ar X iv : a st ro - p h / 05 06 46 9 v 1 20 J un 2 00 5 A unified model for black hole X - ray binary jets ?

Relativistic jets are a fundamental aspect of accretion onto black holes on all scales. They can carry away a large fraction of the available accretion power in collimated flows which later energise particles in the ambient medium. The removal of this accretion power and angular momentum must have a dramatic effect on the overall process of accretion. In their most spectacular form they are associated with supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN), and with Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), the most powerful and explosive engines in the Universe respectively. However, parallel processes, observable on humanly-accessible timescales, are occurring in the accretion onto black holes and neutron stars in binary systems within our own galaxy. We (Fender, Belloni & Gallo 2004; hereafter FBG04) have recently published a ’unified’ model for the ’disc-jet’ coupling in galactic black hole binaries. In the next few pages we shall quickly summarise this model.