This review covers the main aspects of black hole accretion disk theory. We begin with the view that one of the main goals of the theory is to better understand the nature of black holes themselves. In this light we discuss how accretion disks might reveal some of the unique signatures of strong gravity: the event horizon, the innermost stable circular orbit, and the ergosphere. We then review, from a first-principles perspective, the physical processes at play in accretion disks. This leads us to the four primary accretion disk models that we review: Polish doughnuts (thick disks), Shakura-Sunyaev (thin) disks, slim disks, and advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs). After presenting the models we discuss issues of stability, oscillations, and jets. Following our review of the analytic work, we take a parallel approach in reviewing numerical studies of black hole accretion disks. We finish with a few select applications that highlight particular astrophysical applications: measurements of black hole mass and spin, black hole vs. neutron star accretion disks, black hole accretion disk spectral states, and quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs).

中文翻译：

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黑洞吸积盘理论的基础。

本综述涵盖了黑洞吸积盘理论的主要方面。我们首先认为该理论的主要目标之一是更好地理解黑洞本身的性质。有鉴于此，我们讨论吸积盘如何揭示强引力的一些独特特征：事件视界、最里面的稳定圆形轨道和能层。然后，我们从第一原理的角度回顾吸积盘中起作用的物理过程。这导致我们回顾了四种主要的吸积盘模型：波兰甜甜圈（厚盘）、Shakura-Sunyaev（薄）盘、薄盘和平流主导吸积流（ADAF）。介绍模型后，我们讨论稳定性、振荡和射流问题。在回顾分析工作之后，我们采用并行方法回顾黑洞吸积盘的数值研究。我们最后选择了一些突出特定天体物理应用的应用：黑洞质量和自旋的测量、黑洞与中子星吸积盘、黑洞吸积盘光谱状态和准周期振荡 (QPO)。