2020年诺贝尔物理学奖授予黑洞研究领域,其中一半授予罗杰?彭罗斯(Roger Penrose),以表彰他在黑洞形成理论方面的研究工作,另一半则联合授予莱因哈德?根泽尔(Reinhard Genzel)和安德里亚?格兹(Andrea Ghez),以表彰他们在银河系中心超大致密物体质量测量方面的研究.文章介绍黑洞的研究历史和现状、三位学者的贡献以及现代黑洞天体物理研究的展和展望.

Mergers of neutron star–neutron star (NS–NS) or neutron star–black hole (NS–BH) binaries are candidate sources of gravitational waves (GWs). At least a fraction of the merger remnants should be a stellar mass BH with sub-relativistic ejecta. A collimated jet is launched via the Blandford–Znajek mechanism from the central BH to trigger a short gamma-ray burst (sGRB). At the same time, a near-isotropic wind may be driven by the Blandford–Payne mechanism (BP). In previous work, additional energy injection to the ejecta from the BP mechanism was ignored, and radioactive decay has long been thought to be the main source of the kilonova energy. In this Letter, we propose that the wind driven by the BP mechanism from the newborn BH’s disk can heat up and push the ejecta during the prompt emission phase or even at late times when there is fall-back accretion. Such a BP-powered merger-nova could be bright in the optical band even for a low-luminosity sGRB. The detection of a GW merger event with a BH clearly identified as a remnant, accompanied by a bright merger-nova, would provide robust confirmation of our model.

An X-ray plateau followed by a steep decay (" internal plateau") has been observed in both long and short gammaray burst (GRBs), implying that a millisecond magnetar operates in some GRBs. The sharp decay at the end of the plateau, marking the abrupt cessation of the magnetar's central engine, has been considered the collapse of a supramassive magnetar into a black hole (BH) when it spins down. If this " internal plateau" is indeed evidence of a magnetar central engine, the natural expectation in some candidates would be a signature from the newborn BH. In this work, we find that GRB 070110 is a particular case which shows a small X-ray bump following its " internal plateau." We interpret the plateau as a spin-down supra-massive magnetar and the X-ray bump as fallback BH accretion. This indicates that a newborn BH is likely active in some GRBs. Therefore, GRB 070110-like events may provide further support to the magnetar central engine model and enable us to investigate the properties of the magnetar as well as the newborn BH.

Recently, two empirical correlations related to the minimum variability timescale (MTS) of the light curves are discovered in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). One is the anti-correlation between MTS and Lorentz factor Gamma, and the other is the anti-correlation between the MTS and gamma-ray luminosity L-gamma. Both of the two correlations might be used to explore the activity of the central engine of GRBs. In this paper, we try to understand these empirical correlations by combining two popular black hole central engine models (namely, the Blandford & Znajek mechanism (BZ) and the neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF)). By taking the MTS as the timescale of viscous instability of the NDAF, we find that these correlations favor the scenario in which the jet is driven by the BZ mechanism.

A magnetic model for the low/hard state (LHS) of two black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs), H1743–322 and GX 339–4, is proposed based on transport of the magnetic field from a companion into an accretion disk around a black hole (BH). This model consists of a truncated thin disk with an inner advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The spectral profiles of the sources are fitted in agreement with the data observed at four different dates corresponding to the rising phase of the LHS. In addition, the association of the LHS with a quasi-steady jet is modeled based on transport of magnetic field, where the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) and Blandford-Payne (BP) processes are invoked to drive the jets from BH and inner ADAF. It turns out that the steep radio/X-ray correlations observed in H1743–322 and GX 339–4 can be interpreted based on our model.

A stellar-mass black hole (BH) surrounded by a neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF) has been discussed in a number of works as the central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). It is widely believed that NDAF cannot liberate enough energy for bright GRBs. However, these works have been based on the assumption of a "no torque" boundary condition, which is invalid when the disk is magnetized. In this paper, we present both numerical and analytical solutions for NDAFs with non-zero boundary stresses and reexamine their properties. We find that an NDAF with such a boundary torque can be powerful enough to account for those bright short GRBs, energetic long GRBs, and ultra-long GRBs. The disk becomes viscously unstable, which makes it possible to interpret the variability of GRB prompt emission and the steep decay phase in the early X-ray afterglow. Finally, we study the gravitational waves radiated from a processing BH-NDAF. We find that the effects of the boundary torque on the strength of the gravitational waves can be ignored.

