Could There Be a Unified Spectral Model for Black Holes and Neutron Stars?

Accretion flows around black holes and neutron stars emit high energy radiation with varying spectral and timing properties. Observed timing variations, both short and long-term, point to the existence of a mechanism, dictated by the flow dynamics, and not by the stellar surface or magnetic fields, that is common in both. Spectral energy distributions of multiple sources indicate that the Comptonization process, the dominant mechanism for changing states in X-ray, takes place inside the flow that has similar physical properties in both the objects. In a series of observational and numerical studies, we enquire about the following: 1. Is there a steady state configuration for accreting matter around black holes that can explain spectral and timing properties? 2. Could a similar formalism explain spectral and timing properties of accretion around neutron stars? 3. Could there be a generalized flow configuration for accreting matter around such compact objects? Furthermore, we show that a unified spectral model can be constructed based on the generalized flow configuration, common to black holes and neutron stars.