125 research outputs found
Galactic X-ray binary jets
With their relatively fast variability time-scales, Galactic X-ray binaries
provide an excellent laboratory to explore the physics of accretion and related
phenomena, most notably outflows, over different regimes. After comparing the
phenomenology of jets in black hole X-ray binary systems to that of neutron
stars, here I discuss the role of the jet at very low Eddington ratios, and
present preliminary results obtained by fitting the broadband spectral energy
distribution of a quiescent black hole binary with a `maximally jet-dominated'
model.Comment: Refereed version, accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
Towards a New Standard Model for Black Hole Accretion
We briefly review recent developments in black hole accretion disk theory,
emphasizing the vital role played by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stresses in
transporting angular momentum. The apparent universality of accretion-related
outflow phenomena is a strong indicator that large-scale MHD torques facilitate
vertical transport of angular momentum. This leads to an enhanced overall rate
of angular momentum transport and allows accretion of matter to proceed at an
interesting rate. Furthermore, we argue that when vertical transport is
important, the radial structure of the accretion disk is modified at small
radii and this affects the disk emission spectrum. We present a simple model
demonstrating how energetic, magnetically-driven outflows modify the emergent
disk emission spectrum with respect to that predicted by standard accretion
disk theory. A comparison of the predicted spectra against observations of
quasar spectral energy distributions suggests that mass accretion rates
inferred using the standard disk model may severely underestimate their true
values.Comment: To appear in the Fifth Stromlo Symposium Proceedings special issue of
ApS
Spin induced multipole moments for the gravitational wave flux from binary inspirals to third Post-Newtonian order
Using effective field theory techniques we calculate the source multipole
moments needed to obtain the spin contributions to the power radiated in
gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries to third Post-Newtonian
order (3PN). The multipoles depend linearly and quadratically on the spins and
include both spin(1)spin(2) and spin(1)spin(1) components. The results in this
paper provide the last missing ingredient required to determine the phase
evolution to 3PN including all spin effects which we will report in a separate
paper.Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures. Published versio
Black hole solutions in massive gravity
The static vacuum spherically symmetric solutions in massive gravity are
obtained both analytically and numerically. The solutions depend on two
parameters (integration constants): the mass M (or, equivalently, the
Schwarzschild radius), and an additional parameter, the "scalar charge" S. At
zero value of S and positive mass the standard Schwarzschild black hole
solutions are recovered. Depending on the parameters of the model and the signs
of M and S, the solutions may or may not have horizon. Those with the horizon
describe modified black holes provided they are stable against small
perturbations. In the analytically solvable example, the modified black hole
solutions may have both attractive and repulsive (anti-gravitating) behavior at
large distances. At intermediate distances the gravitational potential of a
modified black hole may mimics the presence of dark matter. Modified black hole
solutions are also found numerically in more realistic massive gravity models
which are attractors of the cosmological evolution.Comment: Original version + erratu
Jet disc coupling in black hole binaries
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 provide important information on the coupling between accretion
and ejection processes. After a brief review of the properties of black hole
binaries, I illustrate the connection between accretion and ejection through
two particularly interesting examples. First, an INTEGRAL observation of Cygnus
X-1 during a 'mini-' state transition reveals disc jet coupling on time scales
of orders of hours. Second, the black hole XTEJ1118+480 shows complex
correlations between the X-ray and optical emission. Those correlations are
interpreted in terms of coupling between disc and jet on time scales of seconds
or less. Those observations are discussed in the framework of current models.Comment: Invited talk at the Fifth Stromlo Symposium: Disks, Winds & Jets -
from Planets to Quasars. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets
The spins of ten stellar black holes have been measured using the
continuum-fitting method. These black holes are located in two distinct classes
of X-ray binary systems, one that is persistently X-ray bright and another that
is transient. Both the persistent and transient black holes remain for long
periods in a state where their spectra are dominated by a thermal accretion
disk component. The spin of a black hole of known mass and distance can be
measured by fitting this thermal continuum spectrum to the thin-disk model of
Novikov and Thorne; the key fit parameter is the radius of the inner edge of
the black hole's accretion disk. Strong observational and theoretical evidence
links the inner-disk radius to the radius of the innermost stable circular
orbit, which is trivially related to the dimensionless spin parameter a_* of
the black hole (|a_*| < 1). The ten spins that have so far been measured by
this continuum-fitting method range widely from a_* \approx 0 to a_* > 0.95.
The robustness of the method is demonstrated by the dozens or hundreds of
independent and consistent measurements of spin that have been obtained for
several black holes, and through careful consideration of many sources of
systematic error. Among the results discussed is a dichotomy between the
transient and persistent black holes; the latter have higher spins and larger
masses. Also discussed is recently discovered evidence in the transient sources
for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets and black hole spin.Comment: 30 pages. Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to
appear in hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI "The Physics of
Accretion onto Black Holes" (Springer Publisher). Changes to Sections 5.2,
6.1 and 7.4. Section 7.4 responds to Russell et al. 2013 (MNRAS, 431, 405)
who find no evidence for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets
and black hole spi
Unidentified gamma-ray sources off the Galactic plane as low-mass microquasars?
