Related papers: Fourier-phase analysis of the orbiting bright-spot…
The spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are often characterized by a wealth of emission lines with different profiles and intensity ratios that led to a complicated classification. Their electro-magnetic radiation spans more than 10…
We discuss the impact of special relativistic effects on the observed light curves and variability duty cycles of AGNs. We model the properties of AGN light curves at radio wavelengths using a simulated shot noise process in which the…
We study the modulation of the observed radiation flux and the associated changes in the polarization degree and angle that are predicted by the orbiting spot model for flares from accreting black holes. The geometric shape of the emission…
Context: Variations in the mass accretion rate appear to be responsible for the rapid transitions in spectral type that are observed in increasingly more active galactic nuclei (AGNs). These objects are now labeled "changing-look" AGNs and…
Flux variability is a remarkable property of black hole (BH) accreting systems, and a powerful tool to investigate the multi-scale structure of the accretion flow. The X-ray band is where some of the most rapid variations occur, pointing to…
We study the variability mechanism of active galactic nuclei (AGN) within the framework of the flare model. To this end we examine the case of Seyfert/LINER galaxy NGC 4258, which is observed at high inclination angle and exhibits rapid…
In the past decades, the phenomenology of fast time variations of high-energy flux from black-hole binaries has increased, thanks to the availability of more and more sophisticated space observatories, and a complex picture has emerged.…
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are believed to be powered by accretion of matter onto a supermassive black hole. A fundamental ingredient in shaping our understanding of AGN is their variability across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.…
Recently, it has been shown that soft-state black hole X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei populate a plane in the space defined by the black hole mass, accretion rate and characteristic frequency. We show that this plane can be…
We describe how the coherence function, a Fourier frequency-dependent measure of the linear correlation between time series measured simultaneously in two energy channels, can be used in conjunction with energy spectra, power spectra, and…
Many Galactic black hole and neutron star sources in low X-ray mass binaries show QPOs (quasi periodic oscillations) in their observed X-ray fluxes, i.e. peaks in the Fourier variability power spectra. Pairs of twin peaks are observed, and…
Phase space method provides a novel way for deducing qualitative features of nonlinear differential equations without actually solving them. The method is applied here for analyzing stability of circular orbits of test particles in various…
We study some general properties of accretion disc variability in the context of stationary random processes. In particular, we are interested in mathematical constraints that can be imposed on the functional form of the Fourier…
Black hole X-ray binaries display significant stochastic variability on short time-scales (0.01-100 seconds), with a complex pattern of lags in correlated variability seen in different energy bands. This behaviour is generally interpreted…
Observations of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in X-ray binaries hold a key to understanding many aspects of these enigmatic systems. Complex appearance of the Fourier phase lags related to QPOs is one of the most puzzling observational…
We demonstrate a new method of variability classification using observations of black hole X-ray binaries. Using `power colours' -- ratios of integrated power in different Fourier frequency bands -- we can clearly differentiate different…
Black hole binary systems can emit very bright and rapidly varying X-ray signals when material from the companion accretes onto the black hole, liberating huge amounts of gravitational potential energy. Central to this process of accretion…
The variability of the X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) usually includes a change of the spectral slope. This has been investigated for a small sample of local AGNs by Sobolewska and Papadakis, who found that slope variations…
In this paper we study wave propagation and scattering near a rotating black hole. In particular, we assume a coherent emission source near the black hole and investigate the wavefront distortion as seen by a distant observer. Near the…
We discuss the observational phenomenology of Seyferts from the point of view of the disk model, and argue that the spectral variability may be related to geometrical changes of the cold matter which provides a source of seed photons for…