Astrophysics Webinar
Linking Accretion Processes in Compact Objects to the Formation and Evolution of Large Scale Structures
Speaker: Dr. Nazma Islama (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, USA)
Accretion drives the most powerful sources in the Universe, from X-ray binaries and Cataclysmic Variables to Active Galactic Nuclei. Despite the variety of these systems, there are several ‘universal’ laws that govern the accretion flows in them. Understanding these systems is crucial for studying a broad range of astrophysical topics, such as the formation and evolution of galaxies and clusters, chemical enrichment, star and binary formation, and feedback on the early Universe.
In this talk, I will present results from recent studies of eclipsing binaries - hosting neutron stars and white dwarfs - which helps us disentangle the X-ray emitting regions in them. I will also discuss how structures in the stellar winds of supergiant stars can cause super-orbital modulations in supergiant High Mass X-ray binaries. The second part of my talk will focus on the distribution of hot gas in elliptical galaxies. This distribution of hot gas and its chemical abundance contain signatures of astrophysical processes such as AGN feedback and mergers, offering powerful diagnostics of their formation and evolutionary history. Finally, I will highlight the prospects offered by new X-ray missions like XRISM and IXPE, which promise major advances into our understanding of these systems through high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray polarimetry.