Related papers: Horizons in a binary black hole merger I: Geometry…
We study the orbital evolution of black hole (BH) binaries in quadruple systems, where the tertiary binary excites large eccentricity in the BH binary through Lidov-Kozai (LK) oscillations, causing the binary BHs to merge via gravitational…
We present an introduction to dynamical trapping horizons as quasi-local models for black hole horizons, from the perspective of an Initial Value Problem approach to the construction of generic black hole spacetimes. We focus on the…
The relation between event horizons and trapping horizons is investigated in a number of different situations with emphasis on their role in thermodynamics. A notion of constant change is introduced that in certain situations allows the…
From the microscopic point of view, realistic black holes are time-dependent and the teleological concept of event horizon fails. At present, the apparent or the trapping horizon seem its best replacements in various areas of black hole…
The interaction of binary black hole mergers with their environments can be studied using numerical relativity simulations. These start only a short finite time before merger, at which point appropriate initial conditions must be imposed. A…
The traditional description of black holes in terms of event horizons is inadequate for many physical applications, especially when studying black holes in non-stationary spacetimes. In these cases, it is often more useful to use the…
The qualitative and quantitative understanding of near-horizon gravitational dynamics in the strong-field regime represents a challenge both at a fundamental level and in astrophysical applications. Recent advances in numerical relativity…
For a stationary and axisymmetric black hole, there is a natural way to split the fields into a probe sector and a background sector. The equations of motion for the probe sector enjoy a significantly enhanced symmetry on the black hole…
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 long-term evolution of two or more stellar black holes (BHs) on initially separated but unstable circular orbits around a supermassive BH (SMBH). Such a close-packed orbital configuration can naturally arise from BH migrations…
The merger of a binary black hole gives birth to a highly distorted final black hole. The gravitational radiation emitted as this black hole relaxes presents us with the unique opportunity to probe extreme gravity and its connection with…
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…
In a recent paper (gr-qc/0509107) the author and Rick Schoen obtained a generalization to higher dimensions of a classical result of Hawking concerning the topology of black holes. It was proved that, apart from certain exceptional…
We study the geometry of the event horizon of a spacetime in which a small compact object plunges into a large Schwarzschild black hole. We first use the Regge-Wheeler and Zerilli formalisms to calculate the metric perturbations induced by…
The Embedded Horizon is defined to be a horizon that is in equilibrium with the exterior of the black hole, that is, isolated on the outside, but dynamically evolving on the inside, analogous to the inner and outer event horizons of the…
Scalar fields coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant can undergo a tachyonic instability, leading to spontaneous scalarization of black holes. Studies of this effect have so far been restricted to single black hole spacetimes. We present the…
We study the global structure of some exact scalar hairy dynamical black holes which were constructed in Einstein gravity either minimally or non-minimally coupled to a scalar field. We find that both the apparent horizon and the local…
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…
I describe the general mathematical construction and physical picture of topological black holes, which are black holes whose event horizons are surfaces of non-trivial topology. The construction is carried out in an arbitrary number of…
Several sets of radially propagating null congruence generators are exploited in order to form 3-dimensional marginally trapped surfaces, referred to as black hole and cosmological apparent horizons in a Horava universe. Based on this…