The formation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) is an unavoidable outcome of galaxy evolution via successive mergers. However, the mechanism that drives their orbital evolution from parsec separations down to the gravitational wave (GW) dominated regime is poorly understood, and their final fate is still unclear. If such binaries are embedded in gas-rich and turbulent environments, as observed in remnants of galaxy mergers, the interaction with gas clumps (such as molecular clouds) may efficiently drive their orbital evolution. Using numerical simulations, we test this hypothesis by studying the dynamical evolution of an equal-mass, circular MBHB accreting infalling molecular clouds. We investigate different orbital configurations, modelling a total of 13 systems to explore different possible impact parameters and relative inclinations of the cloud-binary encounter. We focus our study on the prompt, transient phase during the first few orbits when the dynamical evolution of the binary is fastest, finding that this evolution is dominated by the exchange of angular momentum through gas capture by the individual black holes and accretion. Building on these results, we construct a simple model for evolving a MBHB interacting with a sequence of clouds, which are randomly drawn from reasonable populations with different levels of anisotropy in their angular momenta distributions. We show that the binary efficiently evolves down to the GW emission regime within a few hundred million years, overcoming the 'final parsec' problem regardless of the stellar distribution.
The jet in active galactic nuclei (AGN) is a key ingredient in understanding the co-evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Unfortunately, the mechanism of jet launching and collimation is still elusive. The observational evidence of decreasing radio loudness with increasing Eddington ratio implies that the jet should be coupled with the accretion process. To further explore the relationship between the jet and accretion, it is necessary to extend our knowledge of the jet to an extreme end of the Eddington ratio distribution of AGN. Using Very Long Baseline Ar…
We present analysis of Chandra X-ray observations of seven quasars that were identified as candidate sub-parsec binary supermassive black hole (SMBH) systems in the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) based on apparent periodicity in their optical light curves. Simulations predict close-separation accreting SMBH binaries will have different X-ray spectra than single accreting SMBHs, including harder or softer X-ray spectra, ripple-like profiles in the Fe K-$α$ line, and distinct peaks in the spectrum due to the separation of the accretion disk into a circumbinary disk and mini-disks aro…
Elusive supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are thought to be the penultimate stage of galaxy mergers, preceding a final coalescence phase. SMBHBs are sources of continuous gravitational waves, possibly detectable by pulsar timing arrays; the identification of candidates could help in performing targeted gravitational wave searches. Due to their origin in the innermost parts of active galactic nuclei (AGN), X-rays are a promising tool to unveil the presence of SMBHBs, by means of either double Fe K$α$ emission lines or periodicity in their light curve. Here we report on a new method to s…
Effects of dark dipole radiation on eccentric supermassive black hole binary inspirals
School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)(中国科学院大学天文与空间科学学院);School of Physics, Nanjing University(南京大学物理学院)
Radio Monitoring of the Tidal Disruption Event Swift J164449.3+573451. I. Jet Energetics and the Pristine Parsec-Scale Environment of a Supermassive Black Hole
We discuss the formation and evolution of systems comprised of a low-mass ($M_\star \lesssim 4 \, \rm M_\odot$) main sequence star, orbiting a $10^5-10^7 \, \rm M_\odot$ supermassive black hole with an orbital period of order $\sim$hours, and a mild eccentricity ($e\approx0.1-0.2$), episodically shedding mass at each pericenter passage. We argue that the resulting mass transfer is likely unstable, with Roche lobe overflow initially driven by gravitational wave emission, but then being accelerated by the star's expansion in response to its mass loss, undergoing a runaway process. We show that s…
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are a natural outcome of galaxy mergers and should form frequently in galactic nuclei. Sub-parsec binaries can be identified from their bright electromagnetic emission, e.g., Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with Doppler shifted broad emission lines or AGN with periodic variability, as well as from the emission of strong gravitational radiation. The most massive binaries (with total mass >10^8 M_sol) emit in the nanohertz band and are targeted by Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs). Here we examine the synergy between electromagnetic and gravitational wave signatu…
Accretion onto the supermassive black hole in some active galactic nuclei (AGN) drives relativistic jets of plasma, which dissipate a significant fraction of their kinetic energy into gamma-ray radiation. The location of energy dissipation in powerful extragalactic jets is currently unknown, with implications for particle acceleration, jet formation, jet collimation, and energy dissipation. Previous studies have been unable to constrain the location between possibilities ranging from the sub-parsec-scale broad-line region to the parsec-scale molecular torus, and beyond. Here we show using a si…
Supermassive binary black holes at sub-parsec orbital separations have yet to be discovered, with the possible exception of blazar OJ~287. In parallel to the global hunt for nanohertz gravitational waves from supermassive binaries using pulsar timing arrays, there has been a growing sample of candidates reported from electromagnetic surveys, particularly searches for periodic variations in optical light curves of quasars. However, the periodicity search is prone to false positives from quasar red noise and quasi-periodic oscillations from the accretion disc of a single supermassive black hole-…
Light curves for more than century optical photometric observations of the blazar OJ 287 reveals strong flares with a quasi-period of about 12 years. For a long time, this period has been interpreted by processes in a binary black hole system. We propose an alternative explanation for this period, which is based on Doppler factor periodic variations of the emitting region caused by jet helicity. Using multi-epoch very large baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations carried out in a framework of the MOJAVE (Monitoring Of Jets in Active galactic nuclei with VLBA Experiments) program and other …
The Event Horizon Telescope has released polarized images of the supermassive black holes Messier 87* (M87*) and Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) accretion disks. As more images are produced, our understanding of the average polarized emission from near the event horizon improves. In this letter, we use a semi-analytic model for optically thin, equatorial emission near a Kerr black hole to study how spin constraints follow from measurements of the average polarization spiral pitch angle. We focus on the case of M87* and explore how the direct, weakly lensed image spiral is coupled to the strongly lense…