The physical interpretation of x-ray phase lags and coherence: RXTE observations of Cygnus X-1 as a case study

There have been a number of recent spectral models that have been successful in reproducing the observed X-ray spectra of galactic black hole candidates (GBHC). However, there still exists controversy over such issues as: what are the sources of hard radiation, what is the system's geometry, is the accretion efficient or inefficient, etc. A potentially powerful tool for distinguishing among these possibilities, made possible by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), is the variability data, especially the observed phase lags and variability coherence. These data, in conjunction with spectral modeling, have the potential of determining physical sizes of the system, as well as placing strong constraints on both Compton corona and advection models. As an example, we present RXTE variability data of Cygnus X-1