Related papers: The final parsec problem: aligning a binary with a…
Mergers of gas-rich galaxies are key events in the hierarchical built-up of cosmic structures, and can lead to the formation of massive black hole binaries. By means of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations we consider the late stages…
With hydrodynamic simulations we show that a coplanar disc around one component of a binary can be unstable to global tilting when the disc orbits in a retrograde direction relative to the binary. The disc experiences the largest…
For a successful detection of gravitational waves by LISA, it is essential to construct theoretical waveforms in a reliable manner. We discuss gravitational waves from an extreme mass ratio binary system which is expected to be a promising…
Recently several gravitational wave detections have shown evidence for compact object mergers. However, the astrophysical origin of merging binaries is not well understood. Stellar binaries are typically at much larger separations than what…
We study the effect of external companion on the orbital and spin evolution of merging black-hole (BH) binaries. An sufficiently close by and inclined companion can excite Lidov-Kozai (LK) eccentricity oscillations in the binary, thereby…
Based on the consideration of potential energy of the di-black-hole as a function of mass asymmetry (transfer) collective coordinate, the possibility of matter transfer between the black holes in a binary system is investigated. The…
The dynamics of a binary system moving in the background of a black hole is affected by tidal forces. In this work, for the Kerr black hole, we derive the electric and magnetic tidal moments at quadrupole order, where the latter are…
Binary-black-hole (BBH) mergers can take place close to a supermassive black hole (SMBH) while being in a bound orbit around the SMBH. In this paper, we study such bound triple systems and show that including the strong gravity effects of…
I calculate the specific angular momentum of mass accreted by a binary system embedded in the dense wind of a mass losing asymptotic giant branch star. The accretion flow is of the Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton type. For most of the relevant…
We study the interplay between gas accretion and gravity torques in changing a binary elements and its total angular momentum (L) budget. Especially, we analyse the physical origin of the gravity torques (T_g) and their location within the…
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…
We study the warping and tearing of a geometrically thin, non-self-gravitating disk surrounding binary supermassive black holes on an eccentric orbit. The circumbinary disk is significantly misaligned with the binary orbital plane, and is…
The behavior of quasi-local black hole horizons in a binary black hole merger is studied numerically. We compute the horizon multipole moments, fluxes and other quantities on black hole horizons throughout the merger. These lead to a better…
An accretion disk formed around a supermassive black hole (SMBH) after it disrupts a star is expected to be initially misaligned with respect to the black hole's equatorial plane. This misalignment induces relativistic torques (the…
Circumbinary disks crucially affect the orbital and electromagnetic properties of binary systems across the universe, from stars in our galactic neighborhood to supermassive black hole binaries formed as the result of tumultuous galactic…
Merging supermassive black hole binaries is expected as a consequence of galaxy mergers, yet the detailed evolution path and underlying merging mechanisms of these binaries are still subject to large theoretical uncertainties. In this work,…
At the final stages of a supermassive black hole coalescence, the emission of gravitational waves will efficiently remove energy and angular momentum from the binary orbit, allowing the separation between the compact objects to shrink. In…
External accretion events such as a galaxy merger or the accretion of gas from the immediate environment of a galaxy, can create a large misalignment between the gas and the stellar kinematics. Numerical simulations have suggested that…
We analyze in detail the spin precession equations in binary black hole systems, when the tidal torque on a Kerr black hole due to quadrupole-monopole coupling is taken into account. We show that completing the precession equations with…
We study the orbital evolution and accretion history of massive black hole (MBH) pairs in rotationally supported circumnuclear discs up to the point where MBHs form binary systems. Our simulations have high resolution in mass and space…