Related papers: Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei
We present an initial sample of 19 intermediate-mass black hole candidates in active galactic nuclei culled from the First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using the linewidth-luminosity-mass scaling relation established for…
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHs) are expected to result from galaxy mergers, and thus are natural byproducts (and probes) of hierarchical structure formation in the Universe. They are also the primary expected source of…
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…
Massive black hole binaries are naturally predicted in the context of the hierarchical model of structure formation. The binaries that manage to lose most of their angular momentum can coalesce to form a single remnant. In the last stages…
Black-hole masses of the highest redshift quasars (4 <~ z <~ 6) are estimated using a previously presented scaling relationship, derived from reverberation mapping of nearby quasars, and compared to quasars at lower redshift. It is shown…
There are very few confirmed black holes with a mass that could be $\sim\! 4\, M_\odot$ and no neutron stars with masses greater than $\sim\! 2\, M_\odot$, creating a gap in the observed distribution of compact star masses. Some black holes…
The formation of close massive black-hole binaries is a challenge for binary evolutionary models, especially the intriguing system M33 X-7 which harbours one of the most massive stellar-mass black holes (16 solar masses) orbiting a 70 solar…
In the binary black hole model of OJ 287 the secondary black hole orbits a much more massive primary, and impacts on the primary accretion disk at predictable times. We update the parameters of the disk, the viscosity $\alpha$ and the mass…
The inner 20 gravitational radii around the black hole at the centre of luminous Active Galactic Nuclei and stellar mass Black Hole Binaries are now being routinely mapped by X-ray spectral-timing techniques. Spectral blurring and…
How black holes accrete surrounding matter is a fundamental, yet unsolved question in astrophysics. It is generally believed that matter is absorbed into black holes via accretion disks, the state of which depends primarily on the…
The "no hair" theorem, a key result in General Relativity, states that an isolated black hole is defined by only three parameters: mass, angular momentum, and electric charge; this asymptotic state is reached on a light-crossing time scale.…
The Hairy Kerr black hole is a novel black hole solution that depicts a rotating space-time encompassed by an axisymmetric fluid. It has significant observational importance and is an excellent candidate for an astrophysical black hole. Our…
The consequences of nuclear black holes for the structure and dynamics of stellar spheroids are reviewed. Slow growth of a black hole in a pre-existing core produces a steep power-law density profile similar to the cusps seen in faint…
Some issues relevant for the formation of supermassive black holes are discused and estimates of the event rates for the emission of gravitational waves by coalescing supermassive black hole binaries are given. The models take into account…
We present new Gemini-North/NIRI and VLT/SINFONI H-band spectroscopy for a flux limited sample of 40 z~4.8 active galactic nuclei, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The sample probably contains the most massive active black holes…
The long-term evolution of massive black hole binaries at the centers of galaxies is studied in a variety of physical regimes, with the aim of resolving the ``final parsec problem,'' i.e., how black hole binaries manage to shrink to…
Gravitational wave detections offer insights into the astrophysical populations of black holes in the universe and their formation processes. Detections of binaries consisting of black holes lying outside the bulk distribution of the…
Supermassive black holes with up to a $\rm 10^{9}~M_{\odot}$ dwell in the centers of present-day galaxies, and their presence has been confirmed at z $\geq$ 6. Their formation at such early epochs is still an enigma. Different pathways have…
Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) are mostly found in X-ray transients, a subclass of X-ray binaries that exhibit violent outbursts. None of the 50 Galactic BHs known show eclipses, which is surprising for a random distribution of…
Binary black holes with misaligned spins will generically induce both precession and nutation of the orbital angular momentum $\bf{L}$ about the total angular momentum $\bf{J}$. These phenomena modulate the phase and amplitude of the…