Related papers: Supermassive Black Hole Binary Evolution in Axisym…
We propose a scenario for mass evolution of massive black holes (MBH) in galactic nuclei, to explain both the mass correlation of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) with the bulge and the down-sizing behavior of the active galactic nuclei.…
[Abridged] In galactic nuclei with sufficiently short relaxation times, binary supermassive black holes can evolve beyond their stalling radii via continued interaction with stars. We study this "collisional" evolutionary regime using both…
The growth of a supermassive black hole (BH) is determined by how much gas the host galaxy is able to feed it, which in turn is controlled by the cosmic environment, through galaxy mergers and accretion of cosmic flows that time how…
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…
Currently, there are 24 black hole (BH) X-ray binary systems that have been dynamically confirmed in the Galaxy. Most of them are low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) comprised of a stellar-mass BH and a low-mass donor star. Although the…
We examine the formation of groups of multiple supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in gas-poor galactic nuclei due to the high merger rate of galaxies at high redshifts. We calculate the relative likelihood of binary, triple, and quadruple…
If supermassive black holes (BHs) are generically present in galaxy centers, and if galaxies are built up through hierarchical merging, BH binaries are at least temporary features of most galactic bulges. Observations suggest, however, that…
During the final stages of a galaxy merger, dynamical friction acting on the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the post-merger remnant can lead to the formation of a gravitationally bound binary SMBH. In the event that at least one of…
In the $\Lambda$CDM scenario, small galaxies merge to produce larger entities. Since supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are found in galaxies of all sizes, SMBH binaries (SMBHBs) are generally expected to form during the amalgamation of…
We measure the evolution of the $M_{\rm BH}-M_*$ relation using 584 uniformly-selected SDSS quasars at $0.2<z<0.8$. The black-hole masses ($M_{\rm BH}$) are derived from the single-epoch virial mass estimator using the H$\beta$ emission…
We study the long-term evolution of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) at the centers of galaxies using detailed full three-body scattering experiments. Stars, drawn from a distribution unbound to the binary, are ejected by the…
Gravitationally bound supermassive black hole binaries (SBHBs) are thought to be a natural product of galactic mergers and growth of the large scale structure in the universe. They however remain observationally elusive, thus raising a…
Galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are believed to evolve through a process of hierarchical merging and accretion. Through this paradigm, multiple SMBH systems are expected to be relatively common in the Universe. However, to…
Sub-parsec (sub-pc) binary supermassive black holes (BSBHs) should be common from galaxy mergers, yet direct evidence has been elusive. We present HST/WFC3IR F160W imaging for a sample of 8 candidate sub-pc BSBHs at redshifts z~0.1--0.5, as…
Despite observed strong correlations between central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and star-formation in galactic nuclei, uncertainties exist in our understanding of their coupling. We present observations of the ratio of…
For a pair of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the remnant of a dual galaxy merger, well-known models exist to describe their dynamical evolution until the final coalescence accompanied by the emission of a low-frequency gravitational…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are tightly correlated with their hosts but the origin of such connection remains elusive. To explore the cosmic build-up of this scaling relation, we present an empirically-motivated model that tracks…
We study the dynamical evolution of supermassive black holes, in the late stage of galaxy mergers, from kpc to pc scales. In particular, we capture the formation of the binary, a necessary step before the final coalescence, and trace back…
While supermassive binary black holes inspiral toward merger they may also experience significant accretion of matter from a surrounding disk. We study the dynamics of this system, simultaneously describing the evolving spacetime and…
We investigate the possibility that present-day galactic haloes contain a population of massive black holes (MBHs) that form by hierarchical merging of the black hole remnants of the first stars. Some of the MBHs may be large enough or…