US-Germany Cooperative Research: Accretion Geometry in Galactic Black Holes

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

0233441 Nowak This award supports the PI, postdoctoral and graduate students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a collaboration with Joern Wilms of the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. Together, the US and German groups will compare models for the x-ray spectra and timing behavior of galactic black holes with observational data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Black holes provide one of the most extreme environments for high-energy astrophysical processes. Observational data are now showing evidence of broadband spectra and rapid high-energy variability, but interpretation in terms of underlying physical mechanisms remains difficult. The current collaboration will combine the expertise of the PI's group and that of the German group to provide an important link between theory and observations. The project also has an educational objective. The project will allow the graduate and postdoctoral students involved to benefit from performing research in another country. They will develop a heightened appreciation of the world around them while also learning important new technical skills.