Binary black holes in which both spins are aligned with the binary's orbital angular momentum do not precess. However, the up-down configuration, in which the spin of the heavier (lighter) black hole is aligned (anti-aligned) with the orbital angular momentum, is unstable to spin precession at small orbital separations. We first cast the spin precession problem in terms of a simple harmonic oscillator and provide a cleaner derivation of the instability onset. Surprisingly, we find that following the instability, up-down binaries do not disperse in the available parameter space but evolve toward precise endpoints. We then present an analytic scheme to locate these final configurations and confirm them with numerical integrations. Namely, unstable up-down binaries approach mergers with the two spins coaligned with each other and equally misaligned with the orbital angular momentum. Merging up-down binaries relevant to LIGO/Virgo and LISA may be detected in these endpoint configurations if the instability onset occurs prior to the sensitivity threshold of the detector. As a by-product, we obtain new generic results on binary black hole spin-orbit resonances at 2nd~post-Newtonian order. We finally apply these findings to a simple astrophysical population of binary black holes where a formation mechanism aligns the spins without preference for co- or counteralignment, as might be the case for stellar-mass black holes embedded in the accretion disk of a supermassive black hole.
We derive a simple set of non-linear, (1+1)-dimensional partial differential equations that describe the dynamical evolution of black strings and branes to leading order in the expansion in the inverse of the number of dimensions D. These equations are easily solved numerically. Their solution shows that thin enough black strings are unstable to developing inhomogeneities along their length, and at late times they asymptote to stable non-uniform black strings. This proves an earlier conjecture about the endpoint of the instability of black strings in a large enough number of dimensions. If the…
We report a degeneracy between the gravitational-wave signals from quasi-circular precessing black-hole mergers and those from extremely eccentric mergers, namely head-on collisions. Performing model selection on numerically simulated signals of head-on collisions using models for quasi-circular binaries we find that, for signal-to-noise ratios of 15 and 25, typical of Advanced LIGO observations, head-on mergers with respective total masses of $M\in (125,300)M_\odot$ and $M\in (200,440)M_\odot$ would be identified as precessing quasi-circular intermediate-mass black hole binaries, located at a…
We construct hairy black hole solutions that merge with the anti-de Sitter (AdS$_4$) Reissner-Nordström black hole at the onset of superradiance. These hairy black holes have, for a given mass and charge, higher entropy than the corresponding AdS$_4$-Reissner-Nordström black hole. Therefore, they are natural candidates for the endpoint of the charged superradiant instability. On the other hand, hairy black holes never dominate the canonical and grand-canonical ensembles. The zero-horizon radius of the hairy black holes is a soliton (i.e. a boson star under a gauge transformation). We construct…
Estimates of the source parameters of gravitational-wave (GW) events produced by compact binary mergers rely on theoretical models for the GW signal. We present the first frequency-domain model for inspiral, merger and ringdown of the GW signal from precessing binary-black-hole systems that also includes multipoles beyond the leading-order quadrupole. Our model, {\tt PhenomPv3HM}, is a combination of the higher-multipole non-precessing model {\tt PhenomHM} and the spin-precessing model {\tt PhenomPv3} that includes two-spin precession via a dynamical rotation of the GW multipoles. We validate …
Binary black holes with spins that are aligned with the orbital angular momentum do not precess. However, post-Newtonian calculations predict that "up-down" binaries, in which the spin of the heavier (lighter) black hole is aligned (antialigned) with the orbital angular momentum, are unstable when the spins are slightly perturbed from perfect alignment. This instability provides a possible mechanism for the formation of precessing binaries in environments where sources are preferentially formed with (anti) aligned spins. In this paper, we present the first full numerical relativity simulations…
Regular black holes with nonsingular cores have been considered in several approaches to quantum gravity, and as agnostic frameworks to address the singularity problem and Hawking's information paradox. While in a recent work we argued that the inner core is destabilized by linear perturbations, opposite claims were raised that regular black holes have in fact stable cores. To reconcile these arguments, we discuss a generalization of the geometrical framework, originally applied to Reissner--Nordtsröm black holes by Ori, and show that regular black holes have an exponentially growing Misner--S…
Numerical evidence suggests that the superradiant instability of Kerr-AdS black holes and "black resonators" evolves to smaller and smaller scales towards a "limiting" black resonator. Using $AdS_4$ supergravity, we argue that this putative endpoint to the superradiant instability does not exist.
