Related papers: The spin-flip phenomenon in supermassive black hol…
Coalescing binary black holes emit anisotropic gravitational radiation. This causes a net emission of linear momentum that produces a gradual acceleration of the source. As a result, the final remnant black hole acquires a characteristic…
We present a study on the dynamics of massive BHs in galaxy mergers, obtained from a series of high-resolution N-Body/SPH simulations. The presence of a gaseous component is essential for the rapid formation of an eccentric (Keplerian) BH…
Recent numerical relativistic simulations of black hole coalescence suggest that in certain alignments the emission of gravitational radiation can produce a kick of several thousand kilometers per second. This exceeds galactic escape…
The occurrence of pair-instability supernovae is predicted to prevent the formation of black holes with masses $\gtrsim 50 M_\odot$. Recent gravitational-wave detections in this mass range require an explanation beyond that of standard…
Up to now several gravitational-wave events from the coalescences of black hole binaries have been reported by LIGO/VIRGO, and imply that black holes should have an extended mass function. We work out the merger rate distribution of…
In this paper, the second in a series of two, we justify two important assumptions on which the result is based that in course of a galaxy merger the slingshot ejection of bound stars is sufficiently efficient to allow a supermassive black…
The vast majority of massive binary systems in the universe is evidently unsuited to produce merging binary black holes. However, several narrow evolutionary paths of isolated massive binaries towards this goal have recently been…
In this Letter we revisit arguments suggesting that the Bardeen-Petterson effect can coalign the spins of a central supermassive black hole binary accreting from a circumbinary (or circumnuclear) gas disc. We improve on previous estimates…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are a ubiquitous component of the nuclei of galaxies. It is normally assumed that, following the merger of two massive galaxies, a SMBH binary will form, shrink due to stellar or gas dynamical processes and…
Black hole spins affect the efficiency of the "classical" accretion processes, hence the radiative output from quasars. Spins also determine how much energy is extractable from the hole itself. Recently it became clear that massive black…
The dynamics of two massive black holes in a rotationally supported nuclear disc of 10^8 solar masses is explored using N-Body/SPH simulations. Gas and star particles are co-present in the disc. Described by a Mestel profile, the disc has a…
We present a detailed descriptive analysis of the gravitational radiation from black-hole binary mergers of nonspinning black holes, based on numerical simulations of systems varying from equal-mass to a 6:1 mass ratio. Our primary goal is…
In the last few years before merger, supermassive black hole binaries will rapidly inspiral and precess in a magnetic field imposed by a surrounding circumbinary disk. Multiple simulations suggest this relative motion will convert some of…
Gravitational waves emitted from a generic binary black-hole merger carry away linear momentum anisotropically, resulting in a gravitational recoil, or "kick", of the center of mass. For certain merger configurations the time evolution of…
[Abridged] [...] We study the mass and spin evolution of massive black holes within a semianalytical galaxy-formation model that follows the evolution of dark-matter halos along merger trees, as well as that of the baryonic components (hot…
We study the correlation between a part of the gravitational field at the common dynamical horizon in the strong field regime and the news of the gravitational radiation received from the system in the weak field regime, in the post-merger…
We revisit the phases of the pairing and sinking of BHs in galaxy mergers and circunmunclear disks in light of the results of recent simulations with massive BHs embedded in predominantly gaseous backgrounds. After a general overview we…
Measurements of black-hole spins are of crucial importance to fulfill the promise of gravitational-wave astronomy. On the astrophysics side, spins are perhaps the cleanest indicator of black-hole evolutionary processes, thus providing a…
We present a study of the gravitational waveforms from a series of spinning, equal-mass black hole binaries focusing on the harmonic content of the waves and the contribution of the individual harmonics to the signal-to-noise ratio. The…
At low redshift, massive black holes are found in the centers of almost all large elliptical galaxies, and also in many lower-mass systems. Their evolution is believed to be inextricably entangled with that of their host galaxies. On the…