Spectro-temporal signatures of accretion flows around Galactic Black Holes

Abstract

A system of two stars in which one is a black hole (BH) is referred to as a black hole binary (BHB). In a BHB, it is possible to have mass transfer from the secondary star (companion star) to the primary black hole. Matter from the secondary star is transferred to the BH by accretion, which is a highly efficient process in converting rest mass energy into radiation. BHB systems emit significant radiation, mainly in X-rays and has helped astrophysicists and astronomers to study the physical processes leading to this emission. Several X-ray astronomy missions have been commissioned in the last few decades to observe such sources. The BH X-ray binaries (XRBs) usually have phases of significant X-ray activity known as outbursts in between quiescent states. We use data from several X-ray observatories to carry out spectro-temporal analysis, modelling of the data and interpretation of the source characteristics during the outburst phase of Galactic Black Holes (GBHs).