Spin precession occurs in binary black holes whose spins are misaligned with the orbital angular momentum. Otherwise, the spin configuration is constant and the subsequent binary dynamics and gravitational-wave emission are much simpler. We summarize a series of works which has shown that, while three of the aligned configurations are stable equilibria, the `up-down' configuration, in which the heavier (lighter) black hole is (anti) aligned with the orbital angular momentum, is unstable when perturbed; at a critical point in the inspiral the black hole spins begin to tilt wildly as precession …
It is now established that small Kerr-Anti-de Sitter (Kerr-AdS) black holes are unstable against scalar perturbations, via superradiant amplification mechanism. We show that small Kerr-AdS black holes are also unstable against gravitational perturbations and we compute the features of this instability. We also describe with great detail the evolution of this instability. In particular, we identify its endpoint state. It corresponds to a Kerr-AdS black hole whose boundary is an Einstein universe rotating with the light velocity. This black hole is expected to be slightly oblate and to co-exist …
We numerically construct asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) black holes in four dimensions that contain only a single Killing vector field. These solutions, which we coin black resonators, link the superradiant instability of Kerr-AdS to the nonlinear weakly turbulent instability of AdS by connecting the onset of the superradiance instability to smooth, horizonless geometries called geons. Furthermore, they demonstrate non-uniqueness of Kerr-AdS by sharing asymptotic charges. Where black resonators coexist with Kerr-AdS, we find that the black resonators have higher entropy. Nevertheless, we …
We study the phenomena of superradiance for $F(R)$-Maxwell black holes in an AdS space-time. The AdS boundary plays the role of a mirror and provides a natural confining system that makes the superradiant waves bouncing back and forth between the region near the horizon and the reflective boundary, causing a possible superradiant instability. We obtain numerical solutions for static hairy black holes in this scenario and investigate their instability and explicitly address the stability of such solutions for spherical perturbations under specific conditions for the scalar charge and AdS radius…
Black resonators and geons in global AdS are rapidly rotating, low-energy solutions with a helical Killing field. We study the linear mode stability of equal angular momenta, five-dimensional black resonators and geons under scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational perturbations. We find that black resonators are unstable to the superradiant instability, in agreement with previously known results. Perhaps surprisingly, many geons appear linearly stable, despite having an ergoregion. This apparent stability implies that geons are important long-lived, low-energy states in the dual gauge theor…
A massless scalar field exhibits an instability at the event horizon of an extreme black hole. We study numerically the nonlinear evolution of this instability for spherically symmetric perturbations of an extreme Reissner-Nordstrom (RN) black hole. We find that generically the endpoint of the instability is a non-extreme RN solution. However, there exist fine-tuned initial perturbations for which the instability never decays. In this case, the perturbed spacetime describes a time-dependent extreme black hole. Such solutions settle down to extreme RN outside, but not on, the event horizon. The…
Reexamining Evidence of a Pair-Instability Mass Gap in the Binary Black Hole Population
Northwestern University（西北大学）；NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI)（NSF-西蒙斯天空人工智能研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University（西北大学物理与天文学系）
We point out that 5D large radius doubly spinning black rings with rotation along S^1 and S^2 are afflicted by a robust instability. It is triggered by superradiant bound state modes. The Kaluza-Klein momentum of the mode along the ring is responsible for the bound state. This kind of instability in black strings and branes was first suggested by Marolf and Palmer and studied in detail by Cardoso, Lemos and Yoshida. We find the frequency spectrum and timescale of this instability in the black ring background, and show that it is active for large radius rings with large rotation along S^2. We i…
Assessing the stability of higher-dimensional rotating black holes requires a study of linearized gravitational perturbations around such backgrounds. We study perturbations of Myers-Perry black holes with equal angular momenta in an odd number of dimensions (greater than five), allowing for a cosmological constant. We find a class of perturbations for which the equations of motion reduce to a single radial equation. In the asymptotically flat case we find no evidence of any instability. In the asymptotically anti-de Sitter case, we demonstrate the existence of a superradiant instability that …
