Related papers: The faintest accretors

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…

We consider transient behavior in low-mass X-ray binaries. In short-period neutron-star systems (orbital period less than ~ 1d) irradiation of the accretion disk by the central source suppresses this except at very low mass transfer rates.…

A large fraction of X-ray sources in our Galaxy are low-mass X-ray binaries, containing a black hole or a neutron star accreting from a gravitationally bound low-mass ($\leq$1 M$_\odot$) companion star. These systems are among the older…

We summarize the quiescent X-ray observations of transient low-mass X-ray binaries. These observations show that, in quiescence, binaries containing black holes are fainter than those containing neutron stars. This has triggered a number of…

Galactic accretion driven stellar X-ray sources can be divided into groups in different ways. An important division, which covers almost all known X-ray binaries, can be made according to the mass of the donor star: high-mass X-ray binaries…

Accreting binaries containing a black hole are stellar systems composed of a normal star and a black hole. Because of the strong gravitational pull of the black hole, matter is removed from the companion star and falls into the compact ob…

The observations and theory of the exciting new class of galactic black hole X-ray transients is reviewed. Seven of these systems have measured mass functions or mass estimates in excess of stable neutron stars, making them excellent black…

Stars with an initial mass more than ~25 Msun are thought to ultimately become black holes. Then stellar-mass black holes should be ubiquitous but fewer than 20 have been found in our Galaxy to date, all of which have been found through…

Several physical and astrophysical problems related to accretion onto black holes and neutron stars are shortly reviewed. I discuss the observed differences between these two types of compact objects in quiescent Soft X-ray Transients. Then…

We show that stable disk accretion should be very rare among low-mass X-ray binaries and cataclysmic variables whose evolution is driven by the nuclear expansion of the secondary star on the first giant branch. Stable accretion is confined…

In this review, I summarize the main X-ray/hard X-ray properties of the accretion flows around black holes and neutron stars based on recent broad-band spectral and timing observations performed by the BeppoSAX and Rossi X-ray Timing…

Observations of soft X-ray transients (SXTs) in quiescence have found that the binaries harboring black holes are fainter than those that contain a neutron star. Narayan and collaborators postulated that the faint X-ray emission from black…

This paper reviews some of the recent observational results on stellar mass black hole candidates. Over the last decade, much of the progress in this field has been achieved through the study of transient X--ray binary sources which shine…

X-rays trace accretion onto compact objects in binaries with low mass companions at rates ranging up to near Eddington. Accretion at high rates onto neutron stars goes through cycles with time-scales of days to months. At lower average…

Accretion onto black holes is one of the most efficient energy source in the Universe. Black hole accretion powers some of the most luminous objects in the universe, including quasars, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events,…

We show that the combination of the similarities between the X-ray properties of low luminosity accreting black holes and accreting neutron stars, combined with the differences in their radio properties argues that the X-rays from these…

We discuss new observations of X-ray novae which provide strong evidence that black holes have event horizons. Optical observations of 13 X-ray novae indicate that these binary stars contain collapsed objects too heavy to be stable neutron…

The existence of black holes remains open to doubt until other conceivable options are excluded. With this motivation, we consider a model of a compact star in which most of the mass consists of dark particles of some kind, and a small…

Although during the last decade new observations and new theoretical results have brought better understanding of the physics of accretion onto compact objects, many old and several new questions and problems await answers and solutions. I…

Compact binaries have long been a paradigm for accretion theory. Much of our present view of how accretion occurs comes directly from the comparison of theory with observations of these sources. Since theory differs little for other objects…