Related papers: Advection-Dominated Accretion and Black Hole Event…
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…
Recent work on the modes of accretion onto black holes (BHs) in Soft X-Ray Transients (SXTs) is reviewed, with an emphasis on uncertainties affecting models of accretion during quiescence (inner hot flow, outer thin disk). Various…
Astronomers have discovered many candidate black holes in X-ray binaries and in the nuclei of galaxies. The candidate objects are too massive to be neutron stars, and for this reason they are considered to be black holes. While the evidence…
Astronomers have discovered many potential black holes in X-ray binaries and galactic nuclei. These black holes are usually identified by the fact that they are too massive to be neutron stars. Until recently, however, there was no…
Astronomers have discovered many potential black holes in X-ray binaries and galactic nuclei. These black holes are usually identified by the fact that they are too massive to be neutron stars. Until recently, however, there was no…
We review the properties and behavior X-ray binaries that contain an accreting black hole. The larger majority of such systems are X-ray transients, and many of them were observed in daily pointings with RXTE throughout the course of their…
We consider the X-ray luminosity difference between neutron star and black hole soft X-ray transients (NS and BH SXTs) in quiescence. The current observational data suggest that BH SXTs are significantly fainter than NS SXTs. The…
When the mass accretion rate onto a black hole (BH) falls below a critical rate, ${\dot M}_{crit}\sim \alpha^2 {\dot M}_{Edd}$, accretion can occur via a hot optically thin flow where most of the dissipated energy is advected inward. We…
In general relativity, isolated black holes are invisible due to an infinitely large redshift of photons propagating from the event horizon to the remote observer. However, the dark shadow (silhouette) of a black hole can be visible on the…
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,…
Black hole binaries exhibit dramatic changes in their X-ray spectral and timing properties over time, providing important clues about the physical processes that occur in these systems. Black holes and black hole candidates are prime…
The key difference between neutron stars and black holes is the presence/absence of a solid surface. Recent attempts to detect this difference have concentrated on the quiescent luminosity, but here these sources are faint and difficult to…
Roughly a dozen X-ray binaries are presently known in which the compact accreting primary stars are too massive to be neutron stars. These primaries are identified as black holes, though there is as yet no definite proof that any of the…
As the luminosity of an accreting black hole drops to a few percent of Eddington, the spectrum switches from the familiar soft state to a hard state that is well-described by a distended and tenuous advection-dominated accretion flow…
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…
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…
Recently, Narayan, Garcia and McClintock showed that there is a difference in the quiescent luminosities of black hole and neutron star x-ray nova: when the quiescent, Eddington scaled luminosities are compared, every black hole x-ray nova…
Recent X-ray observations have detected a class of very faint X-ray transients in the Galaxy which probably reveal a previously unrecognised type of accretion on to neutron stars or black holes. We show that these systems cannot have…
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…
The RossiXTE mission provided us with an unprecedentedly large database of X-ray observations of transient black-hole candidates. These systems are crucial for the understanding of the physical properties of mass accretion onto black holes.…