Related papers: Black Holes in Astrophysics
Neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes are the after death remnants of massive stars. However, according to the most recent observations, the neutron stars maximum mass is between $2.0-2.5 M_{\odot}$ while black holes of less than 5…
Estimation of the black hole mass in bright X-ray sources of nearby galaxies is crucial to the understanding of these systems and their formation. However, the present allowed black hole mass range spans five order of magnitude (10Msun < M…
The spin of a black hole is an important quantity to study, providing a window into the processes by which a black hole was born and grew. Further, spin can be a potent energy source for powering relativistic jets and energetic particle…
Black holes in General Relativity are known as Kerr black holes and are characterized solely by two parameters, the mass $M$ and the spin $J$. All the higher multipole moments of the gravitational field are functions of these two…
We report upper limits on the masses of black holes that can be present in the centers of 16 nearby galaxy bulges. These limits for our statistically complete sample were derived from the modeling of the central emission-line widths ([N II]…
We review the likely population, observational properties, and broad implications of stellar-mass black holes and ultraluminous x-ray sources. We focus on the clear empirical rules connecting accretion and outflow that have been established…
This review summarizes the observational constraints on the mass spectrum of compact objects in X-ray binaries. We currently have 20 X-ray binaries with confirmed black holes, based on dynamical information (i.e. mass in excess of 3 Msun).…
We derive the theoretical distribution function of black hole masses by studying the formation processes of black holes. We use the results of recent 2D simulations of core-collapse to obtain the relation between remnant and progenitor…
Supermassive black holes with masses of millions to billions of solar masses are commonly found in the centers of galaxies. Astronomers seek to image jet formation using radio interferometry, but still suffer from insufficient angular…
The majority of known Galactic black holes reside in low-mass X-ray binaries. They are rare and fascinating objects, providing unique information on strong gravity, accretion disc physics, and stellar and binary evolution. There is no doubt…
In accordance with current models of the accelerating Universe as a spacetime with a positive cosmological constant, new results about a cosmological upper bound for the area of stable marginally outer trapped surfaces are found taking into…
Recent surveys suggest that most or all normal galaxies host a massive black hole with 1/100 to 1/1000 of the visible mass of the spheroid of the galaxy. Various lines of argument suggest that these galaxies have merged at least once in our…
The compact X-ray source in the eclipsing X-ray binary IC 10 X-1 has reigned for years as ostensibly the most massive stellar-mass black hole, with a mass estimated to be about twice that of its closest rival. However, striking results…
Since a black hole does not emit light from its interior, nor does it have a surface on which light from nearby sources can be reflected, observational study of black hole physics requires observing the gravitational impact of the black…
Massive black holes appear to be present in the nuclei of almost all galaxies, but their genesis and evolution are not well understood. As astrophysical black holes are completely characterized by their masses and spins, the observed joint…
Black holes represent extreme conditions of physical laws. Being predicted about a century ago, they are now accepted as astrophysical reality by most of the scientific community. Only recently more direct evidence of their existence has…
This work considers the idea of massive black holes being the constituents of the Galactic dark matter halo. It constrains the maximum black hole mass to $\mbh \sil 5 \times 10^4 \msun$ by examining their influence on the population of…
Stellar mass black holes (SMBHs), forming by the core collapse of very massive, rapidly rotating stars, are expected to exhibit a high density accretion disk around them developed from the spinning mantle of the collapsing star. A wide…
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…
Our Galaxy contains some 10^8 to 10^9 collapsed objects (neutron stars and black holes). Our knowledge of them is based on less than 2000 objects identified as radio pulsars, members of X-ray binaries and magnetars. In this review I shall…