Signatures of a subpopulation of hierarchical mergers in the GWTC-4 gravitational-wave dataset
LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院 LIGO 实验室）；Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院卡弗里天体物理与空间研究研究所）；Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院物理系）；Williams College（威廉姆斯学院）；Adler Planetarium（阿德勒天文馆）；NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI)（NSF-Simons 天空人工智能研究所）
We study the stability of charged rotating black holes in a consistent truncation of Type $IIB$ Supergravity on $AdS_5 \times S^5$ that degenerate to extremal black holes with zero entropy. These black holes have scaling properties between charge and angular momentum similar to those of Fermi surface-like operators in a subsector of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM. By solving the equation of motion for a massless scalar field in this background, using matched asymptotic expansion followed by a numerical solution scheme, we are able to compute its Quasi-Normal modes, and analyze it's regime of (in)stability. …
It can be expected that the respective endpoints of the Gregory-Laflamme black brane instability and the Rayleigh-Plateau membrane instability are related because the bifurcation diagrams of the black hole-black string system and the liquid drop-liquid bridge system display many similarities. In this paper, we investigate the non-linear dynamics of the Rayleigh-Plateau instability in a range of dimensions, including the critical dimension at which the phase structure changes. We show that near the critical dimension and above, depending on a parameter in initial conditions an unstable cylinder…
We present the first examples of black holes with only one Killing field. The solutions describe five dimensional AdS black holes with scalar hair. The black holes are neither stationary nor axisymmetric, but are invariant under a single Killing field which is tangent to the null generators of the horizon. Some of these solutions can be viewed as putting black holes into rotating boson stars. Others are related to the endpoint of a superradiant instability. For given mass and angular momentum (within a certain range) several black hole solutions exist.
Based on the secular spin evolution of black holes, neutron stars, gravastars, or boson stars in precessing compact binaries on eccentric orbit, we identify the aligned and more generic coplanar configurations of the spins and orbital angular momentum as fix points. Through a dynamical system analysis, we investigate their linear stability as function of the mass quadrupole parameter. Marginal stability holds for the binary configurations with both spins antialigned to the orbital angular momentum, for both spins aligned to the orbital angular momentum (with the exception of certain quadrupola…
We investigate scalarized charged black holes in the Einstein-Maxwell-Scalar theory with two U(1) fields inspired by the $N=4$ supergravity. From the onset of the spontaneous scalarization (tachyonic instability of Reissner-Nordström black hole), these black holes are classified by the number of $n=0,1,2,\cdots$, where $n=0$ is called the fundamental black hole and $n=1,2,\cdots$ denote the $n$-excited black holes. Adopting radial perturbations, we show that the $n=0$ black hole is stable against the $s(l=0)$-mode scalar perturbation, whereas the $n=1,2$ excited black holes are unstable. This …
GW190521 is the most massive binary black hole (BBH) merger observed to date, and its primary component lies in the pair-instability (PI) mass gap. Here, we investigate the formation of GW190521-like systems via three-body encounters in young massive star clusters. We performed 2$\times10^5$ simulations of binary-single interactions between a BBH and a massive $\geq{60}\,$M$_{\odot}$ black hole (BH), including post-Newtonian terms up to the $2.5$ order and a prescription for relativistic kicks. In our initial conditions, we take into account the possibility of forming BHs in the PI mass gap vi…
Press and Teukolsky famously introduced the concept of a black hole bomb system: a scalar field scattering a Kerr black hole confined inside a mirror undergoes superradiant amplification that keeps repeating due to the reflecting boundary conditions at the mirror. A similar charged black hole bomb system exists if we have a charged scalar field propagating in a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole confined inside a box. We point out that scalar fields propagating in such a background are unstable not only to superradiance but also to a mechanism known as the near-horizon scalar condensation instabili…
The phenomenon of spontaneous scalarization of charged black holes has attracted a lot of attention. In this work, we study the dynamical process of the spontaneous scalarization of charged black hole in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes in Einstein-Maxwell-scalar models. Including various non-minimal couplings between the scalar field and Maxwell field, we observe that an initial scalar-free configuration suffers tachyonic instability and both the scalar field and the black hole irreducible mass grow exponentially at early times and saturate exponentially at late times. For fractional …
