Modelling aperiodic X-ray variability in black hole binaries as propagating mass accretion rate fluctuations: a short review

Abstract

Black hole binary systems can emit very bright and rapidly varying X-ray signals when material from the companion accretes onto the black hole, liberating huge amounts of gravitational potential energy. Central to this process of accretion is turbulence. In the propagating mass accretion rate fluctuations model, turbulence is generated throughout the inner accretion flow, causing fluctuations in the accretion rate. Fluctuations from the outer regions propagate towards the black hole, modulating the fluctuations generated in the inner regions. Here, I present the theoretical motivation behind this picture before reviewing the array of statistical variability properties observed in the light curves of black hole binaries that are naturally explained by the model. I also discuss the remaining challenges for the model, both in terms of comparison to data and in terms of including more sophisticated theoretical considerations.

6 pages, 4 figures, Invited review at the XMM-Newton 2015 Science Workshop, The Extremes of Black Hole Accretion, ESAC, Madrid, Spain, 8th - 10th June 2015, accepted for publication in Astronomische Nachrichten