Related papers: Comptonization, reflection and noise in black hole…
The transonic phenomenon of black hole accretion and the existence of the photon sphere are the characteristics of strong gravitational fields near a black hole horizon. In this work, we study spherical accretion flow onto a general…
The nature of ultraluminous X-ray sources in nearby galaxies is one of the major open questions in modern X-ray astrophysics. One possible explanation for these objects is an inhomogeneous, radiation dominated accretion disk around a $\sim…
MAXI J1820+070 (optical counterpart ASASSN-18ey) is a black hole candidate discovered through its recent very bright outburst. The low extinction column and long duration at high flux allow detailed measurements of the accretion process to…
We show that the low frequency QPO seen in the power density spectra of black hole binaries (and neutron stars) can be explained by Lense-Thirring precession. This has been proposed many times in the past, and simple, single radius models…
Conformal invariance can ameliorate or eliminate the singularities residing in the black holes, and may still exist in the strong gravity regimes close to these black holes. In this paper, we try to probe this conformal invariance by…
We report on a study that finds a positive correlation between black hole mass and variability amplitude in quasars. Roughly 100 quasars at z<0.75 were selected by matching objects from the QUEST1 Variability Survey with broad-lined objects…
Disc spectra from highly luminous black hole binaries are observed to be rather simple, despite theoretical predictions to the contrary. We collate the disc-dominated spectra from multiple observations of 10 separate sources, and show that…
Light orbiting an accreting black hole may impact the disk or jet multiple times before escaping to the observer, at a variety of angles with respect to the local magnetic field. In this letter, we characterize the imprints of these long…
We present the results of both analytical and numerical calculations of the amplitude of the reflection component in X-ray spectra of galactic black hole systems. We take into account the anisotropy of Compton scattering and the systematic…
We conduct a survey of numerical simulations to probe the structure and appearance of non-radiative black hole accretion flows like the supermassive black hole at the Galactic centre. We find a generic set of solutions, and make specific…
Many Galactic black hole and neutron star sources in low X-ray mass binaries show QPOs (quasi periodic oscillations) in their observed X-ray fluxes, i.e. peaks in the Fourier variability power spectra. Pairs of twin peaks are observed, and…
Black hole and neutron star accretion flows display unusually high levels of hard coronal emission in comparison to all other optically thick, gravitationally bound, turbulent astrophysical systems. Since these flows sit in deep…
Three recent papers have been collected here, discussing the possibility and properties of periodic modulation of a signal from accreting black holes surrounded by orbiting clumps of gas.
Study of astrophysics of black holes and neutron stars has taken a new turn in the present decade with the realization that sub-Keplerian flows and the associated centrifugal barrier near the horizon or the surface of a neutron star play a…
X-ray reflection spectra are an important component in the X-ray spectra of many active galactic nuclei and Galactic black hole candidates. It is likely that reflection takes place from highly ionized surfaces of the accretion disc in some…
We have found relations between the temporal and spectral properties of radiation Comptonized in an extended atmosphere associated with compact accreting sources. We demonstrate that the fluctuation power spectrum density (PSD) imposes…
We exhibit, by compiling all data sets we can acquire, that the Fourier frequency dependent hard X-ray lags, first observed in the analysis of aperiodic variability of the light curves of the black hole candidate Cygnus X-1, appear to be a…
Black hole spectroscopy is an important pillar when studying gravitational waves from black holes and enables tests of general relativity. Most of the gravitational-wave signals observed over the last decade originate from binary black hole…
It has been speculated that quantum gravity corrections may lead to modifications to space-time geometry near black hole horizons. Such structures may cause reflections to gravitational waves, causing {\it echoes} that follow the main…
The transport of photons in steady, spherical, scattering flows is investigated. The moment equations are solved analytically for accretion onto a Schwarzschild black hole, taking into full account relativistic effects. We show that the…