A subset of the unidentified EGRET gamma-ray sources with no active galactic
nucleus or other conspicuous counterpart appears to be concentrated at medium
latitudes. Their long-term variability and their spatial distribution indicate
that they are distinct from the more persistent sources associated with the
nearby Gould Belt. They exhibit a large scale height of 1.3 +/- 0.6 kpc above
the Galactic plane. Potential counterparts for these sources include
microquasars accreting from a low-mass star and spewing a continuous jet.
Detailed calculations have been performed of the jet inverse Compton emission
in the radiation fields from the star, the accretion disc, and a hot corona.
Different jet Lorentz factors, powers, and aspect angles have been explored.
The up-scattered emission from the corona predominates below 100 MeV whereas
the disc and stellar contributions are preponderant at higher energies for
moderate (~15 deg) and small (~1 deg) aspect angles, respectively. Yet, unlike
in the high-mass, brighter versions of these systems, the external Compton
emission largely fails to produce the luminosities required for 5 to 10 kpc
distant EGRET sources. Synchrotron-self-Compton emission appears as a promising
alternative.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Contributed paper to the "Multiwavelength
Approach to Unidentified Gamma-Ray Sources", Eds. K.S. Cheng & G.E. Romero,
to appear in Astrophysics and Space Science journa
States and transitions in black-hole binaries
With the availability of the large database of black-hole transients from the
Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, the observed phenomenology has become very
complex. The original classification of the properties of these systems in a
series of static states sorted by mass accretion rate proved not to be able to
encompass the new picture. I outline here a summary of the current situation
and show that a coherent picture emerges when simple properties such as X-ray
spectral hardness and fractional variability are considered. In particular,
fast transition in the properties of the fast time variability appear to be
crucial to describe the evolution of black-hole transients. Based on this
picture, I present a state-classification which takes into account the observed
transitions. I show that, in addition to transients systems, other black-hole
binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei can be interpreted within this framework.
The association between these states and the physics of the accretion flow
around black holes will be possible only through modeling of the full time
evolution of galactic transient systems.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, To appear in Belloni, T. (ed.): The Jet
Paradigm - From Microquasars to Quasars, Lect. Notes Phys. 794 (2009
Measuring Black Hole Spin in OJ287
We model the binary black hole system OJ287 as a spinning primary and a
non-spinning secondary. It is assumed that the primary has an accretion disk
which is impacted by the secondary at specific times. These times are
identified as major outbursts in the light curve of OJ287. This identification
allows an exact solution of the orbit, with very tight error limits. Nine
outbursts from both the historical photographic records as well as from recent
photometric measurements have been used as fixed points of the solution: 1913,
1947, 1957, 1973, 1983, 1984, 1995, 2005 and 2007 outbursts. This allows the
determination of eight parameters of the orbit. Most interesting of these are
the primary mass of , the secondary mass , major axis precession rate per period, and the
eccentricity of the orbit 0.70. The dimensionless spin parameter is
(1 sigma). The last parameter will be more tightly
constrained in 2015 when the next outburst is due. The outburst should begin on
15 December 2015 if the spin value is in the middle of this range, on 3 January
2016 if the spin is 0.25, and on 26 November 2015 if the spin is 0.31. We have
also tested the possibility that the quadrupole term in the Post Newtonian
equations of motion does not exactly follow Einstein's theory: a parameter
is introduced as one of the 8 parameters. Its value is within 30% (1 sigma) of
the Einstein's value . This supports the of black
holes within the achievable precision. We have also measured the loss of
orbital energy due to gravitational waves. The loss rate is found to agree with
Einstein's value with the accuracy of 2% (1 sigma).Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, IAU26
Low-Luminosity Accretion in Black Hole X-ray Binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei
At luminosities below a few percent of Eddington, accreting black holes
switch to a hard spectral state which is very different from the soft
blackbody-like spectral state that is found at higher luminosities. The hard
state is well-described by a two-temperature, optically thin, geometrically
thick, advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) in which the ions are
extremely hot (up to K near the black hole), the electrons are also
hot ( K), and thermal Comptonization dominates the X-ray
emission. The radiative efficiency of an ADAF decreases rapidly with decreasing
mass accretion rate, becoming extremely low when a source reaches quiescence.
ADAFs are expected to have strong outflows, which may explain why relativistic
jets are often inferred from the radio emission of these sources. It has been
suggested that most of the X-ray emission also comes from a jet, but this is
less well established.Comment: To appear in "From X-ray Binaries to Quasars: Black Hole Accretion on
All Mass Scales" edited by T. Maccarone, R. Fender, L. Ho, to be published as
a special edition of "Astrophysics and Space Science" by Kluwe
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