Invited review to be published in "Handbook of Gravitational Wave Astronomy" (Eds. C. Bambi, S. Katsanevas and K. Kokkotas; Springer Singapore, 2021); 36 pages and 12 figures; minor changes from v1 (references added, sections re-organized)
At low redshift, massive black holes are found in the centers of almost all large elliptical galaxies, and also in many lower-mass systems. Their evolution is believed to be inextricably entangled with that of their host galaxies. On the one hand, the galactic environment provides gas for the black holes to grow via accretion and shine as active galactic nuclei. On the other hand, massive black holes are expected to backreact on the galactic dynamics, by injecting energy in their surroundings via jets or radiative feedback. Moreover, if galaxies and dark-matter halos form hierarchically, from small systems at high redshift coalescing into larger ones at more recent epochs, massive black holes may also merge, potentially generating gravitational-wave signals detectable by present and future experiments. In this Chapter, we discuss the predictions of current astrophysical models for the mergers of massive black holes in the mHz frequency band of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and in the nHz frequency band of pulsar-timing array experiments. We focus in particular on the astrophysical uncertainties affecting these predictions, including the poorly known dynamical evolution of massive black hole pairs at separations of hundreds of parsecs; the possible formation of 'stalled' binaries at parsec separations ('final-parsec problem'); and the effect of baryonic physics (e.g. SN feedback) on the growth of massive black holes. We show that nHz-band predictions are much more robust than in the mHz band, and comment on the implications of this fact for LISA and pulsar-timing arrays.
We conduct a descriptive analysis of the multipolar structure of gravitational-radiation waveforms from equal-mass aligned-spin mergers, following an approach first presented in the complementary context of nonspinning black holes of varying mass ratio [J.G. Baker et al. Phys. Rev. D 78 044046 (2008)]. We find that, as with the nonspinning mergers, the dominant waveform mode phases evolve together in lock-step through inspiral and merger, supporting the previous waveform description in terms of an adiabatically rigid rotator driving gravitational-wave emission-an implicit rotating source. We f…
The study of galaxy mergers and supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) is central to our understanding of the galaxy and black hole assembly and (co-)evolution at the epoch of structure formation and throughout cosmic history. Galaxy mergers are the sites of major accretion episodes, they power quasars, grow supermassive black holes (SMBHs), and drive SMBH-host scaling relations. The coalescing SMBBHs at their centers are the loudest sources of gravitational waves (GWs) in the universe, and the subsequent GW recoil has a variety of potential astrophysical implications which are still under e…
Understanding how rotationally-supported discs transform into dispersion-dominated spheroids is central to our comprehension of galaxy evolution. Morphological transformation is largely merger-driven. While major mergers can efficiently create spheroids, recent work has highlighted the significant role of other processes, like minor mergers, in driving morphological change. Given their rich merger histories, spheroids typically exhibit large fractions of `ex-situ' stellar mass, i.e. mass that is accreted, via mergers, from external objects. This is particularly true for the most massive galaxi…
The LIGO-Virgo-Kagra collaboration (LVC) discovered recently GW190521, a gravitational wave (GW) source associated with the merger between two black holes (BHs) with mass $66$ M$_\odot$ and $>85$ M$_\odot$. GW190521 represents the first BH binary (BBH) merger with a primary mass falling in the "upper mass-gap" and the first leaving behind a $\sim 150$ M$_\odot$ remnant. So far, the LVC reported the discovery of four further mergers having a total mass $>100$ M$_\odot$, i.e. in the intermediate-mass black holes (IMBH) mass range. Here, we discuss results from a series of 80 $N$-body simulations…
The detection of gravitational waves emitted during a neutron star - black hole merger and the associated electromagnetic counterpart will provide a wealth of information about stellar evolution nuclear matter, and General Relativity. While the theoretical framework about neutron star - black hole binaries formed in isolation is well established, the picture is loosely constrained for those forming via dynamical interactions. Here, we use N-body simulations to show that mergers forming in globular and nuclear clusters could display distinctive marks compared to isolated mergers, namely larger …
With projects such as Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and Pulsar Timing Arrays expected to detect gravitational waves from supermassive black hole mergers in the near future, it is key that we understand what we expect those detections to be, and maximize what we can learn from them. To address this, we study the mergers of supermassive black holes in the Illustris simulation, the overall rate of mergers, and the correlation between merging black holes and their host galaxies. We find that these mergers occur in typical galaxies along the $M_{\rm{BH}}-M_*$ relation, and that between …
We first discuss the stellar and wind parameters of zeta Pup resulting from detailed UV diagnostics. These parameters together with the runaway nature of the star can most easily be explained by dynamical binary-binary or binary-single star interactions in dense stellar clusters. In this case zeta Pup is most likely the merger of at least two massive stars.
