The mass of the black hole separated from the mass of the maser disk is calculated using the mega-maser technique for 15 maser-galaxies and the corresponding Magorrian relationship (inline1) is analysed.

Einstein Telescope (ET), a the future third generation gravitational wave detector will be sensitive to gravitational wave signal down to 1 Hz. We present an algorithm to estimate the parameters of the low mass merging compact binary systems such as localisation, chirp mass, redshift, mass ratios and total mass of the source which are crucial in order to estimate the capability of ET to study various compact binary populations. We analysed the compact binary populations of (i) Pop I and Pop II, (ii) Pop III, and (iii) globular clusters, with single ET.

The six LIGO detections of merging black holes (BHs) allowed to infer slow spin values for the two pre-merging BHs. The three cases where the spins of the BHs can be determined in high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) show that those BHs have high spin values. We discuss here scenarios explaining these differences in spin properties in these two classes of object.

A summary is given of the present state of our knowledge of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), their formation and expected future evolution. Among the HMXB-systems that contain neutron stars, only those that have orbital periods upwards of one year will survive the Common-Envelope (CE) evolution that follows the HMXB phase. These systems may produce close double neutron stars with eccentric orbits. The HMXBs that contain black holes do not necessarily evolve into a CE phase. Systems with relatively short orbital periods will evolve by stable Roche-lobe overflow to short-period Wolf-Rayet (WR) X-ray binaries containing a black hole. Two other ways for the formation of WR X-ray binaries with black holes are identified: CE-evolution of wide HMXBs and homogeneous evolution of very close systems. In all three cases, the final product of the WR X-ray binary will be a double black hole or a black hole neutron star binary.

Basic questions about black holes, some of which are fairly old, include (1) What is a black hole? (2) Do black holes exist? And the answer to this depends a good deal on the answer to (1), (3) Where, when, why, and how have they formed? and (4) What are they good for? Here I attempt some elaboration of the questions and partial answers, noting that general relativity is required to described some of the phenomena, while dear old Isaac Newton is OK for others.

The second generation instrument of the VLTI, GRAVITY, is expected to reach an astrometric accuracy of about 10 μas. It will thus possible to probe the spacetime close to the compact source Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the Galactic Center by using accurate astrometric observations of the second closest star to the Galactic Center, S2. In particular, we show that combining GRAVITY and spectrograph instruments will allow us to detect several relativistic effects such as pericenter advance or the Lense-Thirring effect.

The early phase of coalescence of supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) from their host galaxies provides a guaranteed source of low-frequency gravitational wave (GW) radiation by pulsar timing observations. Nowadays, SMBHBs are ubiquitous in the nuclei of galaxies. A latest sample of close galaxy pairs has been released from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data. A binary population synthesis (BPS) approach has been applied to study the characteristics of clusters and galaxies. Here we report how BPS, using SDSS results, can be used to determine the GW radiation from SMBHBs. In this study we show numerical results under the assumption that SMBHBs formed through the merger of two galaxies and give the waveform evolution using post-Newtonian approximation methods. Based on the sensitivity of the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA) and Square Kilometer Array (SKA) detectors, we show that the value of strain amplitude h can be changed from about 10−14 to 10−15 during the observation of 20 years, which can be considered as a precise evolution.

Recent observations have revealed various structures within the gravitational influence of Sgr A* – the massive black hole in the Galactic center. These structures apparently defy the fundamental principles of star formation and stellar dynamics. On one hand, the red giants display a flat density profile, contrary to the cuspy one predicted by conventional stellar relaxation. On the other, Wolf-Rayet and OB stars are observed where in-situ star formation should have been prohibited by the strong tidal force from Sgr A*, and their spatial and phase-space distributions also contradict our understanding of stellar dynamics. To explain each of these inconsistencies, many scenarios have been proposed, which render the model increasingly complicated. Here, we suggest that the sub-parsec stellar disk surrounding Sgr A*, which was recently discovered, can reconcile all the above inconsistencies. We show that during the fragmenting past of this disk, the star-forming clumps could efficiently deplete red giants by repeatedly colliding with them. We also show that because of the torque exerted by the disk, stars within the central arcsec from Sgr A* would quickly mix in the angular-momentum space, which naturally explains the observed distributions of Wolf-Rayet and OB stars. Our results imply that Sgr A* was fueled by gas and stars several millions years ago and could have been an energetic AGN. We discuss future observations that can further testify our model.

