Observing the effects of the event horizon in black holes

Done, C.; Gierliński, M.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06614.x

Observing the effects of the event horizon in black holes

Done, C.; Gierliński, M.

Authors

Professor Christine Done chris.done@durham.ac.uk
Professor

M. Gierliński

Abstract

The key difference between neutron stars and black holes is the presence/absence of a solid surface. Recent attempts to detect this difference have concentrated on the quiescent luminosity, but here these sources are faint and difficult to observe. Instead we look at these sources when they are bright, and show that there is a clear difference between black holes and neutron stars in the evolution of their X-ray spectra, which is due to the presence of a surface in the case of neutron stars. We also show that there is a type of X-ray spectrum that is only seen from black holes, making it a good diagnostic for the nature of new transient sources.

Citation

Done, C., & Gierliński, M. (2003). Observing the effects of the event horizon in black holes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 342(4), 1041-1055. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06614.x

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	2003-07
Deposit Date	Feb 27, 2008
Publicly Available Date	Aug 11, 2014
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN	0035-8711
Electronic ISSN	1365-2966
Publisher	Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	342
Issue	4
Pages	1041-1055
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06614.x
Keywords	Accretion discs, X-rays, Binaries.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2003 The Authors Published on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.