Relativistic reflection features are commonly observed in the X-ray spectra of stellarmass and supermassive black holes and originate from illumination of the inner part of the accretion disk by a hot corona. All the available relativistic reflection models assume that the disk is infinitesimally thin and the inner edge is at the innermost stable circular orbit or at a larger radius. However, we know that several sources, especially among supermassive black holes, have quite high mass accretion rates. In such a case, the accretion disk becomes geometrically thick and the inner edge of the disk is expected to be inside the innermost stable circular orbit. In this work, we employ the Polish donut model to describe geometrically thick disks and we study the iron line shapes from similar systems. We also simulate full reflection spectra and we analyze the simulated observations with a thin disk relativistic reflection model to determine the impact of the disk structure on the estimation of the model parameters, in particular in the case of tests of the Kerr hypothesis.

A fraction of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the surface of a geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disk of a black hole returns to the disk because of the strong light bending in the vicinity of the compact object (returning radiation). While such radiation clearly affects the observed spectrum of the source, it is often neglected in theoretical models. In the present paper, we study the impact of the returning radiation on relativistic reflection spectra. Assuming neutral material in the disk, we estimate the systematic uncertainties on the measurement of the properties of the system when we fit the data with a theoretical model that neglects the returning radiation. Our NICER simulations show that the inclination angle of the disk and the black hole spin parameter tend to be overestimated for low viewing angles, while no clear bias is observed for high viewing angles. The iron abundance of the disk is never overestimated. In the most extreme cases (in particular, for maximally rotating black holes), the returning radiation flattens the radial emissivity beyond a few gravitational radii. In such cases, it also produces residuals that cannot be compensated for by adjusting the parameters of models that neglect the returning radiation. This may be an important issue for the interpretation of data from future X-ray missions (e.g., Athena). When we simulate some observations with NuSTAR and fit data above 10 keV, we find that some conclusions that are valid for the NICER simulations are no longer true (e.g., we can obtain a high iron abundance).

X-ray reflection spectroscopy (or iron line method) is a powerful tool to probe the strong gravity region of black holes, and currently is the only technique for measuring the spin of the supermassive ones. While all the available relativistic reflection models assume thin accretion disks, we know that several sources accrete near or above the Eddington limit and therefore must have thick accretion disks. In this work, we employ the Polish donut model for the description of thick disks. We thus estimate the systematic error on the spin measurement when a source with a thick accretion disk is fitted with a thin disk model. Our results clearly show that spin measurements can be significantly affected by the morphology of the accretion disk. Current spin measurements of sources with high-mass accretion rate are therefore not reliable.

Relativistic reflection features in the X-ray spectra of black hole binaries and active galactic nuclei are thought to be produced through illumination of a cold accretion disk by a hot corona. In this work, we assume that the corona has the shape of an infinitesimally thin disk with its central axis the same as the rotational axis of the black hole. The corona can either be static or corotate with the accretion disk. We calculate the disk’s emissivity profiles and iron line shapes for a set of coronal radii and heights. We incorporate these emissivity profiles into relxill_nk and we simulate some observations of a black hole binary with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array to study the impact of a disk-like coronal geometry on the measurement of the properties of the system, and in particular, on the possibility of testing the Kerr nature of the source. We find that, in general, the astrophysical properties of the accretion disk are recovered well even if we fit the data with a model employing a broken power law or a lamppost emissivity profile, while it is more challenging to constrain the geometric properties of the black hole spacetime.

Detection of the first stars has remained elusive so far but their presence may soon be unveiled by upcoming JWST observations. Previous studies have not investigated the entire possible range of halo masses and redshifts that may help in their detection. Motivated by the prospects of detecting galaxies up to z ∼ 20 in the JWST early data release, we quantify the contribution of Population III stars to high-redshift galaxies from 6 ≤ z ≤ 30 by employing the semianalytical model a-sloth, which self-consistently models the formation of Population III and Population II stars along with their feedback. Our results suggest that the contribution of Population III stars is the highest in low-mass halos of 107–109 M ⊙. While high-mass halos ≥1010 M ⊙ contain less than 1% Population III stars, they host galaxies with stellar masses of 109 M ⊙ as early as z ∼ 30. Interestingly, overall the apparent magnitude of Population III stars gets brighter toward higher redshift due to the higher stellar masses, but Population III–dominated galaxies are too faint to be directly detected with JWST. Our results predict JWST can detect galaxies up to z ∼ 30, which may help in constraining the initial mass function of Population III stars and will guide observers to discern the contribution of Population III stars to high-redshift galaxies.