A Determination of the Spin of the Black Hole Primary in LMC X-1 (2009)
Gou, Lijun, McClintock, Jeffrey E., Liu, Jifeng, Narayan, Ramesh, Steiner, James F., Remillard, Ronald A., ...
The first extragalactic X-ray binary, LMC X-1, was discovered in 1969. In the 1980s, its compact primary was established as the fourth dynamical black-hole candidate. Recently, we published accurate...
Precise Measurement of the Spin Parameter of the Stellar-Mass Black Hole M33 X-7 (2008)
Liu, Jifeng, McClintock, Jeffery E., Narayan, Ramesh, Davis, Shane W., Orosz, Jerome A.
In prior work, {\it Chandra} and Gemini-North observations of the eclipsing X-ray binary M33 X-7 have yielded measurements of the mass of its black hole primary and the system's orbital inclination...
The accretion flow in the disk dominated state of black hole binaries has peak temperature and luminosity which vary together in such a way as to indicate an approximately constant emitting area. The...
The UV Continuum of Quasars: Models and SDSS Spectral Slopes (2007)
Davis, Shane W., Woo, Jong-Hak, Blaes, Omer M.
We measure long (2200-4000 ang) and short (1450-2200 ang) wavelength spectral slopes \alpha (F_\nu proportional to \nu^\alpha) for quasar spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The long and short...
Socrates, Aristotle, Davis, Shane W., Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico
We show that the luminosity of a star forming galaxy is capped by the production and subsequent expulsion of cosmic rays from its interstellar medium. By defining an Eddington luminosity in cosmic...
Turbulent Comptonization in Relativistic Accretion Disks (2006)
Socrates, Aristotle, Davis, Shane W., Blaes, Omer
Turbulent Comptonization, a potentially important damping and radiation mechanism in relativistic accretion flows, is discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the physical basis, relative...
The Spin of the Near-Extreme Kerr Black Hole GRS 1915+105 (2006)
McClintock, Jeffrey E., Shafee, Rebecca, Narayan, Ramesh, Remillard, Ronald A., Davis, Shane W., Li, Li-Xin
Based on a spectral analysis of the X-ray continuum that employs a fully relativistic accretion-disk model, we conclude that the compact primary of the binary X-ray source GRS 1915+105 is a...
Self-consistent vertical structure models together with non-LTE radiative transfer should produce spectra from accretion disks around black holes which differ from multitemperature blackbodies at...
Testing Accretion Disk Theory in Black Hole X-ray Binaries (2006)
Davis, Shane W., Done, Chris, Blaes, Omer M.
We present results from spectral modeling of three black hole X-ray binaries: LMC X-3, GRO J1655-40, and XTE J1550-564. Using a sample of disk dominated observations, we fit the data with a range of...
Estimating the spin of stellar-mass black holes by spectral fitting of the X-ray continuum (2006)
Shafee, Rebecca, McClintock, Jeffrey E., Narayan, Ramesh, Davis, Shane W., Li, Li-Xin, Remillard, Ronald A.
The spin of the near-extreme Kerr black hole GRS 1915+105 (2006)
McClintock, Jeffrey E., Shafee, Rebecca, Narayan, Ramesh, Remillard, Ronald A., Davis, Shane W., Li, Li-Xin
Socrates, Aristotle, Davis, Shane W.
The radiation spectra of many of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are dominated by a hard power law component, likely powered by a hot, optically thin corona that Comptonizes soft...
Estimating the Spin of Stellar-Mass Black Holes via Spectral Fitting of the X-ray Continuum (2005)
Shafee, Rebecca, McClintock, Jeffrey E., Narayan, Ramesh, Davis, Shane W., Li, Li-Xin, Remillard, Ronald A.
We fit X-ray spectral data in the thermal dominant or high soft state of two dynamically confirmed black holes, GRO J1655-40 and 4U 1543-47, and estimate the dimensionless spin parameters a* = a/M of...
Relativistic Accretion Disk Models of High State Black Hole X-ray Binary Spectra (2004)
Davis, Shane W., Blaes, Omer M., Hubeny, Ivan, Turner, Neal J.
We present calculations of non-LTE, relativistic accretion disk models applicable to the high/soft state of black hole X-ray binaries. We include the effects of thermal Comptonization and bound-free...
Turbulent Comptonization in Black Hole Accretion Disks (2003)
Socrates, Aristotle, Davis, Shane W., Blaes, Omer
In the inner-most regions of radiation pressure supported accretion disks, the turbulent magnetic pressure may greatly exceed that of the gas. If this is the case, it is possible for bulk Alfvenic...