Abstract.
These lectures provide an overview of the theory of accretion disks with application to bright sources containing black holes. I focus on the fundamental physics of these flows, stressing modern developments and outstanding questions wherever possible. After a review of standard Shakura-Sunyaev based models and their problems and uncertainties, I describe the basic principles that determine the overall spectral energy distribution produced by the flow. I then describe the physics of angular momentum transport in black hole accretion disks, stressing the important role of magnetic fields. Finally, I discuss the physics of radiation magnetohydrodynamics and how it might affect the overall flow structure in the innermost regions near the black hole.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
About this paper
Cite this paper
Blaes, O.M. Course 3: Physics Fundamentals of Luminous Accretion Disks around Black Holes. In: Beskin, V., Henri, G., Menard, F., Pelletier, G., Dalibard, J. (eds) Accretion discs, jets and high energy phenomena in astrophysics. Les Houches-École d’Été de Physique Theorique, vol 78. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-39932-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-39932-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-20171-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-39932-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive