Related papers: Spectral transitions in X-ray Binaries
Radio and X-ray fluxes of accreting black holes in their hard state are known to correlate over several orders of magnitude. This correlation however shows a large scatter: black hole candidates with very similar X-ray luminosity, spectral…
We numerically study the long-term evolution of the accretion disc around the neutron star in a coplanar Be/X-ray binary with a short period and a moderate eccentricity. From three dimensional Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics simulations, we…
I review the energy spectra of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) containing weakly magnetized accreting neutron stars (NS), emphasizing the most recent broad band (0.1-200 keV) spectral and timing observations performed by Beppo-SAX and RXTE.…
The X-ray light-curves of the recurring outbursts observed in low-mass X-ray binaries provide strong test beds for constraining (still) poorly understood disc-accretion processes. These light-curves act as a powerful diagnostic to probe the…
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…
We propose that the recently discovered luminous hypersoft X-ray sources can be explained by accretion onto a binary black hole in a hierarchical triple system. For black hole masses $\sim 15 M_\odot$, the orbital separation of the internal…
We present calculations of non-LTE, relativistic accretion disk models applicable to the high/soft state of black hole X-ray binaries. We include the effects of thermal Comptonization and bound-free and free-free opacities of all abundant…
We propose a jet model for the low/hard state of Galactic black-hole X-ray sources that can explain the energy spectra from radio to X-rays. The model assumes that i) there is a magnetic field along the axis of the jet; ii) the electron…
We discuss the emergent spectra from accreting black holes, considering in particular the case where the accretion is characterized by relativistic bulk motion. We suggest that such accretion is likely to occur in a wide variety of black…
In this paper we use an RXTE library of spectral models from 10 black-hole and 9 pulsar X-ray binaries, as well as model spectra available in the literature from 13 extra-galactic Ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We compute average…
This work is intended to provide an introduction to multiwavelength observations of low-mass X-ray binaries and the techniques used to analyze and interpret their data. The focus will primarily be on ultraviolet, optical, and infrared…
We explore the evolution in power of black holes of all masses, and their associated jets, within the scheme of an accretion rate-dependent state transition. Below a critical value of the accretion rate all systems are assumed to undergo a…
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.…
We study the evolution of a massive black hole pair in a rotationally supported nuclear disc. The distributions of stars and gas mimic the nuclear region of a gas-rich galaxy merger remnant. Using high-resolution SPH simulations, we follow…
We study the formation of low-mass X-ray binaries with a black hole as accreting object. The performed semi-analytic analysis reveals that the formation rate of black holes in low-mass X-ray binaries is about two orders of magnitude smaller…
X-ray appearance of normal galaxies is mainly determined by X-ray binaries powered by accretion onto a neutron star or a stellar mass black hole. Their populations scale with the star-formation rate and stellar mass of the host galaxy and…
Interaction of a binary supermassive black hole with stars in a galactic nucleus can result in changes to all the elements of the binary's orbit, including the angles that define its orientation. If the nucleus is rotating, the orientation…
Symbiotic stars are binary systems where a white dwarf (WD) accretes material from the wind of an evolved, late-type companion. X-ray-emitting symbiotic systems are classified into $\alpha$, $\beta$, $\delta$, and $\beta/\delta$ types,…
Accreting black holes are unique tools to understand the physics under extreme gravity. While black hole X-ray binaries differ vastly in mass from AGN, their accretion and ejection flows are assumed to be essentially similar. Black hole…
I review the X-ray observations of Galactic accreting black holes and neutron stars, and interpretions of these in terms of solutions of the accretion flow equations.