A model for 3:2 high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HFQPOs) with 3:2 pairs observed in four black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) is proposed by invoking the epicyclic resonances with the magnetic connection (MC) between a spinning black hole (BH) with a relativistic accretion disc. It turns out that the MC can be worked out due to Poynting-Robertson cosmic battery (PRCB), and the 3:2 HFQPO pairs associated with the steep power-law states can be fitted in this model. Furthermore, the severe damping problem in the epicyclic resonance model can be overcome by transferring energy from the BH to the inner disc via the MC process for emitting X-rays with sufficient amplitude and coherence to produce the HFQPOs. In addition, we discuss the important role of the magnetic field in state transition of BHXBs.

The well-known correlation between the radio luminosity (L_R) and the X-ray luminosity (L_X) L_R / L_X ≃ 10^-5 holds for a variety of objects like active galactic nuclei, galactic black holes, solar flares and cool stars. Here we extend the relation to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and find the GRBs also lay on the same L_R-L_X relation, with a slightly different slope as L_R ∝ L_X^1.1. This relation implies the explosions in different scales may have a common underlying origin.

The continued observations of Sw J1644+57 in X-ray and radio bands accumulated a rich data set to study the relativistic jet launched in this tidal disruption event. We find that the re-brightening feature in the radio light curve can be naturally explained by the two-component jet model. The possible origin of this structured jet are the Blandford-Znajek and Blandford-Payne mechanisms. We also show that this two-component jet model can interpret the two kinds of quasi-periodic variations in the X-ray light curve: a 200 second quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) and a 2.7day quasi-periodic variation. The latter is interpreted by a precessing outer jet launched near the Bardeen-Petterson radius of a warped disk. The ∼ 200s QPO could be associated with a second, narrower jet sweeping the observer line-of-sight periodically, which is launched from a spinning black hole in the misaligned direction with respect to the black hole’s angular momentum.

The well-known correlation between radio luminosity ( L R ) and X-ray luminosity ( L X ), L R / L X ≈ 10 −5 , holds for a variety of objects, such as active galactic nuclei, Galactic black holes, solar flares and cool stars. Here we extend the relation to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and find that the GRBs also obey a similar L R − L X relation, with a slightly different slope of L R ∝ L X 1.1 . This relation implies that the explosions that occur on different scales may have a common underlying origin.

The continued observations of Sw J1644+57 in X-ray and radio bands accumulated a rich data set to study the relativistic jet launched in this tidal disruption event. We find that the re-brightening feature in the radio light curve can be naturally explained by the two-component jet model. The possible origin of this structured jet are the Blandford-Znajek and Blandford-Payne mechanisms. We also show that this two-component jet model can interpret the two kinds of quasi-periodic variations in the X-ray light curve: a 200 second quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) and a 2.7day quasi-periodic variation. The latter is interpreted by a precessing outer jet launched near the Bardeen-Petterson radius of a warped disk. The ∼ 200s QPO could be associated with a second, narrower jet sweeping the observer line-of-sight periodically, which is launched from a spinning black hole in the misaligned direction with respect to the black hole’s angular momentum.

The continued observations of Sw J1644+57 in X-ray and radio bands accumulated a rich data set to study the relativistic jet launched in this tidal disruption event. The X-ray light curve of Sw J1644+57 from 5-30 days presents two kinds of quasi-periodic variations: a 200 second quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) and a 2.7-day quasi-periodic variation. The latter has been interpreted by a precessing jet launched near the Bardeen-Petterson radius of a warped disk. Here we suggest that the $\sim$ 200s QPO could be associated with a second, narrower jet sweeping the observer line-of-sight periodically, which is launched from a spinning black hole in the misaligned direction with respect to the black hole's angular momentum. In addition, we show that this two-component jet model can interpret the radio light curve of the event, especially the re-brightening feature starting $\sim 100$ days after the trigger. From the data we infer that inner jet may have a Lorentz factor of $\Gamma_{\rm j} \sim 5.5$ and a kinetic energy of $E_{\rm k,iso} \sim 3.0 \times 10^{52} {\rm erg}$, while the outer jet may have a Lorentz factor of $\Gamma_{\rm j} \sim 2.5$ and a kinetic energy of $E_{\rm k,iso} \sim 3.0 \times 10^{53} {\rm erg}$.

Taking into account the energy and angular momentum transferred from a rotating black hole (BH) to the inner accretion disk by the magnetic connection (MC) process, we simulate the x-ray spectra from the disk-corona system with two different magnetic configurations using the Monte Carlo method. The results show that the MC process reduces the ratio of the power dissipated in the corona to the total and softens the spectrum. The influence of the MC process is stronger with a higher BH spin, a larger accretion rate, and a larger and more centralized magnetic flux threading the disk. The comparison of the model spectra with the observational data suggests that large-scale magnetic fields accumulating in the inner disk could be a candidate explanation for the hard-to-soft state evolutions in BH binaries.

