Related papers: Secular Dynamics around a Supermassive Black Hole …
(Abridged) To gain insight into the dynamical influence of a supermassive black hole binary on a circumbinary accretion disk, we investigate the binary and viscous torque densities throughout such a disk, with emphasis on the final density…
The secular approximation for the evolution of hierarchical triple configurations has proven to be very useful in many astrophysical contexts, from planetary to triple-star systems. In this approximation the orbits may change shape and…
We investigate the origins of quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) in galactic nuclei using global three-dimensional meshless finite-mass (MFM) simulations. By modeling stellar and black-hole impactors traversing accretion disks under various…
We derive octupole-level secular perturbation equations for hierarchical triple systems, using classical Hamiltonian perturbation techniques. By extending previous work done to leading (quadrupole) order to octupole level (i.e., including…
We study the dynamics of nuclear star clusters, the dense stellar environments surrounding massive black holes in the centers of galaxies. We consider angular momentum diffusion due to two-body scatterings among stellar objects and energy…
Orbital motion in triaxial nuclei with central point masses, representing supermassive black holes, is investigated. The stellar density is assumed to follow a power law, rho ~ 1/r^gamma, with gamma=1 or gamma=2. At low energies the motion…
We analyze the orbital dynamics of spherical test bodies in ``black hole surrounded by dark matter halo'' spherically symmetric spacetimes. When the test body pulsates periodically (such as a variable star), altering its quadrupole tensor,…
The discovery of multi-planet extrasolar systems has kindled interest in using their orbital evolution as a probe of planet formation. Accurate descriptions of planetary orbits identify systems which could hide additional planets or be in a…
The study of how stars distribute themselves around a massive black hole (MBH) in the center of a galaxy is an important prerequisite for the understanding of many galactic-center processes. These include the observed overabundance of point…
We derive the secular evolution of the orbital elements of a stellar-mass object orbiting a spinning massive black hole. We use the post-Newtonian approximation in harmonic coordinates, with test-body equations of motion for the…
We consider the problem of tidal disruption of stars in the centre of a galaxy containing a supermassive binary black hole with unequal masses. We assume that over the separation distance between the black holes the gravitational potential…
Dense stellar clusters are natural sites for the origin and evolution of exotic objects such as relativistic binaries (potential gravitational wave sources), blue stragglers, etc. We investigate the secular dynamics of a binary system…
Although the discovery of the chaotic motion of the inner planets in the solar system dates back to more than thirty years ago, the secular chaos of their orbits still dares more analytical analyses. Apart from the high-dimensional…
A Keplerian binary immersed in a bath of lighter particles hardens by ejecting them through gravitational slingshots. This process drives, for example, the evolution of supermassive black hole binaries following galaxy mergers, and has long…
We present a method for constructing dynamical models of stellar systems described by distribution functions and constrained by discrete-kinematic data. We implement various improvements compared to earlier applications of this approach,…
It has recently been shown that the rate of angular momentum relaxation in nearly-Keplerian star clusters is greatly increased by a process termed resonant relaxation (Rauch & Tremaine 1996), who also argued that tidal disruption of stars…
Galactic nuclei, the densest stellar environments in the Universe, exhibit a complex geometrical structure. The stars orbiting the central supermassive black hole follow a mass segregated distribution both in the radial distance from the…
We present preliminary results of the application of a new sophisticated code which allows high precision integration of orbits of stars belonging to a dense stellar system moving in the vicinity of a massive black hole. This mimics the…
We study the general relativistic periastron advance in spinning black hole binaries on quasi-circular orbits, with spins aligned or anti-aligned with the orbital angular momentum, using numerical-relativity simulations, the post-Newtonian…
I briefly review advances in the understanding and modeling of relativistic stellar dynamics around massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei, following the inclusion of coherent relaxation and of secular processes in a new formal…