EFFICIENT MERGER OF BINARY SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN MERGING GALAXIES

Journal Article · Tue May 10 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/732/2/89· OSTI ID:21576880

Khan, Fazeel Mahmood; Just, Andreas ^[1]; Merritt, David ^[2]

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1. Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum fuer Astronomie, University of Heidelberg, Moenchhof-Strasse 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany)
2. Department of Physics and Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, 85 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623-5604 (United States)

In spherical galaxies, binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have difficulty reaching sub-parsec separations due to depletion of stars on orbits that intersect the massive binary-the 'final parsec problem'. Galaxies that form via major mergers are substantially non-spherical, and it has been argued that the centrophilic orbits in triaxial galaxies might provide stars to the massive binary at a high enough rate to avoid stalling. Here we test that idea by carrying out fully self-consistent merger simulations of galaxies containing central SMBHs. We find hardening rates of the massive binaries that are indeed much higher than in spherical models and essentially independent of the number of particles used in the simulations. Binary eccentricities remain high throughout the simulations. Our results constitute a fully stellar-dynamical solution to the final parsec problem and imply a potentially high rate of events for low-frequency gravitational wave detectors like LISA.

• OSTI ID: 21576880
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 732; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
EVOLUTION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTORS
INTERACTIONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
RADIATION DETECTORS
SIMULATION