Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research

Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research

X-ray Signatures of Low Frequency Disk Oscillation Around Black Holes

Author:

Iryna Butsky

Mentor:

Dave Tsang, Sherman Fairchild Prize Postdoctoral Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology

In this project, we explore the correlation between quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) and vertical perturbations, known as corrugation modes, in accretion disks around black holes. We consider the resulting Fe K-alpha emission lines of black holes with different spins as well as different angles of observation. Using ray-tracing code, we create images of the disks with their corresponding intensity plots and observe their dependence on the phase of the perturbation. As we perturb the disk, we hope to detect a relationship between a corrugation mode and its respective intensity profile.


Presented by:

Iryna Butsky

Date:

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Time:

9:30 AM — 9:45 AM

Room:

Bell Tower 1422

Presentation Type:

Oral Presentation

Discipline:

Astronomy