Related papers: Fallback accretion in the aftermath of a compact b…
The coalescence of binary neutron stars can yield the expulsion of a fast-moving, quasi-isotropic material, which may induce thermal radiation and give rise to kilonova emission. Moreover, the interaction between the ejected material and…
Mergers of compact binaries containing two neutron stars (NS-NS), or a neutron star and a stellar-mass black hole (NS-BH), are likely progenitors of short-duration gamma ray bursts (SGRBs). A fraction >20% of SGRBs are followed by…
Relationships between the X-ray and radio behavior of black hole X-ray binaries during outbursts have established a fundamental coupling between the accretion disks and radio jets in these systems. We begin by reviewing the prevailing…
The models that seek to explain the reflection spectrum in black hole binaries usually invoke a point-like primary source of hard X-rays. This source illuminates the accretion disk and gives rise to the discrete (lines) and…
Accretion from a disk onto a collapsed, relativistic star -- a neutron star or black hole -- is the mechanism widely believed to be responsible for the emission from compact X-ray binaries. Because of the extreme spatial resolution…
We present results of numerical simulations of sequences of binary-single scattering events of black holes in dense stellar environments. The simulations cover a wide range of mass ratios from equal mass objects to 1000:10:10 solar masses…
This dissertation is written as an annotated collection of selected articles. The dissertation focuses on the modelling of accretion disks in X-ray binaries with a black hole or neutron star. The main objective is to use advanced numerical…
Circumbinary disks are found in a variety of astrophysical scenarios, spanning binary star formation to accreting supermassive black hole binaries. The interaction with a circumbinary disk can yield opposite effects on the binary orbit…
Disk accretion onto a neutron star possessing a weak surface magnetic field ($B \le 10^8$ G) provides interesting X-ray emission scenarios, and is relevant for understanding X-ray bursters and low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). The standard…
In the last decade multi-wavelength observations have demonstrated the importance of jets in the energy output of accreting black hole binaries. The observed correlations between the presence of a jet and the state of the accretion flow…
Strongly magnetized, accreting neutron stars show periodic and aperiodic variability over a wide range of time scales. By obtaining spectral and timing information on these different time scales, we can have a closer look into the physics…
As 2 black holes bound to each other in a close binary approach merger their inspiral time becomes shorter than the characteristic inflow time of surrounding orbiting matter. Using an innovative technique in which we represent the changing…
Black hole-neutron star mergers resulting in the disruption of the neutron star and the formation of an accretion disk and/or the ejection of unbound material are prime candidates for the joint detection of gravitational-wave and…
Short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) are widely believed to result from the mergers of compact binaries. This model predicts an afterglow that bears the characteristic signatures of a constant, low density medium, including a smooth…
When galaxies collide, dynamical friction drives their central supermassive black holes close enought to each other such that gravitational radiation becomes the leading dissipative effect. Gravitational radiation takes away energy,…
We present the results of 2D, moving mesh, viscous hydrodynamical simulations of accretion onto merging supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. We include viscous heating, shock heating, and radiative cooling, and simulate the transition…
Motivated by recent discoveries of X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions, we revisit the collision of a black hole and an accretion disk. Assuming that they are orbiting a supermassive black hole in orthogonal orbits, we perform a general…
We demonstrate that a natural consequence of an asymmetric kick imparted to neutron stars at birth is that the majority of double neutron star binaries should possess highly eccentric orbits. This leads to greatly accelerated orbital decay,…
Binary neutron-star mergers will predominantly produce black-hole remnants of mass $\sim 3-4\,M_{\odot}$, thus populating the putative \emph{low mass gap} between neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes. If these low-mass black holes are…
Numerical calculations of merging black hole binaries indicate that asymmetric emission of gravitational radiation can kick the merged black hole at up to thousands of km/s, and a number of systems have been observed recently whose…