Observational Evidence for Black Holes in the Universe : Proceedings of a Conference Held in Calcutta, India, January 10–17, 1998

A conference on `Observational Evidence for Black Holes in the Universe' was held in Calcutta during January 10-17, 1998. This was the first time that experts had gathered to debate and discuss topics such as: Should black holes exist? If so, how to detect them? Have we found them? This book is the essence of this gathering. Black holes are enigmatic objects since it is impossible to locate them through direct observations. State-of-the-art theoretical works and numerical simulations have given us enough clues of what to look for. Observations, from both ground and space-based missions, have been able to find these tell-tale signatures. This book is a compendium of our present knowledge about these theories and observations. Combined, they give a thorough idea of whether black holes, galactic as well as extragalactic, have been detected or not. Forty-one experts of the subject have contributed to this volume to make it the most comprehensive to date. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Accretion Disc Theory: From the Standard Model until Advection....Pages 1-18 Accretion Disks around Black Holes: Twenty Five Years Later....Pages 19-48 Viscosity in Accretion Disks....Pages 49-60 Shock Formation in Adiabatic Accretion Flows around a Kerr Black Hole....Pages 61-72 Rotating Accretion Flows near a Black Hole: A Numerical Study....Pages 73-82 Simulations of Shocks with Smoothed Particles Hydrodynamics Method....Pages 83-104 Nucleosynthesis in Advective Accretion Disks around Galactic and Extra-Galactic Black Holes....Pages 105-112 Computation of Mass-Outflow Rates from Advective Accretion Disks around Black Holes....Pages 113-122 Black Hole Solutions of Einstein’s Equations an Overview....Pages 123-140 Water Mega Masers in NGC4258....Pages 141-156 Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei....Pages 157-186 Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Massive Black Hole....Pages 187-201 Multifrequency Monitoring of Blazars....Pages 203-208 The OJ287 Supermassive Binary Black Hole Model and the New Unified Scheme for the AGNS....Pages 209-214 High Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from Blazars: Egret Observations ....Pages 215-230 Strong Gravity and X-ray Spectroscopy....Pages 231-240 My Involvement in the Early Years of Radio Astronomy....Pages 241-246 Radio Observations of Active Galactic Nuclei: Evidence for Disks and Black Holes....Pages 247-264 High Proper Motion Stars in the Vicinity of Sgr A*: Evidence for a Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy....Pages 265-278 Black Holes in Our Galaxy....Pages 279-292 Outbursts in Black Hole X-ray Transients: Clues from Multiwavelength Observations....Pages 293-308 The High-Energy Spectra of Accreting Black Holes: Viewing the Matter as It Disappears Down the Schwarzschild Drain....Pages 309-318 X-ray Spectral Variability of Black Hole Binaries....Pages 319-340 Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the X-Ray Flux from the Black Hole Candidates....Pages 341-350 X-Ray Properties of GRS 1915+105....Pages 351-368 X-ray Observation of Black Hole Novae....Pages 369-384 A Transition Disk Model Fit to Cygnus X-1....Pages 385-388 Are the X-rays Coming from the Inside of the Accretion Disk of the Black Hole ?....Pages 389-394 Back Matter....Pages 395-399