information about the physics under extreme conditions of temperature and…
Coalescing compact object binaries consisting of black holes and/or Neutron stars are a prime target for ground-based gravitational wave detectors. This article reviews the status of numerical simulations of these systems, with an emphasis…
In about last couple of decades, the inference of the violation of the Chandrasekhar mass-limit of white dwarfs from indirect observation is probably a revolutionary discovery in astronomy. Various researchers have already proposed…
Gravitational wave astronomy might allow us to detect the coalescence of low-brightness astrophysical compact objects which are extremely difficult to be observed with current electromagnetic telescopes. Besides classical sources like black…
The black hole paradigm, while remarkably successful, raises fundamental questions-both classical and quantum-about the nature of spacetime, horizons, and singularities. Black hole mimickers, horizonless ultra-compact objects, have emerged…
The study of compact object populations has come a long way since the determination of the mass of the Hulse-Taylor pulsar, and we now count on more than 150 known Galactic neutron stars and black hole masses, as well as another 180 objects…
The universal link between the processes of accretion and ejection leads to the formation of jets and outflows around accreting compact objects. Incoherent synchrotron emission from these outflows can be observed from a wide range of…
The nature of the so-called G objects orbiting the Galactic Center remains unresolved. These sources exhibit compact Br$\gamma$ emission, extreme infrared colors, and remarkable dynamical stability through close passages to the central…
Several physical and astrophysical problems related to accretion onto black holes and neutron stars are shortly reviewed. I discuss the observed differences between these two types of compact objects in quiescent Soft X-ray Transients. Then…