Related papers: Comptonization, reflection and noise in black hole…
This is a collection of literature reviews and some initial work on the estimation of the frequency of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger for low SNR. This document provides a starting point, with a broad overview of the…
We develop new techniques to deconvolve the radial structure of the X-ray emission region in the bright low/hard state of the black hole Cygnus X-1 using both spectral and timing data in the 3-35~keV range. The spectrum at these energies is…
We investigate quadratic quasinormal mode coupling in black hole spacetime through numerical simulations of single perturbed black holes using both numerical relativity and second-order black hole perturbation theory. Focusing on the…
The Fourier frequency dependent hard X-ray lag, first discovered from the analysis of aperiodic variability of the light curves of the black hole candidate Cygnus X-1, turns out to be a property shared by several other accreting compact…
We present the results of several numerical simulations of two dimensional axi-symmetric accretion flows around black holes using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) in the presence of cooling effects. We consider both stellar black holes…
The high energy radiation emitted by black hole X-ray binaries originates in an accretion disk, hence the variability of the lightcurves mirrors the dynamics of the disc. We study the time evolution of the emitted flux in order to find…
We investigate the effect of inverse-Compton scattering of flares of soft radiation in different geometries of a hot, Comptonizing region and a colder accretion disk around a solar-mass black hole. The photon-energy dependent light curves,…
We study fractional variability as a function of energy from black-hole X-ray binaries on timescales from milliseconds to hundreds of seconds. We build a theoretical model of energy-dependent variability in which the X-ray energy spectrum…
A common question about compact objects in high energy astrophysics is whether it is possible to distinguish black hole from neutron star systems with some other property that is not the mass of the compact object. Up to now a few…
We investigate advection dominated, transsonic accretion flows in the vicinity of a Kerr black hole. We take into account all relativistic effects in the dynamics of the flow and in the propagation of light. We assume the matter to be…
Over the last decades X-ray spectroscopy has proven to be a powerful tool for the estimation of black hole spin and several other key parameters in dozens of AGN and black hole X-ray binaries. In this White Paper, we discuss the…
We study the accretion of a Schwarzschild black hole due to spherically symmetric perturbations sourced by a minimally coupled massless scalar field. The backreaction of the black hole to low-frequency ingoing scalar waves is computed…
Modeling the late inspiral and merger of supermassive black holes is central to understanding accretion processes and the conditions under which electromagnetic emission accompanies gravitational waves. We use fully general relativistic,…
The increase in the sensitivity of gravitational wave interferometers will bring additional detections of binary black hole and double neutron star mergers. It will also very likely add many merger events of black hole - neutron star…
This paper discusses spectral sensitivity of solitary and binary pulsars to a low-frequency (colored) noise. It is a third paper in a series of papers devoted to analysis of the low-frequency noise in pulsar timing observations and its…
We review the properties of 40 X-ray binaries that contain either a confirmed black hole or a black hole candidate. After discussing briefly the significance of these Galactic black holes to both astronomy and physics, we present basic data…
The inner parts of black-hole accretion discs shine in X-rays which can be monitored and the observed spectra can be used to trace strong gravitational fields in the place of emission and along paths of light rays. This paper summarizes…
The ringdown phase of a binary black-hole merger encodes key information about the remnant properties and provides a direct probe of the strong-field regime of General Relativity. While quasi-normal mode frequencies and damping times are…
These notes resulted from a series of lectures at the IAC winter school. They are designed to help students, especially those just starting in subject, to get hold of the fundamental tools used to study accretion powered sources. As such,…
The Accretion-Ejection Instability has been proposed to explain the low frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillation (QPO) observed in low-mass X-Ray Binaries, in particular Black-Hole candidates. Its frequency, typically a fraction of the…