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Related papers: Gas Assisted Binary Black Hole Formation in AGN Di…

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We investigate the evolution of black holes on orbits with small inclinations ($i < 2^\circ$) to the gaseous discs of active galactic nuclei. We perform 3D adiabatic hydrodynamic simulations within a shearing frame, studying the damping of…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-10-29 Henry Whitehead , Connar Rowan , Bence Kocsis

The conditions under which binary black hole (BBH) mergers embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks produce detectable optical counterparts remain poorly constrained observationally. We report multi-epoch optical imaging and…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-03-31 P. Darc , C. R. Bom , A. Santos , S. Panda , J. C. Rodríguez-Ramírez , C. D. Kilpatrick , C. Mendes de Oliveira , A. Kanaan , T. Ribeiro , W. Schoenell

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been proposed as plausible sites for hosting a sizable fraction of the binary black hole (BBH) mergers measured through gravitational waves (GWs) by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra (LVK) experiment. These GWs could…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-11-20 J. C. Rodríguez-Ramírez , C. R. Bom , B. Fraga , R. Nemmen

Active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks may be important sites of binary black hole (BBH) mergers. Here we show via numerical experiments with the high-accuracy, high precision code {\tt SpaceHub} that broken symmetry in dynamical encounters in…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-01-05 Yihan Wang , Barry McKernan , Saavik Ford , Rosalba Perna , Nathan W. C. Leigh , Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Dynamical interactions involving binaries play a crucial role in the evolution of star clusters and galaxies. We continue our investigation of the hydrodynamics of three-body encounters, focusing on binary black hole (BBH) formation,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-07-12 Taeho Ryu , Ruggero Valli , Rudiger Pakmor , Rosalba Perna , Selma E. de Mink , Volker Springel

The astrophysical origin of gravitational wave (GW) events is one of the most timely problems in the wake of the LIGO/Virgo discoveries. In active galactic nuclei (AGN), binaries form and evolve efficiently by dynamical interactions and…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2020-08-19 Hiromichi Tagawa , Zoltan Haiman , Imre Bartos , Bence Kocsis

Gaseous circumbinary accretion discs provide a promising mechanism to facilitate the mergers of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei. We measure the torques exerted on accreting SMBH binaries, using 2D, isothermal,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-05-29 Yike Tang , Andrew MacFadyen , Zoltan Haiman

The disks of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provide a natural environment where stellar-mass black holes (BHs) can dynamically pair, undergo repeated interactions, and eventually merge. It is commonly assumed that gas accretion will both…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-03-25 Gaia Fabj , Christopher Tiede , Connar Rowan , Martin Pessah , Johan Samsing

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) consist of a central supermassive black hole (SMBH) embedded in a region with both high gas and stellar densities: the gas is present as a thin accretion disc that fuels the central SMBH, while the stars form a…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-09-18 Yubo Su , Connar Rowan , Mor Rozner

We revisit the phases of the pairing and sinking of BHs in galaxy mergers and circunmunclear disks in light of the results of recent simulations with massive BHs embedded in predominantly gaseous backgrounds. After a general overview we…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-16 Lucio Mayer

Merging of stellar-mass binary black holes (BBH) could take place within the accretion disk of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The resulting BH remnant is likely to accrete the disk gas at a super-Eddington rate, launching a fast,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-03-15 Zhi-Peng Ma , Kai Wang

(Abridged) We present a method that tracks the growth of supermassive black holes (BHs) and the feedback from AGN in cosmological simulations. Our model is a substantially modified version of the one by Springel et al. (2005). Because…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-13 C. M. Booth , Joop Schaye

The processes driving gas accretion on to supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are still poorly understood. Angular momentum conservation prevents gas within $\sim10\,$pc of the black hole from reaching radii $\sim10^{-3}\,$pc where viscous…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2018-05-16 Christian Faber , Walter Dehnen

Stellar mass black holes in the disks around active galactic nuclei (AGN) are promising sources for gravitational wave detections by LIGO/VIRGO. Recent studies suggest this environment fosters the formation and merger of binary black holes.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-09-10 Bhupendra Mishra , Josh Calcino

We investigated AGN activity in low-mass galaxies, an important regime that can shed light onto BH formation and evolution, and their interaction with their host galaxies. We identified 336 AGN candidates from a parent sample of $\sim…

Multiple models have been suggested over the years to explain the structure and support of accretion disks around supermassive black holes, from the standard thin thermal-pressure-dominated $\alpha$-disk model to more recent models that…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-04-28 Yashvardhan Tomar , Philip F. Hopkins , Kyle Kremer

Massive black holes surrounded by a gaseous disk have been a prevailing model to explain a wide spectrum of astrophysical phenomena related to active galactic nucle (AGNs). However, direct and precise measurements of the disk density…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-11-14 Xiangyu Lyu , En-Kun Li , Changfu Shi , Yi-Ming Hu

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…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-18 Kimitake Hayasaki , Yoshihiro Ueda , Naoki Isobe

We use multi-scale SPH simulations to follow the inflow of gas from galactic scales to <0.1pc, where the gas begins to resemble a traditional Keplerian accretion disk. The key ingredients are gas, stars, black holes (BHs), self-gravity,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2012-06-22 Philip F. Hopkins , Eliot Quataert

Recent studies have shown that AGN discs can host sources of gravitational waves. Compact binaries can form and merge in AGN discs through their interactions with the gas and other compact objects in the disc. It is also possible for the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-08-22 Hareesh Gautham Bhaskar , Gongjie Li , Doug Lin