The Physics of Accretion onto 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.

Professor Maurizio Falanga is the Science Program Manager at the International Space Science Institute. His research areas include high-energy astrophysics, observations and numerical simulations.

Professor Tomaso Belloni is a senior scientist at INAF’s Brera Astronomical Observatory. He is an expert in X-ray astronomy, accreting sources and time series analysis.

Dr. Piergiorgio Casella is an astronomer at INAF's Rome Astronomical Observatory. He is an expert in high-energy astrophysics, accretion and jet physics.

Professor Marat Gilfanov is a senior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. His research areas include theoretical and observational astrophysics, black holes and galaxies.

Professor Peter Jonker is an astronomer at SRON. He is an expert in high-energy astrophysics and observations.

Professor Andrew King is a senior scientist at the University of Leicester. He is an expert in theoretical astrophysics, accretion, black holes and galaxies.