Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mengye Wang, Yiqiu Ma, Qingwen Wu
Summary: In this study, the effects of gas accretion on the mass distribution and migration of stellar-mass black holes and stars in the accretion disc of active galactic nuclei are simulated and explored. It is found that stellar-mass black holes can grow up to several tens solar mass and form heavier black hole binaries. This can help us understand the black-hole mass distribution observed by ground-based gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO/Virgo, ET, and Cosmic Explorer.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bin Liu, Dong Lai
Summary: This study investigates the long-term orbital evolution of stars around merging black hole binary systems, taking into account the effect of black hole spin. The results show that, regardless of the initial black hole spin orientation, the orbital axes of stars tend to align with the black hole spin direction after the merger. This alignment phenomenon could serve as a potential signature of the merger history of massive black holes.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ludovica Varisco, Elisa Bortolas, Massimo Dotti, Alberto Sesana
Summary: The study found that the center of mass of prograde MBHBs embedded in a rotating environment starts moving on a nearly circular orbit about the center of the system shortly after the MBHB binding, while retrograde binaries remain anchored about the host center. The binary shrinking rate accelerates due to the effect of background rotation.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Imran Tariq Nasim, Cristobal Petrovich, Adam Nasim, Fani Dosopoulou, Fabio Antonini
Summary: This paper uses high-resolution N-body simulations to study the merger of two equal-mass galaxies hosting a central SMBH and the formation of SMBH binaries. The research findings suggest that binaries with high eccentricity quickly reverse their sense of rotation due to torque from the triaxial background mass distribution. This has significant implications for the detection of gravitational wave signals emitted by these systems.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ilja Jaroschewski, Julia Becker Tjus, Peter L. Biermann
Summary: The recent detections of binary stellar mass black hole mergers suggest that such mergers are common occurrences. In the presence of a jet, these mergers are almost always accompanied by a change of the jet direction and a connected jet precession motion, leading to interactions of the jet with ambient matter and producing high-energy particles, and consequently high-energy gamma-rays and neutrinos. The study investigates the possibility that these mergers could be the sources of the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux measured by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Vladimir Strokov, Giacomo Fragione, Emanuele Berti
Summary: Galactic nuclei may harbor intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), which can affect the motion of stars and compact objects through their gravitational field. This study demonstrates that the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) can provide further constraints on the mass and orbit of putative IMBHs by analyzing the Doppler-shift variations exhibited by the gravitational-wave signal from a binary system with an IMBH and a compact remnant. The authors argue that this method is particularly effective for IMBHs with masses ranging from 10(3) M-circle dot to 10(5) M-circle dot and distances of 0.1-2 mpc from the supermassive black hole, an area of the parameter space that is not well-constrained by other methods.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cayenne Matt, Kayhan Gultekin, Joseph Simon
Summary: We investigated the impact of supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass scaling relation choice on the inferred SMBH mass population since redshift z > 3. Our results show a substantial difference in predictions, especially for z > 1, suggesting a need for a deeper understanding of the potential redshift evolution of these relations. The difference in SMBH demographics resulting from different scaling relations may explain the mismatch between the signal amplitude and predictions observed in the gravitational wave background (GWB) data.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Taeho Ryu, Rosalba Perna, Yi-Han Wang
Summary: This study uses 3D hydrodynamics simulations to explore close interactions between stars and binary black holes. The results show that tidal disruption events have a significant impact on the binary orbit and the accretion rates of the black holes are highly super-Eddington, with modulations on the orbital period time-scale.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ugo N. Di Carlo, Michela Mapelli, Mario Pasquato, Sara Rastello, Alessandro Ballone, Marco Dall'Amico, Nicola Giacobbo, Giuliano Iorio, Mario Spera, Stefano Torniamenti, Francesco Haardt
Summary: The study reveals that IMBHs are most likely formed in young star clusters through runaway collisions, while the formation channel of binary BH mergers is strongly suppressed by the low escape velocity of the clusters. IMBHs are highly efficient in pairing with other BHs, with approximately 70% of them being members of a binary BH at the end of the simulations. However, no IMBH-BH mergers were found.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
David Izquierdo-Villalba, Alberto Sesana, Silvia Bonoli, Monica Colpi
Summary: The amplitude of the nano-Hz stochastic gravitational wave background resulting from an unresolved population of inspiralling massive black hole binaries is estimated. The model predicts an amplitude in agreement with current estimations and the contribution mainly comes from equal-mass binaries.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
M. Sobolenko, P. Berczik, R. Spurzem
Summary: The hierarchical merging scenario is one mechanism leading to the creation of supermassive black holes, with the ultraluminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240 being one of the strongest SMBHB candidates. Dynamical calculations in dense stellar environments show that initial physical conditions can strongly affect merging time estimations, but within certain parameters, no strong correlation is found between merging time and mass ratios. This research sets an upper limit of around 55 Myr for the merging time of central SMBHBs.
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gaia Lops, David Izquierdo-Villalba, Monica Colpi, Silvia Bonoli, Alberto Sesana, Alberto Mangiagli
Summary: The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) aims to detect gravitational waves in the frequency range of 0.1 - 100 mHz, particularly those generated by binary black holes with masses of 10^4 - 10^7 solar masses. Through a simulated universe, it is found that the identification of hosts around LISA sources is challenging due to a large number of galaxies. However, if an X-ray counterpart is associated, a small number of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be observed. Additionally, future X-ray observatories can detect inspiralling binaries with masses less than or equal to 10^6 solar masses before the merger.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Weichangfeng Guo, Daniel Williams, Ik Siong Heng, Hunter Gabbard, Yeong-Bok Bae, Gungwon Kang, Zong-Hong Zhu
Summary: In this study, we investigate the possibility of distinguishing between very short-lived gravitational wave signals from mergers between high-mass black holes and gravitational capture signals produced by a close encounter between two black holes. We compare the posterior probability distributions obtained from analyzing simulated signals from both scenarios under ideal and realistic conditions. Our results show that, while distinguishable under ideal conditions, these sources are indistinguishable under realistic conditions. This finding has important implications for the interpretation of short gravitational wave signals and calls for additional investigation.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Xiaoyue Zhang, Xian Chen
Summary: The mass and distance of a binary black hole (BBH) are important parameters to measure in gravitational wave (GW) astronomy. The measurement can be affected by cosmological redshift, Doppler and gravitational redshifts, and the lensing effect of nearby supermassive black holes (SMBHs). This study finds that there is a positive correlation between redshift and demagnification, and a higher probability for the signal to appear redshifted and demagnified. If not accounted for, this effect could bias our understanding of the origin of the detected black holes via GWs.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Review
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Ilya Mandel, Alison Farmer
Summary: This article summarizes the observations from the LIGO and Virgo detectors on gravitational waves, particularly those generated by mergers of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars. It provides theoretical predictions on the formation channels, rates, and observable properties of merging stellar-mass black hole binaries, and discusses the prospects of gravitational-wave astronomy.
PHYSICS REPORTS-REVIEW SECTION OF PHYSICS LETTERS
(2022)
