Relativistic Effects on the Appearance of a Clothed Black Hole

For an accretion disk around a black hole, the strong relativistic effects affect every aspect of the radiation from the disk, including its spectrum, light-curve, and image. This work investigates in detail how the images of a thin disk around a black hole will be distorted, and what the observer will see from different viewing angles and in different energy bands.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Based on the poster presented at the Sixth Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics (Xi'an, China, July 11-17, 2002). Color versions of figures are given separatel

Relativistic X-ray Lines from the Inner Accretion Disks Around Black Holes

Relativistic X-ray emission lines from the inner accretion disk around black holes are reviewed. Recent observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission-Newton, and Suzaku are revealing these lines to be good probes of strong gravitational effects. A number of important observational and theoretical developments are highlighted, including evidence of black hole spin and effects such as gravitational light bending, the detection of relativistic lines in stellar-mass black holes, and evidence of orbital-timescale line flux variability. In addition, the robustness of the relativistic disk lines against absorption, scattering, and continuum effects is discussed. Finally, prospects for improved measures of black hole spin and understanding the spin history of supermassive black holes in the context of black hole-galaxy co-evolution are presented. The best data and most rigorous results strongly suggest that relativistic X-ray disk lines can drive future explorations of General Relativity and disk physics.Comment: 40 pages, includes color figures, to appear in ARAA, vol 45, in pres

Spiral Structure in IP Peg: Confronting Theory and Observations

The first convincing piece of evidence of spiral structure in the accretion disc in IP Pegasi was found by Steeghs et al. (1997). We performed two kinds of 2D hydrodynamic simulations, a SFS finite volume scheme and a SPH scheme, with a mass ratio of 0.5. Both results agreed well with each other. We constructed Doppler maps and line flux-binary phase relations based on density distributions, the results agreeing well with those obtained by observation.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX with 2 ps figures using crckapb.sty. To appear in the Proceedings of Numerical Astrophysics 1998, Tokyo, Japan, 10-13 March, 1998, eds. S. M. Miyama, K. Tomisaka and T. Hanawa (Kluwer Academic Publishers

On the role of magnetic reconnection in jet/accretion disk systems

The most accepted model for jet production is based on the magneto-centrifugal acceleration out off an accretion disk that surrounds the central source (Blandford & Payne, 1982). This scenario, however, does not explain, e.g., the quasi-periodic ejection phenomena often observed in different astrophysical jet classes. de Gouveia Dal Pino & Lazarian (2005) (hereafter GDPL) have proposed that the large scale superluminal ejections observed in microquasars during radio flare events could be produced by violent magnetic reconnection (MR) episodes. Here, we extend this model to other accretion disk systems, namely: active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and young stellar objects (YSOs), and also discuss its role on jet heating and particle acceleration.Comment: To be published in the IAU Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 15, XXVII IAU General Assembly, August 2009, Ian F. Corbett et al., eds., 201

X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries

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 outbursts. The complex evolution of these sources is described in terms of common behavior patterns illustrated with comprehensive overview diagrams for six selected systems. Central to this comparison are three X-ray states of accretion, which are reviewed and defined quantitatively. Each state yields phenomena that arise in strong gravitational fields. We sketch a scenario for the potential impact of black hole observations on physics and discuss a current frontier topic: the measurement of black hole spin.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, ARAA, vol. 44, in pres

A New Parameter In Accretion Disk Model

Taking optically thin accretion flows as an example, we investigate the dynamics and the emergent spectra of accretion flows with different outer boundary conditions (OBCs) and find that OBC plays an important role in accretion disk model. This is because the accretion equations describing the behavior of accretion flows are a set of {\em differential} equations, therefore, accretion is intrinsically an initial-value problem. We argue that optically thick accretion flow should also show OBC-dependent behavior. The result means that we should seriously consider the initial physical state of the accretion flow such as its angular momentum and its temperature. An application example to Sgr A$^*$ is presented.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the Proceeding of "Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics", Aug. 1999, HongKong, Chin

Misaligned spin and orbital axes cause the anomalous precession of DI Herculis

The orbits of binary stars precess as a result of general relativistic effects, forces arising from the asphericity of the stars, and forces from additional stars or planets in the system. For most binaries, the theoretical and observed precession rates are in agreement. One system, however -- DI Herculis -- has resisted explanation for 30 years. The observed precession rate is a factor of four slower than the theoretical rate, a disagreement that once was interpreted as evidence for a failure of general relativity. Among the contemporary explanations are the existence of a circumbinary planet and a large tilt of the stellar spin axes with respect to the orbit. Here we report that both stars of DI Herculis rotate with their spin axes nearly perpendicular to the orbital axis (contrary to the usual assumption for close binary stars). The rotationally induced stellar oblateness causes precession in the direction opposite to that of relativistic precession, thereby reconciling the theoretical and observed rates.Comment: Nature, in press [11 pg

Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era

With its rapid-response capability and multiwavelength complement of instruments, the Swift satellite has transformed our physical understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Providing high-quality observations of hundreds of bursts, and facilitating a wide range of follow-up observations within seconds of each event, Swift has revealed an unforeseen richness in observed burst properties, shed light on the nature of short-duration bursts, and helped realize the promise of GRBs as probes of the processes and environments of star formation out to the earliest cosmic epochs. These advances have opened new perspectives on the nature and properties of burst central engines, interactions with the burst environment from microparsec to gigaparsec scales, and the possibilities for non-photonic signatures. Our understanding of these extreme cosmic sources has thus advanced substantially; yet more than 40 years after their discovery, GRBs continue to present major challenges on both observational and theoretical fronts.Comment: 67 pages, 16 figures; ARAA, 2009; http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/toc/astro/47/

Chandrasekhar-Kendall functions in astrophysical dynamos

Some of the contributions of Chandrasekhar to the field of magnetohydrodynamics are highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on the Chandrasekhar-Kendall functions that allow a decomposition of a vector field into right- and left-handed contributions. Magnetic energy spectra of both contributions are shown for a new set of helically forced simulations at resolutions higher than what has been available so far. For a forcing function with positive helicity, these simulations show a forward cascade of the right-handed contributions to the magnetic field and nonlocal inverse transfer for the left-handed contributions. The speed of inverse transfer is shown to decrease with increasing value of the magnetic Reynolds number.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, proceedings of the Chandrasekhar Centenary Conference, to be published in PRAMANA - Journal of Physic

The magnetic nature of disk accretion onto black holes

Although disk accretion onto compact objects - white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes - is central to much of high energy astrophysics, the mechanisms which enable this process have remained observationally elusive. Accretion disks must transfer angular momentum for matter to travel radially inward onto the compact object. Internal viscosity from magnetic processes and disk winds can in principle both transfer angular momentum, but hitherto we lacked evidence that either occurs. Here we report that an X-ray-absorbing wind discovered in an observation of the stellar-mass black hole binary GRO J1655-40 must be powered by a magnetic process that can also drive accretion through the disk. Detailed spectral analysis and modeling of the wind shows that it can only be powered by pressure generated by magnetic viscosity internal to the disk or magnetocentrifugal forces. This result demonstrates that disk accretion onto black holes is a fundamentally magnetic process.Comment: 15 pages, 2 color figures, accepted for publication in Nature. Supplemental materials may be obtained by clicking http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~jonmm/nature1655.p