Instructor: Charles Bailyn
WF: 4-5:15, J. W. Gibbs Lab 263.

This is a reading and discussion course on topics related to accretion and outflows from black holes, large and small. Each week will have readings assigned, and participants are asked to submit a discussion topic, and preliminary remarks on that topic, by noon on Wednesday. Students taking the course for a grade will also complete two brief reviews of recent papers.

("FKR" refers to the textbook "Accretion Power in Astrophysics" by Frank, King & Raine)

FIRST CLASS WILL BE JAN 26
note that we will have classes during Reading Period
Part 1: Accretion

• FKR chapters 1-2 (p 1-22) - for those who don't yet have the book, a scanned copy of these chapters can be found here.
• "Present Evidence for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in ULXs and Future Prospects" Miller, 2004, arXiv:astro-ph/0412526
• "The Ultraluminous State", Gladstone, Roberts & Done, 2009, MNRAS 397, 1836. arXiv:0905:4076.

• FKR chapter 4.1-4.4 (pp 48-58)
• "Formation and Evolution of Compact Stellar X-ray Sources", Tauris & van den Heuvel, arXiv:astro-ph/0303456.
• "Late Evolution of Cataclysmic Variables", 1998, Patterson, PASP, 110, 1132.

• FKR chapter 4.5-4.8 (pp 58-73) and 5.1-5.6 (pp 80-98)
• "Black Holes in Binary Systems. Observational Appearance." 1973, Shakura & Sunyaev, A&A 24, 337.
• "Accretion: The Gold Mine Opens (Comment on Shakura & Sunyaev)", 2009, A. King, A&A, 500, 53.

• FKR chapter 5.7 (98-110) and chapter 8 (244-266)
• "Images of Accretion Disks II - Doppler Tomography", 1988, Marsh & Horne, MNRAS 235, 269.
• "Reverberation Mapping of Active Galactic Nuclei", 1993, Peterson, PASP, 105, 247.

• FKR chapter 11 (pp 319-244)
• "Advection-dominated Accretion and the Black Hole Event Horizon", 2008, Narayan & McClintock, NewAR, 51, 733, arXiv:0803.0322.

• FKR chapter 5.8-5.11 (pp 110-148) and chapter 6.6 (p. 202-207)
• "Quasi-Periodic Oscillations and Noise in Low Mass X-ray Binaries", 1989, van der Klis, ARA&A 27, 517.
• Ulrich et al. 1997, Ann. Rev. Astron. Ap 35, 445.

Mar 25-27: Spectral States

• "X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries" 2006, Remillard & McClintock, ARA&A 44, 49. arXiv:astro-ph/0606352.
• "Accretion States and Radio Loudness in Active Galactic Nuclei: Analogies with X-ray Binaries" 2006, Kording, Jester & Fender, MNRAS 372, 1366, arXiv:astro-ph/0608628.

Part 2: Jets

Mar 30 - Apr 1: AGN Unification

• FKR Chapter 7
• Urry & Padovani 1995, PASP 107, 803

• Mirabel & Rodriguez, 1999 Ann. Rev. Astro. Ap. 37, 407.
• Fender, Belloni & Gallo 2004, MNRAS 355, 1105.

Apr 15: Jet Physics I:

• FKR Chapter 9

• Marscher 2009, Lect. Notes. Phys 794 (arXiv:0909.2576) (section 1-2 first)
• Begelman, Blandford & Rees Rev. Mod. Phys 1984, 56, 255 (chapters 1, 4 first)

• Blandford & Znajek 1977, MNRAS 179, 433
• Blandford & Payne 1982, MNRAS 199, 883