Related papers: A census of transient orbital resonances encounter…
Systems of two black holes with unbound orbits can produce a diverse array of gravitational wave signals with rich morphology. This parameter space encompasses both hyperbolic orbit scattering events and dynamical captures, including…
We analyze the inspiral dynamics of equal-mass precessing black-hole binaries using multi-timescale techniques. The orbit-averaged post-Newtonian evolutionary equations admit two constants of motion in the equal-mass limit, namely the…
Two important parameters inferred from the gravitational wave signals of binaries of precessing black holes are the spin tilt angles, i.e., the angles at which the black holes' spin axes are inclined with respect to the binary's orbital…
There are three regimes of gravitational-radiation-reaction-induced inspiral for a compact body with mass mu, in a circular, equatorial orbit around a Kerr black hole with mass M>>mu: (i) The "adiabatic inspiral regime", in which the body…
A circumbinary disc around a pair of merging stellar-mass black holes may be shocked and heated during the recoil of the merged hole, causing a near-simultaneous electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational wave event. The shocks occur…
Much of the parameter space relevant to the evolution of astrophysical circumbinary accretion discs remains unexplored. We have carried out a suite of circumbinary disc simulations surveying both disc thickness and kinematic viscosity,…
When binary black holes form in the field, it is expected that their orbits typically circularize before coalescence. In galactic nuclei and globular clusters, binary black holes can form dynamically. Recent results suggest that…
The majority of extrasolar planets discovered to date have significantly eccentric orbits, some if not all of which may have been produced through planetary migration. During this process, any planets interior to such an orbit would…
Compact remnants on orbits with peri-apses close to the Schwarzschild radius of a massive black hole (MBH) lose orbital energy by emitting gravitational waves (GWs) and spiral in. Scattering with other stars allows successful inspiral of…
We analytically study the linear response of a near-extremal Kerr black hole to external scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational field perturbations. We show that the energy density, electromagnetic field strength, and tidal force…
Mean motion resonances are commonly seen in planetary systems, e.g., in the formation of orbital structure of Jupiter's moons and the gaps in the rings of Saturn. In this work we study their effects in fully relativistic systems. We…
Gravitational waves from precessing binary black holes exhibit new features that are absent in non-precessionary systems. All current waveform models take into account only the modulation of the signal due to precession. In this letter, we…
This short note serves as an introduction to gravitational radiation through reviewing the inspiral-plunge transition phase in extreme mass ratio binaries. We study the relativistic motion of a compact object (CO) of mass $m$ around a…
A massive black hole (MBH) in a galactic center drives a flow of stars into nearly radial orbits to replace those it destroyed. Stars whose orbits cross the event horizon r_s or the tidal disruption radius r_t are promptly destroyed in an…
We discuss a cornucopia of potential astrophysical signatures and constraints on magnetically charged black holes of various masses. As recently highlighted, being potentially viable astrophysical candidates with immense electromagnetic…
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…
We investigate the dynamics and gravitational-wave (GW) emission in the binary merger of equal-mass black holes as obtained from numerical relativity simulations. Results from the evolution of three sets of initial data are explored in…
The spins of binary black holes measured with gravitational waves provide insights about the formation, evolution, and dynamics of these systems. However, interpreting these measurements-especially for heavy black holes-remains an open…
Gravitational waves (GWs) from presumed binary black hole mergers are now being detected on a regular basis with the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo interferometers. Exotic compact objects (ECOs) have been proposed that differ from Kerr…
I review the status of research, conducted by a variety of independent groups, aimed at the eventual observation of Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals (EMRIs) with gravitational wave detectors. EMRIs are binary systems in which one of the objects…