Related papers: The Final Parsec Problem
The next decade is expected to see the launch of one or more space based gravitational wave detectors: the European lead Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA); and one or more Chinese mission concepts, Taiji and TianQin. One of the…
In classical loss cone theory, stars are supplied to a central black hole via gravitational scattering onto low angular momentum orbits. Higher feeding rates are possible if the gravitational potential near the black hole is…
The dynamics of massive black holes (BHs) in galaxy mergers is a rich field of research that has seen much progress in recent years. In this contribution we briefly review the processes describing the journey of BHs during mergers, from the…
Binary black holes can form efficiently in dense young stellar clusters, such as the progenitors of globular clusters, via a combination of gravitational segregation and cluster evaporation. We use simple analytic arguments supported by…
Massive black hole binaries (BHBs) are expected to be one of the most powerful sources of gravitational waves (GWs) in the frequency range of the pulsar timing array and of forthcoming space-borne detectors. They are believed to form in the…
LISA will extend the search for gravitational waves (GWs) at $0.1\,{-}\,100$ mHz where loud signals from coalescing binary black holes of $ 10^4 \,{-}\,10^7\,\rm M_{\odot}$ are expected. Depending on their mass and luminosity distance, the…
The two-body problem in general relativity is reviewed, focusing on the final stages of the coalescence of the black holes as uncovered by recent successes in numerical solution of the field equations.
We consider the evolution of supermassive black hole binaries at the center of spherical, axisymmetric, and triaxial galaxies, using direct N-body integrations as well as analytic estimates. We find that the rates of binary hardening…
We revisit the predictions for the merger rate of massive black hole binaries detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and their background signal for pulsar-timing arrays. We focus on the effect of the delays between the…
The recent detections of GW150914 and GW151226 imply an abundance of stellar-mass binary-black-hole mergers in the local universe. While ground-based gravitational-wave detectors are limited to observing the final moments before a binary…
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…
The formation of compact stellar-mass binaries is a difficult, but interesting problem in astrophysics. There are two main formation channels: In the field via binary star evolution, or in dense stellar systems via dynamical interactions.…
Massive merging black holes will be the primary sources of powerful gravitational waves at low frequency, and will permit to test general relativity with candidate galaxies close to a binary black hole merger. In this paper we identify the…
We review the formation scenarios for binary black holes, and show that their coalescence rate depends very strongly on the outcome of the second mass transfer. However, the observations of IC10 X-1, an binary with a massive black hole…
We investigate a hierarchical structure formation scenario in which galaxy stellar cores are created from the binding energy liberated by shrinking supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. The binary orbital decay heats the surrounding…
With the discovery of both binary black hole mergers and a binary neutron star merger the field of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics has really begun. The current advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors are laser interferometers that will improve…
We outline the eccentricity evolution of sub-parsec massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) forming in galaxy mergers. In both stellar and gaseous environments, MBHBs are expected to grow large orbital eccentricities before they enter the…
Based on a high resolution cosmological n-body simulation, we track the hierarchical growth of black holes in galaxy clusters from z=20 to z=0. We present a census of black holes as function of redshift and will determine their mass…
The coalescence of compact binaries containing neutron stars or black holes is one of the most promising signals for advanced ground-based laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors, with the first direct detections expected over the…
Anisotropic gravitational radiation from a coalescing black hole binary can impart a recoil velocity of up to several hundred km/s to the remnant black hole. We examine the effects of recoiling massive black holes on their host stellar…