This volume brings together contributions from many of the world's leading authorities on black hole accretion. The papers within represent part of a new movement to make use of the relative advantages of studying stellar mass and supermassive black holes, and to bring together the knowledge gained from the two approaches. The topics discussed include black hole observational and theoretical work-variability, spectroscopy, disk-jet connections, and multi-wavelength campaigns on black holes.
Since the 1980s the cross-disciplinary, multidimensional field of links between cosmology and particle physics has been widely recognised by theorists, studying cosmology, particle and nuclear physics, gravity, as well as by astrophysicists, astronomers, space physicists, experimental particle and nuclear physicists, mathematicians and engineers.The relationship between cosmology and particle physics is now one of the important topics of discussion at any scientific meeting both on astrophysics and high energy physics.Cosmoparticle physics is the result of the mutual relationship between cosmology and particle physics in their search for physical mechanisms of inflation, baryosynthesis, nonbaryonic dark matter, and for fundamental unity of the natural forces underlying them. The set of nontrivial links between cosmological consequences of particle models and the astrophysical data on matter and radiation in the modern universe maintains cosmoarcheology, testing self-consistently particular predictions of particle models on the base of cosmological scenarios, following from them. Complex analysis of all the indirect cosmological, astrophysical and microphysical phenomena makes cosmoparticle physics the science of the world and renders quantitatively definite the correspondence between its micro- and macroscopic structure.This book outlines the principal ideas of the modern particle theory and cosmology, their mutual relationship and the nontrivial correspondence of their physical and astrophysical effects.
Accretion Power in Astrophysics examines accretion as a source of energy in both binary star systems containing compact objects, and in active galactic nuclei. Assuming a basic knowledge of physics, the authors describe the physical processes at work in accretion discs and other accretion flows. The first three chapters explain why accretion is a source of energy, and then present the gas dynamics and plasma concepts necessary for astrophysical applications. The next three chapters then develop accretion in stellar systems, including accretion onto compact objects. Further chapters give extensive treatment of accretion in active galactic nuclei, and describe thick accretion discs. A new chapter discusses recently discovered accretion flow solutions. The third edition is greatly expanded and thoroughly updated. New material includes a detailed treatment of disc instabilities, irradiated discs, disc warping, and general accretion flows. The treatment is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers.
A collection of papers using the relative advantages of studying stellar mass and supermassive black holes. The topics discussed here include the state of the art in black hole observational and theoretical work-variability, spectroscopy, disk-jet connections, and multi-wavelength campaigns on black holes.
X-ray astronomy is the prime available window on astrophysical compact objects: black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs. In this book, prominent experts provide a comprehensive overview of the observations and astrophysics of these objects. This is a valuable reference for graduate students and active researchers.
This book discusses the state of the art of the basic theoretical and observational topics related to black hole astrophysics. It covers all the main topics in this wide field, from the theory of accretion disks and formation mechanisms of jet and outflows, to their observed electromagnetic spectrum, and attempts to measure the spin of these objects. Black holes are one of the most fascinating predictions of general relativity and are currently a very hot topic in both physics and astrophysics. In the last five years there have been significant advances in our understanding of these systems, and in the next five years it should become possible to use them to test fundamental physics, in particular to predict the general relativity in the strong field regime. The book is both a reference work for researchers and a textbook for graduate students.
The observational evidence for the existence of black holes has grown significantly over recent decades. Stellar-mass black holes are detected as X-ray sources in binary systems, while supermassive black holes, with masses more than a million times the mass of the Sun, lurk in the nuclei of galaxies. These proceedings provide a useful and up-to-date overview of the observations of black holes in binaries, in the center of the Milky Way, and in the nuclei of galaxies, presented by leading expert astronomers. Special attention is given to the formation (including the recent evidence from gamma-ray bursts), physical properties, and demographics of black holes.
Provides a comprehensive summary on the physical models and current theory of black hole accretion, growth and mergers, in both the supermassive and stellar-mass cases. This title reviews in-depth research on accretion on all scales, from galactic binaries to intermediate mass and supermassive black holes. Possible future directions of accretion are also discussed. The following main themes are covered: a historical perspective; physical models of accretion onto black holes of all masses; black hole fundamental parameters; and accretion, jets and outflows. An overview and outlook on the topic is also presented. This volume summarizes the status of the study of astrophysical black hole research and is aimed at astrophysicists and graduate students working in this field. Originally published in Space Science Reviews, Vol 183/1-4, 2014.
