Related papers: Optical Continuum Sources in Gravitationally Lense…
We present an analysis of X-ray variability in a flux limited sample of QSOs. Selected from our deep ROSAT survey, these QSOs span a wide range in redshift ($0.1<z<3.2$) and are typically very faint, so we have developed a method to…
GRS 1915+105 is observed in an 'obscured' phase since May 2019, exhibiting steady and low X-ray luminosities, while being intervened by sporadic re-brightenings. In this work, we perform a comprehensive and wide-band analysis of the…
We consider bound geodesic orbits of test masses in the exterior gravitational field of a rotating astronomical source whose proper angular momentum varies linearly with time. The linear perturbation approach of Lense and Thirring is herein…
We present a 100 yr optical lightcurve of the recently discovered supersoft X-ray source RX~J0019.8+2156 as deduced from photographic plates of Harvard and Sonneberg Observatory. Apart from the periodic orbital variations two different…
We introduce a new scheme to study the nature of the central engine in a lensed QSO. The compact emission regions could have different sizes in different optical wavelengths, and our framework permits to obtain the source size ratios when a…
We present here the discovery of rapid, large amplitude intraday variability in the compact flat-spectrum radio quasar 1156+295. The detection of 40% flux density variations at 15 GHz on a timescale of only 2.7 hours was serendipitously…
The potential of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey for wide-field variability studies is illustrated using multi-epoch observations for 3,000,000 point sources observed in 700 deg2 of sky, with time spans ranging from 3 hours to 3 years. These…
In order to investigate the dependence of quasar optical-UV variability on fundamental physical parameters like black hole mass, we have matched quasars from the QUEST1 variability survey with broad-lined objects from the SDSS. Black hole…
We consider the influence of microlensing on different spectral bands of lensed QSOs. We assumed that the emitting X-ray, UV and optical regions are different in size, but that the continuum emission in these spectral bands is originating…
We review observations and gravitational lensing theory related to the magnification of background QSOs by intervening overdensities, and the induced cross-correlation between sources and foreground galaxies. We pay special attention to…
In quasars which are lensed by galaxies, the point-like images sometimes show sharp and uncorrelated brightness variations (microlensing). These brightness changes are associated with the innermost region of the quasar passing through a…
Optical observations of a sample of 12 $\gamma$-ray bright blazars from four optical data archives, AAVSO, SMARTS, Catalina, and Steward Observatory, are compiled to create densely sampled light curves spanning more than a decade. As a part…
We present results of X-ray spectral and time-domain variability analyses of 4 faint, "quiescent" blazars from the Swift-BAT 105-month catalog. We use observations from a recent, 5-month long NICER campaign, as well as archival BAT data.…
The emission properties of a molecular light source depend on its optical and chemical environment. This dependence, however, is different for various light sources. We present a general classification of sources by introducing the concepts…
This thesis is mainly devoted to the study of the quantum properties of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), which are nowadays the sources of the highest-quality quantum-correlated light, apart from fundamental tools in the…
We present the results of the first long-term (2.2 years) spectroscopic monitoring of a gravitationally lensed quasar, namely the Einstein Cross Q2237+0305. We spatially deconvolve deep VLT/FORS1 spectra to accurately separate the spectrum…
Distribution and properties of QSOs behind galaxy clusters in the UKJ287 field were studied. QSOs were selected using variability criteria and are confined to $z \ge 0.4$ and $m_B \le 19.5$. No reddening or obscuration of background QSOs…
The variability of quasars across multiple wavelengths is a useful probe of physical conditions in active galactic nuclei. In particular, variable accretion rates, instabilities, and reverberation effects in the accretion disk of a…
A model to explain variable gamma-ray sources with high-mass microblazars is described. Inverse Compton interactions between the jet of a microquasar and the UV-photon field of the stellar companion can produce high-energy gamma-rays. The…
Non-classical correlations in quantum optics as resources for quantum computation are important in the quest for highly-specialized quantum devices. The standard way to investigate such effects relies on either the characterization of the…