Unified Accretion Disk Models Around Black Holes and Neutron Stars and Their Spectral Properties

We review the current understanding of accretion flows around compact objects with a special emphasis on advective disks. We discuss the influence of the centrifugal pressure supported high density region around compact objects (where shocks may also form) on the emitted spectra. We show that the stationary and non-stationary spectral properties (such as, low and high states, transition of states, quasi-periodic oscillations, quiescent and rising phases of X-ray novae, etc.) of both low mass and supermassive black hole candidates could be satisfactorily explained within the framework of the analytical solution of the advective disks without invoking any ad hoc components such as Compton clouds or magnetic corona.