Related papers: Hydrogen-Poor Disks in Compact X-Ray Binaries
Accretion flows onto underluminous black holes, such as Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy, are dilute (mildly collisional to highly collisionless), optically thin, and radiatively inefficient. Therefore, the accretion properties of…
Ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs) appear able to sustain accretion onto the compact accretor at rates lower than in wider X-ray binaries. This may be understood by the smaller accretion disks in UCXBs: a lower X-ray luminosity suffices to…
In the inner-most regions of radiation pressure supported accretion disks, the turbulent magnetic pressure may greatly exceed that of the gas. If this is the case, it is possible for bulk Alfvenic motions driven by the magnetorotational…
Magnetic, radiation pressure, and thermal driving are the three mechanisms capable of launching accretion disk winds. In X-ray binaries, radiation pressure is often not significant, as in many systems the luminosity is too low for driving…
We show that a certain class of flare models for variability from accretion disk coronae are subject to beam-plasma instabilities. These instabilities can prevent significant direct acceleration and greatly reduce the variable X-ray…
The hard to soft state transition of the outbursts in X-ray binaries (XRBs) is triggered by the rising of the mass accretion rate due to the disk instability. In order to explain the observed correlation between the hard X-ray transition…
The results of three-dimensional MHD numerical simulations are used to investigate the characteristic properties of the magnetic-field structures in the accretion disks of semi-detached binary systems. It is assumed that the intrinsic…
We study the vertical structure of the transition layer between an accretion disc and corona in the context of the existence of two-phase medium in thermally unstable regions. The disc is illuminated by hard X-ray radiation and satisfies…
Several active galactic nuclei show correlated variations in the ultraviolet/optical range, with time delays increasing at longer wavelengths. Thermal reprocessing of the X-rays illuminating the accretion disk has been proposed as a viable…
In this lecture the basic theory of accretion disks is introduced, with emphasis on aspects relevant for X-ray binaries and Cataclysmic Variables.
I discuss the status of the Soft X-ray Transient model. First, I discuss and then compare with observations the assumption that the geometrically thin disc evaporates into an ADAF. Second, I address the problems created by the recent…
We present a new picture for the central regions of Black Hole X-ray Binaries. In our view, these central regions have a multi-flow configuration which consists in (1) an outer standard accretion disc down to a transition radius r_J, (2) an…
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…
We have employed a 3-d energy-conserving radiation MHD code to simulate the vertical structure and thermodynamics of a shearing box whose parameters were chosen so that the radiation and gas pressures would be comparable. The upper layers…
Black holes in X-ray binaries are often assumed to be rotating perpendicular to the plane of the accretion disk and parallel to the orbital plane of the binary. While the Bardeen-Petterson effect forces the inner part of the accretion disk…
An effect of stimulated radiation processes on thermal radiation from an accretion disk is considered. The radial density waves triggering flare emission and producing quasi-periodic oscillations in radiation from an accretion disk are…
An analysis is presented of a numerical investigation of the dynamics and geometry of accretion discs in binary systems with mass ratios q < 0.1, applicable to ultra-compact X-ray binaries, AM CVn stars and very short period cataclysmic…
Accretion discs properties should deviate from standard theory when magnetic pressure exceeds the thermal pressure. To quantify these deviations, we present a systematic study of the dynamical properties of magnetically arrested discs…
It has been suggested that quasi-periodic oscillations of accreting X-ray sources may relate to the modes named in the title. We consider non-axisymmetric linear perturbations to an isentropic, isothermal, unmagnetized thin accretion disk.…
We calculate upper bounds on the inner radii of geometrically thin accretion disks in galactic black-hole systems by relating their rapid variability properties to those of neutron stars. We infer that the inner disk radii do not exhibit…