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We report on results of fully consistent N-body simulations of globular cluster models with N = 100 000 members containing neutron stars and black holes. Using the improved `algorithmic regularization' method of Hellstrom and Mikkola for…
Below a threshold energy, gas in the constant density core of a triaxial galaxy can find no simple non-intersecting periodic orbit to act as an attractor for its trajectory (El-Zant et al. 2003). If a disc of gas arriving from further out…
Binary black holes occupy a special place in our quest for understanding the evolution of galaxies along cosmic history. If massive black holes grow at the center of (pre-)galactic structures that experience a sequence of merger episodes,…
We study the number and interaction rates of supermassive black holes in galactic bulges as predicted by hierarchical models of galaxy formation in which the spheroidal components of galaxies are formed by mergers. In bright ellipticals,…
The supermassive black holes originally in the nuclei of two merging galaxies will form a binary in the remnant core. The early evolution of the massive binary is driven by dynamical friction before the binary becomes "hard" and eventually…
The vast majority of massive binary systems in the universe is evidently unsuited to produce merging binary black holes. However, several narrow evolutionary paths of isolated massive binaries towards this goal have recently been…
The possible formation mechanisms of massive close binary black holes (BHs) that can merge in the Hubble time to produce powerful gravitational wave bursts detected during advanced LIGO O1 and O2 science runs include the evolution from…
Motivated by detections of hypervelocity stars that may originate from the Galactic Center, we revist the problem of a binary disruption by a passage near a much more massive point mass. The six order of magnitude mass ratio between the…
The evolution of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) initially embedded in the centres of merging galaxies realised with a stellar mass function (SMF) is studied from the onset of galaxy mergers till coalescence. We performed a large set of…
We study the evolution of disk accretion during the merger of supermassive black hole binaries in galactic nuclei. In hierarchical galaxy formation models, the most common binaries are likely to arise from minor galactic mergers, and have…
We report on key studies on the dynamics of black holes (BHs) in gas-rich galaxy mergers that underscore the vital role played by gas dissipation in promoting BH inspiral down to the smallest scales ever probed with use of high-resolution…
Primordial black holes formed through the collapse of cosmological density fluctuations have been hypothesised as contributors to the dark matter content of the Universe. At the same time, their mergers could contribute to the recently…
We propose a new scenario for the evolution of a binary of primordial black holes (PBHs). We consider a dynamical friction by ambient dark matter, scattering of dark matter particles with a highly eccentric orbit besides the standard…
A large number of mergers of binary black holes (BHs) have been discovered by gravitational wave observations since the first detection of gravitational waves 2015. Binary BH mergers are the loudest events in the universe, however their…
Observations of gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts may soon uncover the existence of coalescing compact binary systems formed by a stellar-mass black hole and a neutron star. These mergers result in a remnant black…
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…
It is well established that black holes reside in the central regions of virtually all types of known galaxies. Recent observational and numerical studies however challenge this picture, suggesting that intermediate-mass black holes in…
The binding energy liberated by the coalescence of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries during galaxy mergers is thought to be responsible for the low density cores often found in bright elliptical galaxies. We use high-resolution…
The formation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) is an unavoidable outcome of galaxy evolution via successive mergers. However, the mechanism that drives their orbital evolution from parsec separations down to the gravitational wave…
The coalescence of supermassive black hole binaries occurs via the emission of gravitational waves, that can impart a substantial recoil to the merged black hole. We consider the energy dissipation, that results if the recoiling black hole…