Accreting Black Holes

Understand

I outline the theory of accretion onto black holes, and its application to observed phenomena such as X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts.

• The dynamics as well as radiative signatures of black hole accretion depend on interactions between the relatively simple black-hole spacetime and complex radiation, plasma and magnetohydrodynamical processes in the surrounding gas.
• I will show how transient accretion processes could provide clues to these interactions.
• Larger global magnetohydrodynamic simulations as well as simulations incorporating plasma microphysics and full radiation hydrodynamics will be needed to unravel some of the current mysteries of black hole accretion.