Related papers: Circumbinary discs around merging stellar-mass bla…
We consider the formation of binary black hole mergers through the evolution of field massive triple stars. In this scenario, favorable conditions for the inspiral of a black hole binary are initiated by its gravitational interaction with a…
Massive black hole (BH) mergers can result in the merger remnant receiving a "kick", of order 200 km s$^{-1}$ or more, which will cause the remnant to oscillate about the galaxy centre. Here we analyze the case where the BH oscillates…
We present the first numerical simulations of an initially non-spinning black-hole binary with mass ratio as large as 10:1 in full general relativity. The binary completes approximately 3 orbits prior to merger and radiates about 0.415% of…
We study the dynamics of a star orbiting a merging black-hole binary (BHB) in a coplanar triple configuration. During the BHB's orbital decay, the system can be driven across the apsidal precession resonance, where the apsidal precession…
Mergers of black-hole binaries are expected to release large amounts of energy in the form of gravitational radiation. However, binary evolution models predict merger rates too low to be of observational interest. In this paper we explore…
We study the effect of irradiation from two accretion disks (minidisks) around respective black holes of stellar to intermediate masses in a circular binary on the spectrum of a circumbinary disk (CBD) surrounding them. We assume the CBD to…
The majority of gravitational wave (GW) events detected so far by LIGO/Virgo originate from binary black hole (BBH) mergers. Among the different binary evolution paths, the merger of BBHs in accretion discs of active galactic nuclei (AGNs)…
There is a high level of interest in black hole-neutron star binaries, not only because their mergers may be detected by gravitational wave observatories in the coming years, but also because of the possibility that they could explain a…
If the activity of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is predominantly induced by major galaxy mergers, then a significant fraction of AGNs should harbor binary massive black holes in their centers. We study the mass function of binary massive…
Binary black-hole systems with spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum are of special interest, as studies indicate that this configuration is preferred in nature. If the spins of the two bodies differ, there can be a prominent…
The effect of tidal forces on transport within a relic accretion disk in binary black holes is studied here with a suite of two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. As the binary contracts due to the emission of gravitational waves, the…
There is compelling evidence that most -if not all- galaxies harbour a super-massive black hole (SMBH) at their nucleus, hence binaries of these massive objects are an inevitable product of the hierarchical evolution of structures in the…
Using SPH numerical simulations, we investigate the effects of gas on the inspiral and merger of a massive black hole binary. This study is motivated by the very massive nuclear gas disks observed in the central regions of merging galaxies.…
Numerical studies of gas accretion onto supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) have generally been limited to conditions where the circumbinary disk (CBD) is 10-100 times thicker than expected for disks in active galactic nuclei (AGN).…
Black hole - neutron star $(BH/NS)$ binaries are of interest in many ways: they are intrinsically multi-messenger systems, highly transient, radiate gravitational waves detectable by LIGO, and may produce $\gamma$-ray bursts. Although it…
During a common envelope episode in a binary system, the engulfed companion spirals to tighter orbital separations under the influence of drag from the surrounding envelope material. As this object sweeps through material with a steep…
We study time evolution and gravitational wave emission properties of a black hole orbiting {\it inside} an accretion disk surrounding a massive black hole. We simultaneously solve the structure equations of the accretion disk in presence…
The environment of a binary star system may contain two circumstellar disks, one orbiting each of the stars, and a circumbinary disk orbiting about the entire binary. The disk structure and evolution are modified by the presence of the…
We present the first fully relativistic prediction of the electromagnetic emission from the surrounding gas of a supermassive binary black hole system approaching merger. Using a ray-tracing code to post-process data from a general…
The final merger of a pair of massive black holes in a galactic nucleus is compelled by gravitational radiation. Gravitational waves from the mergers of black holes of masses (10^5-10^7)(1+z)^{-1} Msun at redshifts of 1-20 will be readily…