Accretion disks around black holes with gas radiating out parts of its gravitational potential energy have long served as objects of both theoretical and observational studies. By solving the structure equations of the disk it is possible to predict the outgoing radia- tive flux and the observed spectrum of the disk and test the validity of the theory against direct observations. The standard thin disk model (Shakura-Sunyaev, Novikov-Thorne) shows, however, a still unexplained non-negligible deviance in the observed spectrum at higher mass accretion rates. To amend to the set of proposed explanations, in this thesis we examine the effect of the magnetic pressure on the trapping of some of the internal energy generated by viscous dissipation processes in the disk and advecting this energy to the black hole. A phenomenological description of heat advection mediated by a highly heterogenous magnetic field will be given, as well as its effect on the spectrum and observed effective temperature. 1

吀e so-called "trumpet" initial data has recently received mu挀 a琀ention as a potential candidate for the natural black hole initial data to be used in 3+1 numerical relativity simulations with 1+log foliation. In this work we first derive a variant of the maximal trumpet initial data that is made to move on the numerical grid by the means of a Lorentz boost and write a numerical code that constructs this boosted trumpet initial data. We also write a numerical code for calculating the Krets挀mann scalar from the 3+1 variables, to be used in analysing the data from our simulations. With the help of those two codes, we study the behaviour of the boosted trumpet initial data when evolved with the BSSN formulation of the Einstein equations, using 1+log slicing and the Γ-driver shi昀 condition.

In this thesis we study exact general relativistic space-times generated by a black hole and an additional source of gravity, while restricting to two classes of static and axially symmetric solutions: the Majumdar-Papapetrou solution for a couple (in general, a multiple system) of extremally charged black holes and the "superposition" of a Schwarzschild black hole with the Bach-Weyl thin ring. We follow the effect of the additional source on the geometry of black-hole space-time on the behaviour of important invariants, in particular of the simplest scalars obtained from the Riemann and possibly also Ricci tensor. We have plotted the invariants both outside and inside the black hole; in the case of a Schwarzschild black hole with ring, we found, to this end, an extension of the metric below the horizon. It turns out that the external source may affect the geometry inside the black hole considerably, even in the vicinity of singularity, although the singularity itself remains point-like in both solutions studied here.

Cosmic black holes can act as agents of particle acceleration. We study properties of a system consisting of a rotating black hole immersed in a large-scale organized magnetic field. Electrically charged particles in the immediate neighborhood of the horizon are influenced by strong gravity acting together with magnetic and induced electric components. We relax several constraints which were often imposed in previous works: the magnetic field does not have to share a common symmetry axis with the spin of the black hole but they can be inclined with respect to each other, thus violating the axial symmetry. Also, the black hole does not have to remain at rest but it can instead perform fast translational motion together with rotation. We demonstrate that the generalization brings new effects. Starting from uniform electro-vacuum fields in the curved spacetime, we find separatrices and identify magnetic neutral points forming in certain circumstances. We suggest that these structures can represent signatures of magnetic reconnection triggered by frame-dragging effects in the ergosphere. We further investigate the motion of charged particles in these black hole magnetospheres. We concentrate on the transition from the regular motion to chaos, and in this context we explore the characteristics of chaos in...

This diploma thesis focuses on Virginia Woolf's conception of time in relation to the narrative techniques the author uses in her novels. The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse the conception of time characteristic of Woolf's prose but also to point out how closely related this conception of time is to the narrative techniques used by the author. To capture the development of Woolf's conception of time and narrative methods, the novels are analysed chronologically according to their dates of publication. Significant part of this thesis is also devoted to the philosophical, scientific and historical context in which the novels were written because the author's treatment of time and narrative techniques are directly inspired by philosophical and-scientific theories and socio-historical changes at the turn of the 20th century.

Probabilistic Spacetime is a simple generalization of the classical model of spa- cetime in General Relativity, such that it allows to consider multiple metric field realizations endowed with probabilities. The motivation for such a generalization is a possible application in the context of some quantum gravity approaches, na- mely those using the path integral. It is argued that this model might be used to restrict the precision of the geometry on small scales without postulating discrete structure; or it may be used as an effective description of a probabilistic geometry resulting from a full-fledged quantum gravity computation.

As a non-linear theory of space-time, general relativity deals with interesting dynamical systems which can be expected more prone to chaos than their Newtonian counter-parts. In this thesis, we study the dynamics of time- like geodesics in the static and axisymmetric field of a Schwarzschild black hole surrounded, in a concentric way, by a massive thin disc or ring. We reveal the rise (and/or decline) of geodesic chaos in dependence on parameters of the sys- tem (the disc/ring mass and position and the test-particle energy and angular momentum), (i) on Poincaré sections, (ii) on time series of position and their power spectra, (iii) by applying two simple yet powerful recurrence methods, and (iv) by computing Lyapunov exponents and two other related quantifiers of or- bital divergence. We mainly focus on "sticky" orbits whose different parts show different degrees of chaoticity and which offer the best possibility to test and compare different methods. We also add a treatment of classical but dissipative system, namely the evolution of a class of mechanical oscillators described by non-standard constitutive relations.

The consequences of two key approximations of accretion-disc physics near black holes are studied in this thesis. First, the question of effective ``pseudo-Newtonian" potentials mimicking a black hole is investigated both through numerical simulations and analytical means, and second, the neglect of additional gravitating matter near accreted-upon black holes and its consequences are put to test. After some broader discussion of integrability, resonance and chaos, a general "pseudo-Newtonian" limit for geodesic motion is derived, and applied for the case of null geodesics near a glowing toroid and for time-like geodesics in the Kerr metric. Afterwards, a new Newtonian gravitational potential for non- singular toroids is proposed and its usefulness for the so-called Weyl space-times is discussed. Finally, a new pseudo-Newtonian potential is introduced and applied alongside already known potentials in models of free test particle motion in the field of a black hole with a disc or ring, in complete analogy with previous exact-relativistic studies, and the previous conclusion of chaos in disc/ring-hole models is confirmed. Overall, the pseudo-Newtonian framework is able to reproduce a number of key features of the original systems with notable differences arising only as a consequence of extremely strong or...

An accretion torus is an important astrophysical phenomenon which is be- lieved to account for various features of mass inflow and release of radiation on diverse scales near stellar-mass as well as supermassive black holes. When the stationary torus is perturbed it starts to oscillate and once some part of the torus overflows the closed equipotential surface, defined by the stationary solution, this material is accreted or ejected. These oscillations reveal both spacetime properties and the intrinsic characteristics of the torus model. We study the oscillation and accretion properties of geometrically thick accretion tori using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Assuming axial symmetry these simulations are restricted to 2-D approximation. We discuss the impact of the presence of the large scale magnetic field and the profile of the specific angular momentum on the oscillation properties and on the accretion flow motion. 1

Kerr metric is one of the most well-known and useful exact solutions of Einstein equations. We study various geometric properties of the Kerr spacetime in order to gain intuition for its spatial shape. In the review part we summarize basic features of the Kerr geometry, we write down Carter equations for geodesic motion in the Kerr spacetime, and we introduce kinematic characteristics of time-like and light-like congruences, such as expansion, shear and twist. In the second part of the thesis we calculate scalars for acceleration, expansion, shear and twist - and plot the corresponding "equipotential" surfaces - for several privi- leged congruences, namely the Carter observers, the static observers, the zero-angular- momentum observers, the principal null congruence and the recently found non-twisting null congruence(s). We also draw surfaces radially equidistant from the horizon and sur- faces spatially orthogonal to the PNC and to the twist-free congruences, as well as the surfaces of constant energy and redshift for the important time-like congruences. 1