Related papers: Alignment of supermassive black hole binary orbits…
We perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accreting, equal-mass binary black holes in full general relativity focusing on the impact of black hole spin on the dynamical formation and evolution of minidisks. We find that during the late…
The merger process of a binary black hole system can have a strong impact on a circumbinary disk. In the present work we study the effect of both central mass reduction (due to the energy loss through gravitational waves) and a possible…
The localization of stellar-mass binary black hole mergers using gravitational waves is critical in understanding the properties of the binaries' host galaxies, observing possible electromagnetic emission from the mergers, or using them as…
The spin properties of merging black holes observed with gravitational waves can offer novel information about the origin of these systems. The magnitude and orientations of black hole spins offer a record of binaries' evolutionary history,…
Modeling the late inspiral and merger of supermassive black holes is central to understanding accretion processes and the conditions under which electromagnetic emission accompanies gravitational waves. We use fully general relativistic,…
We use the `moving puncture' approach to perform fully non-linear evolutions of spinning quasi-circular black-hole binaries with individual spins not aligned with the orbital angular momentum. We evolve configurations with the individual…
We study the spin dynamics of individual black holes in a binary system. In particular we focus on the polar precession of spins and the possibility of a complete flip of spins with respect to the orbital plane. We perform a full numerical…
The merger of two neutron stars will in general lead to the formation of a torus surrounding a black hole whose rotational energy can be tapped to potentially power a short gamma-ray burst. We have studied the merger of equal-mass binaries…
We consider black holes resulting from binary black hole mergers. By fitting to numerical results we construct analytic formulas that predict the mass and spin of the final black hole. Our formulas are valid for arbitrary initial spins and…
Binary systems with comparable masses and a surrounding accretion disk can accrete gas through spiral accretion streams penetrating the central cavity formed by tidal interactions. Using three-dimensional Newtonian magnetohydrodynamics…
The final evolution of a binary black-hole system gives rise to a recoil velocity if an asymmetry is present in the emitted gravitational radiation. Measurements of this effect for non-spinning binaries with unequal masses have pointed out…
Increased eccentricity of a black hole binary leads to reduced merger times. With n-body simulations and analytic approximations including the effects of general relativity (GR), we show that even a low mass companion orbiting a black hole…
In currently favoured hierarchical cosmologies, the formation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) following galaxy mergers is unavoidable. Still, due the complex physics governing the (hydro)dynamics of the post-merger dense environment…
We study identical mass black hole binaries with spins perpendicular to the binary's orbital plane. These binaries have individual spins ranging from $s/m^2=-0.90$ to 0.90, ($s_1 = s_2$ in all cases) which is near the limit possible with…
Gaseous circumbinary accretion discs provide a promising mechanism to facilitate the mergers of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei. We measure the torques exerted on accreting SMBH binaries, using 2D, isothermal,…
We show that in realistic cases of accretion in active galactic nuclei or stellar-mass X-ray binaries, the Lense-Thirring effect breaks the central regions of tilted accretion discs around spinning black holes into a set of distinct planes…
Circumbinary disks are found in a variety of astrophysical scenarios, spanning binary star formation to accreting supermassive black hole binaries. The interaction with a circumbinary disk can yield opposite effects on the binary orbit…
The complex astrophysical processes leading to the formation of binary black holes and their eventual merger are imprinted on the spins of the individual black holes. We revisit the astrophysical distribution of those spins based on…
GW231123 represents the most massive binary-black-hole merger detected to date, lying firmly within, or even above, the pair-instability mass gap. The component spins are both exceptionally high ($a_1 = 0.90^{+0.10}_{-0.19}$, $a_2 =…
Accretion in the nuclei of active galaxies may occur chaotically. This can produce accretion discs which are counter-rotating or strongly misaligned with respect to the spin of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), or the axis of a…