Related papers: Estimating the final spin of a binary black hole c…
We study dynamics and radiation generation in the last few orbits and merger of a binary black hole system, applying recently developed techniques for simulations of moving black holes. Our analysis of the gravitational radiation waveforms…
We prove that merging supermassive black holes (SMBHs) typically have neither equal masses, nor is their mass ratio too extreme. The majority of such mergers fall into the mass ratio range of 1:30 to 1:3, implying a spin flip during the…
We have used our new technique for fully numerical evolutions of orbiting black-hole binaries without excision to model the last orbit and merger of an equal-mass black-hole system. We track the trajectories of the individual apparent…
The gravitational wave signature of a binary black hole (BBH) merger is dependent on its component mass and spin. If such black holes originate from rapidly rotating progenitors, the large angular momentum reserve in the star could drive a…
We present the results of 61 new simulations of nonprecessing spinning black hole binaries with mass ratios $q=m_1/m_2$ in the range $1/3\leq q\leq1$ and individual spins covering the parameter space $-0.85\leq\alpha_{1,2}\leq0.85$. We…
Binary black-hole systems with spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum are of special interest as they may be the preferred end-state of the inspiral of generic supermassive binary black-hole systems. In view of this, we have…
We study the spin dynamics of individual black holes in a binary system. In particular we focus on the polar precession of spins and the possibility of a complete flip of spins with respect to the orbital plane. We perform a full numerical…
Recently, many gravitational wave events from compact binary mergers have been detected by LIGO. Determining the final mass and spin of the remnant black holes (RBHs) is a fundamental issue and is also important in astrophysics. In this…
We study identical mass black hole binaries with spins perpendicular to the binary's orbital plane. These binaries have individual spins ranging from $s/m^2=-0.90$ to 0.90, ($s_1 = s_2$ in all cases) which is near the limit possible with…
We present the first fully-nonlinear numerical study of the dynamics of highly spinning black-hole binaries. We evolve binaries from quasicircular orbits (as inferred from Post-Newtonian theory), and find that the last stages of the orbital…
Binary black-hole systems with spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum are of special interest, as studies indicate that this configuration is preferred in nature. If the spins of the two bodies differ, there can be a prominent…
Astrophysical black holes could be nearly extremal (that is, rotating nearly as fast as possible); therefore, nearly extremal black holes could be among the binaries that current and future gravitational-wave observatories will detect.…
The last gravitational waves emitted in the coalescence of two black holes are quasi-normal ringing modes of the merged remnant. In general relativity, the mass and the spin of the remnant black hole uniquely determine the frequency and…
Recent studies of accretion onto supermassive black hole binaries suggest that much, perhaps most, of the matter eventually accretes onto one hole or the other. If so, then for binaries whose inspiral from ~1 pc to 0.001 - 0.01 pc is driven…
The prediction of the spin of the black hole resulting from the merger of a generic black-hole binary system is of great importance to study the cosmological evolution of supermassive black holes. Several attempts have been recently made to…
We demonstrate that in binary black hole mergers there is a direct correlation between the frequency of the gravitational wave at peak amplitude and the mass and spin of the final black hole. This correlation could potentially assist with…
Astrophysically realistic black holes may have spins that are nearly extremal (i.e., close to 1 in dimensionless units). Numerical simulations of binary black holes are important tools both for calibrating analytical templates for…
Gravitational waves emitted during the merger of two black holes carry information about the remnant black hole, namely its mass and spin. This information is typically found from the ringdown radiation as the black hole settles to a final…
We study the coalescence of non-spinning binary black holes from near the innermost stable circular orbit down to the final single rotating black hole. We use a technique that combines the full numerical approach to solve Einstein…
Black holes of mass M must have a spin angular momentum S below the Kerr limit chi = S/M^2 < 1, but whether astrophysical black holes can attain this limiting spin depends on their accretion history. Gas accretion from a thin disk limits…