Accretion Disks - New Aspects: New Aspects: Proceedings of the Eara Workshop Held in Garching, Germany, 21-23 October 1996 (Lecture Notes in Physics)

The most luminous compact objects are powered by accretion of mass. Accretion disks are the one common and fundamental element of these sources on widely different scales, ranging from close stellar binaries, galactic black holes and X-ray pulsars to active galactic nuclei (AGN). Key new developments in theory and observations, reviewed by experts in the field, are presented in this book. The contributions to the workshop cover the puzzles presented by the X-UV spectra of AGN and their variability, the recent numerical simulations of magnetic fields in disks, the remarkable behavior of the superluminal source 1915+105 and the "bursting pulsar" 1744-28, to mention a few of the topics. X-ray Spectrum Of Low-mass X-ray Binaries / Y. Tanaka -- Black Holes In X-ray Binaries / J. Van Paradijs -- Gx 339-4: Hard X-ray Observations; Possible Mechanism For Transient Outbursts / S. Trudolyubov, M. Gilfanov And E. Churazov [and Others] -- Spectral And Temporal Variations Of The X-ray Emission From Black Hole And Neutron Star Binaries / M. Gilfanov, E. Churazov And R. Sunyaev -- X-ray Spectrum Of A Disk Illuminated By Ions / H.c. Spruit -- Anisotropic Illumination Of Accretion Disc In Seyfert I Galaxies / P.o. Petru And G. Henri -- Disc Instabilities And Binary Evolution / A.r. King -- Dwarf Nova Outbursts: A Unification Theory / Y. Osaki -- Radiation Transfer In Disks Of Cvs / W. Hummel, K. Horne And T. Marsh [et Al.] -- Modelling Magnetised Accretion Discs / A. Brandenburg And C. Campbell -- Causal Viscosity In Accretion Disc Boundary Layers / W. Kley And J.c.b. Papaloizou. Emmi Meyer-hofmeister, Henk Spruit (eds.). Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. A review of key developments in the field of accretion disks. It covers topics such as: puzzles presented by the X-UV spectra of AGN and their variability; numerical simulations of magnetic fields in disks; the behaviour of the superluminal source 1915+105; and the "bursting pulsar" 1744-28.