On stars orbiting massive black holes
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This thesis shows that a star orbiting a massive hole can interact with the hole and the hole's attendant disc in many ways, and produce quasi-periodic electro-magnetic (EM) signals. It is possible to use these signals to learn about the space-time around the hole, to probe the parameters of the hole, and even to test General Relativity (GR) in the strong-field regime. One model is about the collisions of a star bound to a massive hole and the accretion disc of the hole. When the star crosses the innermost region of the disc, the stellar orbit precesses, and signals produced by star-disc collisions are quasi-periodic. The temporal behavior of these signals provides information about the mass and spin of the hole. Another model discussed is the Roche mass-transfer of a star. A star approaches a massive hole slowly in a circular, equatorial orbit. When the star fills its Roche lobe, mass will start to transfer through the first Lagrange point, on a time scale between the thermal time and the dynamical time. The stellar orbit expands following the onset of mass-transfer in most cases, in order to keep on filling the Roche lobe. The stream forms a torus around the hole, and a hot spot is formed where the stream hits the torus. This orbiting hot spot will give a quasi-periodic modulation to the hole's quiescent radiation, for an inclined observer. From the period and intensity the modulation flux, we can constrain the hole's parameters. There will be coupled EM and gravitational wave signals produced during this Roche process, giving a good test of GR.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Dai, Lixin |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics |
| Primary advisor | Blandford, Roger D |
| Thesis advisor | Blandford, Roger D |
| Thesis advisor | Romani, Roger W. (Roger William) |
| Thesis advisor | Wagoner, Robert V |
| Advisor | Romani, Roger W. (Roger William) |
| Advisor | Wagoner, Robert V |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Lixin Dai. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2012. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by Lixin Dai
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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