STELLAR MASS BLACK HOLES IN TRANSIENT X-RAY BINARIES
Charles Bailyn (Yale)
Over the past decade, direct dynamical evidence for the
existence of black holes has been found in over a dozen
transient X-ray binary systems. In quiescence, traditional
techniques of binary star astronomy allow us to determine
the geometry of the systems unambiguously. In the course
of their outbursts, they cycle through a wide variety
of different accretion states. This combination makes
these systems ideal for constraining the physics of
relativistic accretion flows. I will review the properties
of these dynamically confirmed black hole binary systems,
and discuss the implications of recently obtained multiwavelength
observations of them.