Active galaxies are most luminous objects in the universe whose spectra are characterized by both permitted and forbidden emission line features. The spectra of Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars contain strong and broad emission lines of wide ranging ionization potentials. The velocity widths of the lines range from a minimum of ≈ 500 km/s for narrow lines to a maximum of 20,000 km/sec for broad lines. The UV spectra of the active galaxies contain strong and broad emission lines such as Lyα, NV, SiIV, OIV], CIV, CIII] and MgII lines. The widths of the broad lines are attributed to the differential doppler shifts of the emission lines due to the bulk motions of individual clumpy gas clouds in the BLR region. We have anlysed UV spectra of Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars from IUE satellite archival database to understand the nature of dependence of the emission line properties with the underlying UV continuum. We have undertaken line luminosity correlation studies for Lyα and CIV lines with their underlying UV continuum luminosity at 1125Å, 1425Å & 1625Å. The IUE archival spectra have been reduced for galactic reddening using the E(B-V) and NHI values published continuum luminosity has been observed at 1125Å, 1425Å & 1625Å. The Lyα line line has exhibited strongest linear correlation wavelengths while CIV line has shown at 1425Å and 2625Å wavelengths. These results are empirically consistent with the predictions of the general multi-component photo-ionization models suggesting that the central strong UV continuum has been reprocessed by the clumpy gas clouds of the broad emission region (BLR). A detailed account of the data reduction, UV flux measurement and the significance of line-luminosity correlations are discussed in this paper.

We calculate the expected microlens light curves to see what aspects of flow structures can be extracted by microlensing.We specifically pick up a disk-corona model as a model for bright quasars.We then expect distinct behaviour in the soft and hard X-ray microlens variations. Since soft X-ray emission is produced by Compton up-scattering of soft (optical-UV) photons from the innermost part of the disk, while hard X-ray radiation is via bremsstrahlung within the corona of a large volume, the model calculations predict more rapid soft X-ray changes than hard X-ray ones. Further, bright spots (or blobs) on the disk will produce humps in the microlens light curves. Future microlens observations will constrain such emission processes, thereby probing accretion flow structure.

The past year has seen major advances in the observational status of Stellar Tidal Disruption, with the discovery of two strong optical candidates in archived SDSS data and the real-time X-ray detection of Swift J1644+57, plus rapid radio and optical follow-up establishing it as a probable Tidal Disruption Flare (TDF) in “blazar mode”. These observations motivated a workshop devoted to discussion of such events and of the theory of their emission and flare rate. Observational contributions included a presentation of Swift J2058+05 (a possible second example of a TDF in blazar mode), reports on the late-time evolution and X-ray variability of the two Swift events, and a proposal that additional candidates may be evidenced by spectral signatures in SDSS. Theory presentations included models of radio emission, theory of light curves and the proposal that GRB101225A may be the Galactic tidal disruption of a neutron star, an interpretation of Swift J1644+57 as due to the disruption of a white dwarf instead of main-sequence star, calculation of the dependence of the TDF rate on the spin of the black hole, and analysis of the SDSS events, fitting their SEDs to profiles of thoretical emission from accretion disks and showing that their luminosity and rate are consistent with the proposal that TDEs can be responsible for UHECR acceleration.

We describe the results of our numerical simulations of the collapse of a massive stellar core to a BH, performed in the framework of full general relativity incorporating finite-temperature equation of state and neutrino cooling. We adopt a 100 M⊙ presupernova model calculated by Umeda & Nomoto (2008), which has a massive core with a high value of entropy per baryon. Changing the degree of rotation for the initial condition, we clarify the dependence of the outcome on this. When the rotation is rapid enough, the shock wave formed at the core bounce is deformed to be a torus-like shape. Then, the infalling matter is accumulated in the central region due to the oblique shock at the torus surface, hitting the hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) and dissipating the kinetic energy there. As a result, outflows can be launched. The HMNS eventually collapses to a BH and an accretion torus is formed around it. We also found that the evolution of the BH and torus depends strongly on the rotation initially given.

In this paper we investigate the quasi periodic oscillation (QPO) behavior of the black hole candidate GX 339-4 during its 2010 outburst using RXTE/PCA data. We perform spectral and timing analysis of the observations, where the QPOs are observed. We analyze the relationship between the centroid frequency of QPO and the spectral parameters. The correlation of spectral and timing properties can be used to estimate the mass of black hole with the scaling method. Using this method we estimate a mass of 7.5 ± 0.8 M⊙ of GX 339-4.