A universal radio-X-ray correlation (F-R alpha F-X(b), b similar to 0.5-0.7) has been found for a sample of black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) in their low/hard states. This can roughly be explained by a coupled model of a jet and radiatively inefficient advection-dominated accretion flow. However, more and more 'outliers' have been found in the last few years, which evidently deviate from the universal radio-X-ray correlation and usually show a much steeper correlation with an index of similar to 1.4. Based on simple physical assumptions, it is speculated that radiatively efficient accretion flows occur in these outliers. In this work, we test this hypothesis by modelling the outliers track based on the radiatively efficient disc-corona model and the hybrid jet model. We find that our model predicts a steeper radio-X-ray correlation, with slopes greater than or similar to 1.2 for typical viscosity values of alpha similar to 0.05-0.2. In particular, the slope is similar to 1.4 for the case alpha similar to 0.1, which is consistent with observational results for H1743-322. Our results suggest that the outliers track might be regulated by the disc-corona model.

A disk-corona model for fitting the low/hard (LH) state of the associated steady jet in black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs) is proposed based on the large-scale magnetic field configuration that arises from the coexistence of the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) and Blandford-Payne (BP) processes, where the magnetic field configuration for the BP process is determined by the requirement of energy conversion from Poynting energy flux into kinetic energy flux in the jet. It is found that corona current is crucial to guarantee the consistency of the jet launching from the accretion disk. The relative importance of the BZ and BP processes in powering jets from black hole accretion disks is discussed, and the LH state of several BHXBs is fitted based on our model. In addition, we suggest that magnetic field configuration can be regarded as the second parameter for governing the state transition of BHXBs.

Recent observations suggest that in black hole X-ray binaries jet/outflow formation is related to the hot plasma in the vicinity of the black hole, either in the form of an advection-dominated accretion flow at low accretion rates or in a disk corona at high accretion rates. We test the viability of this scenario for supermassive black holes using two samples of active galactic nuclei distinguished by the presence (radio-strong) and absence (radio-weak) of well-collimated, relativistic jets. Each is centered on a narrow range of black hole mass but spans a very broad range of Eddington ratios, effectively simulating in a statistical manner the behavior of a single black hole evolving across a wide spread in accretion states. Unlike the relationship between the radio and optical luminosity, which shows an abrupt break between high- and low-luminosity sources at an Eddington ratio of ∼1%, the radio emission—a measure of the jet power—varies continuously with the hard X-ray (2–10 keV) luminosity, roughly as . This relation, which holds for both radio-weak and radio-strong active galaxies, is similar to the one seen in X-ray binaries. Jet/outflow formation appears to be closely linked to the conditions that give rise to the hot, optically thin coronal emission associated with accretion flows, both in the regime of low and high accretion rates.

The quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black hole (BH) systems with different scales are interpreted based on the magnetic reconnection of large-scale magnetic fields generated by toroidal electric currents flowing in the inner region of the accretion disk, where the current density is assumed to be proportional to the mass density of the accreting plasma. The magnetic connection (MC) is taken into account in resolving dynamic equations describing the accretion disk, in which the MC between the inner and outer disk regions, between the plunging region and the disk, and between the BH horizon and the disk are involved. It turns out that a single QPO frequency associated with several BH systems with different scales can be fitted by invoking the magnetic reconnection due to the MC between the inner and outer regions of the disk, including the BH binaries XTE J1859+226, XTE J1650-500 and GRS 1915+105 and the massive BHs in NGC 5408 X-1 and RE J1034+396. In addition, the X-ray spectra corresponding to the QPOs for these sources are fitted based on the typical disk-corona model.

OBJECTIVE: Mutation of the KRAS (v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue) gene plays an important role in colorectal tumorigenesis. This study examined associations between KRAS gene mutations and clinicopathological and survival data in Chinese patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: CRC patients were recruited for the detection of KRAS gene mutations using polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Data on clinicopathological features and survival times were collected. RESULTS: The study included 78 CRC patients. The overall mutation frequency of the KRAS gene at codons 12 and 13 was 33.3% (26/78). KRAS gene mutations were significantly associated with poor tumour differentiation and liver metastasis. Patients with the wild-type KRAS gene had significantly higher median survival times than patients with KRAS gene mutations (35.05 months versus 25.72 months). Those with KRAS gene mutations at codons 12 or 13 did not have significantly different median survival times (25.69 months versus 20.67 months, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a high frequency of KRAS gene mutations exists in Chinese patients with CRC, and that such mutations are associated with poor survival, tumour differentiation and liver metastasis in CRC patients.