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X-ray reflection spectroscopy has evolved as one of the leading methods to measure black hole spins. However, the question is whether its measurements are subjected to systematic biases, especially considering the possible discrepancy…
Accreting black holes tend to display a characteristic dark central region called the black-hole shadow, which depends only on spacetime/observer geometry and which conveys information about the black hole's mass and spin. Conversely, the…
This white paper highlights compact object and fundamental physics science opportunities afforded by high-throughput broadband (0.1-60 keV) X-ray polarization observations. X-ray polarimetry gives new observables with geometric information…
Superradiance provides a unique opportunity for investigating dark sectors as well as primordial black holes, which themselves are candidates for dark matter over a wide mass range. Using axion-like particles as an example, we show that…
We propose, design and construct a variant of the conventional axion haloscope concept that could be competitive in the search for dark matter axions of masses in the decade 10-100 $\mu$eV. Theses masses are located somewhat above the mass…
We report on the construction and laboratory testing of pixellated CZT detectors mounted in a flip-chip, tiled fashion and read out by an ASIC, as required for proposed hard X-ray astronomy missions. Two 10 mm x 10 mm x 5 mm detectors were…
We revisit black hole mass estimates for high-redshift broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) discovered with JWST by jointly analysing their broad emission lines and their systematic non-detections in deep Chandra imaging. Building upon…
We examine radiation and its effects on accretion disks orbiting astrophysical black holes. These disks are thermally radiating and can be geometrically and optically thin or thick. In this first paper of the series, we discuss the physics…
Black hole accretion and jet production are areas of intensive study in astrophysics. Recent work has found a relation between radio luminosity, X-ray luminosity, and black hole mass. With the assumption that radio and X-ray luminosity are…
To take advantage of high-resolution optics sensitive to a broad energy range, future X-ray imaging instruments will require thick detectors with small pixels. This pixel aspect ratio affects spectral response in the soft X-ray band, vital…
X-ray imaging is a prevalent technique for non-invasively visualizing the interior of the human body and opaque instruments. In most commercial x-ray modalities, an image is formed by measuring the x-rays that pass through the object of…
The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), an orbiting, multi-band, millimeter radio-telescope, in hybrid combination with millimeter terrestrial radio-telescopes, is designed to discover and measure the thin photon ring around the supermassive black…
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…
Black holes represent extreme conditions of physical laws. Being predicted about a century ago, they are now accepted as astrophysical reality by most of the scientific community. Only recently more direct evidence of their existence has…
The direct detection and characterization of exoplanets will be a major scientific driver over the next decade, involving the development of very large telescopes and requires high-contrast imaging close to the optical axis. Some complex…
The cosmic evolution of obscured star formation, dust properties and production mechanisms, and the prevalence of dust-obscured AGN out to high redshifts are currently some of the hot topics in astrophysics. While much progress has been…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will have the sensitivity to detect early low-mass black holes as they transition from "seeds" to supermassive black holes (BHs). Based on the JAGUAR mock catalog of galaxies, we present a clean color…
Circular aperture probes have been successfully used for high-resolution near-field microwave imaging. It has been established that circular aperture probes could conceivably provide higher image fidelity compared to rectangular aperture…
The EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) is a balloon-borne far-infrared telescope that will survey star formation history over cosmological time scales to improve our understanding of why the star formation…
Compton telescopes provide a good sensitivity over a wide field of view in the difficult energy range running from a few hundred keV to several MeV. Their angular resolution is, however, poor and strongly energy dependent. We present a…