Related papers: The Quest for Dual and Binary Supermassive Black H…
In hierarchical structure formation scenarios, merging galaxies are expected to be seen in different phases of their coalescence. Simulations suggest that simultaneous activity of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the centres of the…
We present a first attempt to model the narrow-line (NL) region of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy mergers, using a novel physical prescription. This model is used to determine the origin of double-peaked…
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are promising environments for the assembly of merging binary black hole (BBH) systems. Interest in AGNs as nurseries for merging BBH is rising following the detection of gravitational waves from a BBH system…
We present an overview of recent numerical advances in the theoretical characterization of massive binary black hole (MBBH) mergers in astrophysical environments. These systems are among the loudest sources of gravitational waves (GWs) in…
Galaxy mergers play a crucial role in the formation of massive galaxies and the buildup of their bulges. An important aspect of the merging process is the in-spiral of the supermassive black-holes (SMBHs) to the centre of the merger remnant…
Variability of active galactic nuclei is not well understood. One possible explanation is existence of supermassive binary black holes (SMBBH) in their centres. It is expected that major mergers are common in the Universe. It is expected…
Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary systems are unavoidable outcomes of galaxy mergers. Their dynamics encode information about their formation and growth, the composition of their host galactic nuclei, the evolution of galaxies, and the…
Understanding the origin and evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) stands as one of the most important challenges in astrophysics and cosmology, with little current theoretical consensus. Improved observational constraints on the…
[Abriged] Supermassive black holes (SMBH) lurk in the nuclei of most massive galaxies, perhaps in all of them. The tight observed scaling relations between SMBH masses and structural properties of their host spheroids likely indicate that…
Here we consider the perspective to detect sub-pc super-massive binary black-hole (SMBBH) systems using long-term photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaigns of active galactic nuclei. This work explores the nature of long-term…
In the last decade, a combination of high sensitivity, high spatial resolution observations and of coordinated multi-wavelength surveys has revolutionized our view of extra-galactic black hole (BH) astrophysics. We now know that…
The study of heavily obscured supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth in late-stage galaxy mergers is challenging: column densities $N_{\mathrm{H}}>10^{24},\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ can block most nuclear emission, leaving significant gaps in the…
The conventional view of stellar-mass binary black hole (sBBH) mergers is that there should not be enough matter present to produce a detectable electromagnetic transient. However, there ARE a number of mechanisms for producing such a…
The radio-emitting quasar SDSS J1425+3231 (z=0.478) was recently found to have double-peaked narrow [O III] optical emission lines. Based on the analysis of the optical spectrum, Peng et al. (2011) suggested that this object harbours a dual…
JWST observations have opened a new chapter in studies of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), stimulating discussion of two puzzles: the abundance of SMBHs in the early Universe and the fraction of dual AGNs. In this paper we argue that the…
Next-generation ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors are expected to observe millions of binary black hole mergers, a fraction of which will be strongly lensed by intervening galaxies or clusters, producing multiple images with…
Coalescing massive black hole binaries are powerful emitters of gravitational waves, in the LISA sensitivity range for masses M_BH ~ 10^{4-7} M_sun. According to hierarchical galaxy merger models, binary black holes should form frequently,…
The dense and dynamic environments within active galactic nuclei (AGN) accretion disks may serve as prolific birthplaces for binary black holes (BBHs) and one possible origin for some of the BBHs detected by gravitational-wave (GW)…
Stellar-mass binary black hole (BBH) mergers occurring within the disks of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are promising sources for gravitational waves detectable by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA (LVK) interferometers. Some of these events have…
The study of galaxy mergers and supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) is central to our understanding of the galaxy and black hole assembly and (co-)evolution at the epoch of structure formation and throughout cosmic history. Galaxy…