191 research outputs found
Modelling spectral and timing properties of accreting black holes: the hybrid hot flow paradigm
The general picture that emerged by the end of 1990s from a large set of
optical and X-ray, spectral and timing data was that the X-rays are produced in
the innermost hot part of the accretion flow, while the optical/infrared (OIR)
emission is mainly produced by the irradiated outer thin accretion disc. Recent
multiwavelength observations of Galactic black hole transients show that the
situation is not so simple. Fast variability in the OIR band, OIR excesses
above the thermal emission and a complicated interplay between the X-ray and
the OIR light curves imply that the OIR emitting region is much more compact.
One of the popular hypotheses is that the jet contributes to the OIR emission
and even is responsible for the bulk of the X-rays. However, this scenario is
largely ad hoc and is in contradiction with many previously established facts.
Alternatively, the hot accretion flow, known to be consistent with the X-ray
spectral and timing data, is also a viable candidate to produce the OIR
radiation. The hot-flow scenario naturally explains the power-law like OIR
spectra, fast OIR variability and its complex relation to the X-rays if the hot
flow contains non-thermal electrons (even in energetically negligible
quantities), which are required by the presence of the MeV tail in Cyg X-1. The
presence of non-thermal electrons also lowers the equilibrium electron
temperature in the hot flow model to <100 keV, making it more consistent with
observations. Here we argue that any viable model should simultaneously explain
a large set of spectral and timing data and show that the hybrid
(thermal/non-thermal) hot flow model satisfies most of the constraints.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. To be published in the Space Science Reviews
and as hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of
Accretion on to Black Holes (Springer Publisher
Proton Elastic and Inelastic Scattering at Intermediate Energies from Isotopes of Oxygen and 9-Be as Part of a Unified Study of these Nuclei
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grants NSF PHY 78-22774 A03, NSF PHY 81-14339, and by Indiana Universit
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
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