Related papers: Numerical Models of Accretion Disks
We use the microlensing variability observed for eleven gravitationally lensed quasars to show that the accretion disk size at a rest-frame wavelength of 2500 Angstroms is related to the black hole mass by log(R_{2500}/cm)=(15.78\pm0.12) +…
We model the reflected spectrum expected from localized magnetic flares above an ionised accretion disk. We concentrate on the case of very luminous magnetic flares above a standard accretion disk extending down to the last stable orbit,…
Accretion disk instabilities are briefly reviewed. Some details are given to the short-wavelength thermal instabilities and the convective instabilities. Time-dependent calculations of two-dimensional advection-dominated accretion flows are…
In Keplerian accretion disks, turbulence and magnetic fields may be jointly excited through a subcritical dynamo process involving the magnetorotational instability (MRI). High-resolution simulations exhibit a tendency towards statistical…
We discuss the possibility that astrophysical accretion disks are dynamically unstable to non-axisymmetric disturbances with characteristic scales much smaller than the vertical scale height. The instability is studied using three methods:…
We calculate the ionization fraction of protostellar alpha disks, taking into account vertical temperature structure, and the possible presence of trace metal atoms. Both thermal and X-ray ionization are considered. Previous investigations…
Axisymmetric accretion disks in vicinity of a central compact body are studied. For the simple models such as vertically isothermal disks as well as adiabatic ones the exact solutions to the steady-state MHD (magneto-hydrodynamic) system…
Quasar microlensing effects make it possible to measure the accretion disc sizes around distant supermassive black holes that are still well beyond the spatial resolution of contemporary instrumentation. The sizes measured with this…
The detection of fast quasi-periodic variability from accreting black holes and neutron stars has been used to constrain their masses, radii, and spins. If the observed oscillations are linear modes in the accretion disks, then bounds can…
We explore the thermodynamic and global structural properties of a local patch of an accretion disk whose parameters were chosen so that radiation pressure and gas pressure would be comparable in magnitude. Heating, radiative transport, and…
We present a novel way to investigate scalar field profiles around black holes with an accretion disc for a range of models where the Compton wavelength of the scalar is large compared to other length scales. By analysing the problem in…
We discuss how disk models may limit the scope of identifying astrophysical black holes. We show that the standard Keplerian thin disk model, the thick disk model, slim disks, ADAFs etc. are fundamentally limited. We present the most…
We present the results of a series of radiation-MHD simulations of a local patch of an accretion disk, with fixed vertical gravity profile but with different surface mass densities and a broad range of radiation to gas pressure ratios. Each…
We calculate the structure of accretion disks around Kerr black holes for accretion rates 0.001 - 10 M_sun/s. Such disks are plausible candidates for the central engine of gamma-ray bursts. Our disk model is fully relativistic and treats…
These notes introduce and review some of the physical principles underlying the theory of astrophysical accretion, emphasizing the central roles of angular momentum transport, angular momentum loss, and radiative cooling in determining the…
We review some of the interesting consequences that tilts, warps, and eccentricities can introduce into the dynamics, thermodynamics, and observational appearance of accreting systems, with an emphasis on disks around black holes and…
We use the mean-field dynamo equations to show that an incoherent alpha effect in mirror-symmetric turbulence in a shearing flow can generate a large scale, coherent magnetic field. We illustrate this effect with simulations of a few simple…
A solid theoretical understanding of how inflowing, accreting plasma around black holes and other compact objects gives rise to outflowing winds and jets is still lacking, despite decades of observations. The fact that similar processes and…
The effect of an accretion disk on the Blandford-Znajek process and the evolution of a black hole are discussed using a simplified system for the black hole - accretion disk in which the accretion rate is supposed to be dominated by the…
I review recent activity in the field of intermediate polars, concentrating on: the mode of accretion (disc-fed, disc-overflow or discless); accretion curtains (the transition region and the accretion footprint); X-ray pulse profiles…