In rare cases, optical observations of Galactic binary star systems which are bright in the X-ray portion of the electromagnetic spectrum dynamically constrain the mass of one component to be well above theoretical limits for a neutron star. These systems - and systems with similar X-ray properties - are classified as black hole binaries. In this thesis, I report on observations of black hole binaries made with satellite observatories in the X-ray band. The region closest to the black hole is revealed in X-rays due to the viscous heating of matter that is accreted from the companion star. X-ray observations of these systems may therefore reveal General Relativistic effects. A fundamental and testable prediction of General Relativity is that matter may orbit more closely around black holes with significant angular momentum. I have investigated the possibility of black hole "spin" and the geometry of accretion flows in these systems using X-ray continuum spectroscopy, fast variability studies, and the shape of iron fluorescent emission lines in this band. I present evidence for black hole spin in XTE J1550-564, XTE J1650-500, and XTE J1748-248. Spin is not required by high-resolution spectral analysis of the archetypical Galactic black hole - Cygnus X-1 but a thermal accretion disk plus hot corona geometry is confirmed. Studies of XTE J1118+480 and GRS 1758-258 at low X-ray luminosity reveal that models for radiatively-inefficient accretion do not satisfactorily describe the geometry in these systems.

This volume brings together contributions from many of the world's leading authorities on black hole accretion. The papers within represent part of a new movement to make use of the relative advantages of studying stellar mass and supermassive black holes, and to bring together the knowledge gained from the two approaches. The topics discussed include black hole observational and theoretical work-variability, spectroscopy, disk-jet connections, and multi-wavelength campaigns on black holes.

This thesis brings together the various techniques of X-ray spectral analysis in order to examine the properties of black holes that vary in mass by several orders of magnitude. In all these systems it is widely accepted that the X-ray emission is produced by Compton up-scattering of lower energy seed photons in a hot corona or accretion flow, and here these processes are examined through a study of the X-ray spectral variability of each source. A new technique is introduced, in which models are fitted to over 2 million X-ray spectra on time-scales as short as 16 ms, and subsequently it is shown that the nature of the correlation between intensity and spectral index is strongly dependent upon the spectral state of the black hole. Finally, the results of an extensive survey of nearby galactic nuclei using the Chandra X-ray telescope are presented in the form of images and spectra, and these results are used along with data from the literature to search for Compton-thick nuclei.

X-ray observations of active galactic nuclei and black-hole binaries offer a unique laboratory for testing general relativity in the strong-gravity regime, for studying accretion physics around black holes, and for constraining properties of accreting black holes. This book represents the author's Doctoral Thesis. It contains a brief introduction to the black-hole physics and X-ray astronomy as well as the original scientific results. A special attention is focused on black hole spin measurements employing the relativistic iron line profiles in the X-ray domain.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 3-5 November 2003