Related papers: Relativistic encounters in dense stellar systems
Understanding the predictions of general relativity for the dynamical interactions of two black holes has been a long-standing unsolved problem in theoretical physics. Black-hole mergers are monumental astrophysical events, releasing…
Multi-frequency gravitational wave (GW) observations are useful probes of the formation processes of coalescing stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs). We discuss the phase drift in the GW inspiral waveform of the merging BBH caused by its…
Study of gravitational-radiation induced merging rates of relativistic binary stars (double neutron stars; neutron star + black hole; double black holes) shows that the first-generation gravitational wave interferometers with an…
We present the first systematic study of strong binary-single and binary-binary black hole interactions with the inclusion of general relativity. When including general relativistic effects in strong encounters, dissipation of orbital…
When two black holes merge in a dense star cluster, they form a new black hole with a well-defined mass and spin. If that "second-generation" black hole remains in the cluster, it will continue to participate in dynamical encounters, form…
Galaxies with stellar bulges are generically observed to host supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The hierarchical merging of galaxies should therefore lead to the formation of SMBH binaries. Merging of old massive galaxies with little gas…
Are the stellar-mass merging binary black holes, recently detected by their gravitational wave signal, of stellar or primordial origin? Answering this question will have profound implications for our understanding of the Universe, including…
The detection of over a hundred gravitational wave signals from double compacts objects have confirmed the existence of such binaries with tight orbits. Two main formation channels are generally considered to explain the formation of these…
Observations suggest that star clusters often form in binaries or larger bound groups. Therefore, mergers between two clusters are likely to occur. If these clusters both harbor an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH; 10^{2-4} Msun) in their…
The Galactic massive black hole (MBH), with a mass of Mbh=3.6\times10^6 Solar masses, is the closest known MBH, at a distance of only 8 kpc. The proximity of this MBH makes it possible to observe gravitational waves from stars with periapse…
The observation of multiple images from a strongly lensed gravitational wave (GW) source provides the observer with a stereoscopic view of the source. This allows for a measure of its relative proper motion by comparing the induced GW…
The gravitational wave (GW) signal from binary black hole (BBH) mergers is a promising probe of Population III (Pop III) stars. To fully unleash the power of the GW probe, one important step is to understand the relative importance and…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) found in the centers of many galaxies have been recognized to play a fundamental active role in the cosmological structure formation process. In hierarchical formation scenarios, SMBHs are expected to form…
Black hole (BH) - neutron star (NS) binary mergers are not only strong sources of gravitational waves (GWs), but they are also candidates for joint detections in the GW and electromagnetic (EM) spectra. However, the possible emergence of an…
We compute the isotropic gravitational wave (GW) background produced by binary supermassive black holes (SBHs) in galactic nuclei. In our model, massive binaries evolve at early times via gravitational-slingshot interaction with nearby…
We examine how future gravitational-wave measurements from merging black holes (BHs) can be used to infer the shape of the black-hole mass function, with important implications for the study of star formation and evolution and the…
Ultra-wide triple black-holes (TBHs; with an outer orbit $>10^3$ AU) in the field can be considerably perturbed by flyby encounters with field stars by the excitation of the outer orbit eccentricities. We study the cumulative effect of such…
We derive the probability for a newly formed binary black hole (BBH) to undergo an eccentric gravitational wave (GW) merger during binary-single interactions inside a stellar cluster. By integrating over the hardening interactions such a…
The origin of the black-hole:black-hole mergers discovered through gravitational waves with for example the LIGO/Virgo collaboration are a mystery. We investigate the idea that some of these black holes originate from the centers of…
Star clusters can interact and merge in galactic discs, halos, or centers. We present direct N-body simulations of binary mergers of star clusters with $M_{\star} = 2.7 \times 10^4 \: \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ each, using the N-body code BIFROST…