We construct dynamical black hole solutions with a helical symmetry in AdS$_5$, called black resonators, as well as their horizonless limits, called geons. We introduce a cohomogeneity-1 metric describing a class of black resonators and geons whose isometry group is $R\times SU(2)$. This allows us to study them in a wide range of parameters. We obtain the phase diagram for the black resonators, geons, and Myers-Perry-AdS$_5$, where the black resonators emerge from the onset of a superradiant instability of the Myers-Perry-AdS$_5$ with equal angular momenta and are connected to the geons in the…
Recent numerical relativity simulations within the Einstein--Maxwell--(charged-)Klein-Gordon (EMcKG) system have shown that the non-linear evolution of a superradiantly unstable Reissner-Nordström black hole (BH) enclosed in a cavity, leads to the formation of a BH with scalar hair. Perturbative evidence for the stability of such hairy BHs has been independently established, confirming they are the true endpoints of the superradiant instability. The same EMcKG system admits also charged scalar soliton-type solutions, which can be either stable or unstable. Using numerical relativity techniques…
Evidence for orbital eccentricity supports a hierarchical origin for GW231123
School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University（武汉大学物理科学与技术学院）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学物理与天文学院）；Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)（马克斯·普朗克引力物理研究所（爱因斯坦研究所））；Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Extreme Universe, Ningbo University（宁波大学极端宇宙浙江省重点实验室）；Institute of Fundamental Physics and Quantum Technology, Ningbo University（宁波大学基础物理与量子技术研究院）
We perturbatively construct a three-dimensional rotating AdS black hole with a real scalar hair. We choose the mass of a scalar field slightly above the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound and impose a more general boundary condition for the bulk scalar field at AdS infinity. We first show that rotating BTZ black holes are unstable against superradiant modes under our more general boundary condition. Next we construct a rotating hairy black hole perturbatively with respect to a small amplitude $ε$ of the scalar field, up to $O(ε^4)$. The lumps of non-linearly perturbed geometry admit only one Killing…
Motivated by black hole physics, we define the Unruh state for a scalar field in de Sitter space. Like the Bunch-Davies state, the Unruh-de Sitter state appears thermal to a static observer. However, it breaks some of the symmetries of de Sitter space. We calculate the expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor in the Unruh-de Sitter state in two dimensions and find a non-vanishing flux of outgoing negative energy. Extrapolating the result to four dimensions, we argue that this backreacts on the initial de Sitter geometry semi-classically. Notably, we estimate that de Sitter space is dest…
We find hairy black holes of Einstein-Maxwell theory with a complex scalar field that is confined inside a box in a Minkowski background. These regular hairy black holes are asymptotically flat and thus the presence of the box or mirror allows to evade well-known no-hair theorems. We also find the Israel surface stress tensor that the confining box must have to obey the energy conditions. In the zero horizon radius limit, these hairy black holes reduce to a regular asymptotically flat hairy soliton. We find our solutions using perturbation theory. At leading order, a hairy black hole can be se…
Measuring Eccentricity and Addressing Waveform Systematics in GW231123
Center for Gravitational Physics, The University of Texas at Austin（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校引力物理中心）；Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology（罗切斯特理工学院计算相对论与引力中心）
Optical-area minimum method for static spherical black hole shadows
Wilczek Quantum Center, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Studies（上海高等研究院）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；University of Santo Tomas（圣多马大学）；Eastern Mediterranean University（东地中海大学）；Mapúa University（马普阿大学）
The phenomenon of spontaneous scalarisation of charged black holes (BHs) has recently motivated studies of various Einstein-Maxwell-scalar models. Within these models, different classes of BH solutions are possible, depending on the non-minimal coupling function $f(ϕ)$, between the scalar field and the Maxwell invariant. Here we consider the class wherein both the (bald) electrovacuum Reissner-Nordström (RN) BH and new scalarised BHs co-exist, and the former are never unstable against scalar perturbations. In particular we examine the model, within this subclass, with a quartic coupling functi…