The majority of massive stars are found in close binaries which: (i) are prone to merge and (ii) are accompanied by another distant tertiary star (triples). Here, we study the evolution of the stellar post-merger binaries composed of the merger product and the tertiary companion. We find that post-merger binaries originating from compact stellar triples with outer semi-major axes $a_{\rm out,init}\lesssim10^1\,-\,10^2\,\rm AU$ provide a new way to form binary black hole mergers in the galactic field. By means of a population synthesis, we estimate their contribution to the total black hole mer…
In our hierarchical structure-formation paradigm, the observed morphological evolution of massive galaxies -- from rotationally-supported discs to dispersion-dominated spheroids -- is largely explained via galaxy merging. However, since mergers are likely to destroy discs, and the most massive galaxies have the richest merger histories, it is surprising that any discs exist at all at the highest stellar masses. Recent theoretical work by our group has used a cosmological, hydrodynamical simulation to suggest that extremely massive (M* > 10^11.4 MSun) discs form primarily via minor mergers betw…
Several astrophysical scenarios have been proposed to explain the origin of the population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected in gravitational waves (GWs) by the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration. Among them, BBH mergers assembled dynamically in young massive and open clusters have been shown to produce merger rate densities consistent with LIGO/Virgo estimated rates. We use the results of a suite of direct, high-precision $N$-body evolutionary models of young massive and open clusters and build the population of BBH mergers, by accounting for both a cosmologically-motivated model for the form…
The recent detection of the binary black hole merger GW150914 demonstrates the existence of black holes more massive than previously observed in X-ray binaries in our Galaxy. This article explores different scenarios of black hole formation in the context of self-consistent cosmic chemical evolution models that simultaneously match observations of the cosmic star formation rate, optical depth to reionization and metallicity of the interstellar medium. This framework is used to calculate the mass distribution of merging black hole binaries and its evolution with redshift. We also study the impl…
We review theoretical findings, astrophysical modeling, and current gravitational-wave evidence of hierarchical stellar-mass black-hole mergers. While most of the compact binary mergers detected by LIGO and Virgo are expected to consist of first-generation black holes formed from the collapse of stars, others might instead be of second (or higher) generation, containing the remnants of previous black-hole mergers. Such a subpopulation of hierarchically assembled black holes presents distinctive gravitational-wave signatures, namely higher masses, possibly within the pair-instability mass gap, …
Mergers of gas-poor galaxies, so-called dry mergers, may play a fundamental role in the assembly of the most massive galaxies, and therefore, in galaxy formation theories. Using the SDSS, we have serendipitously discovered a rare system in the observational and theoretical context, possibly a quintuple dry merger at low redshift. As a follow-up, we have obtained NOT long-slit spectra of the group, in order to measure the individual redshifts and gain insight into its merger fate. Our results show an isolated, low-redshift galaxy group consisting of massive, quiescent, early-type galaxies, comp…
In the near future, projects like LISA and Pulsar Timing Arrays are expected to detect gravitational waves from mergers between supermassive black holes, and it is crucial to precisely model the underlying merger populations now to maximize what we can learn from this new data. Here we characterize expected high-redshift (z > 2) black hole mergers using the very large volume Astrid cosmological simulation, which uses a range of seed masses to probe down to low-mass BHs, and directly incorporates dynamical friction so as to accurately model the dynamical processes which bring black holes to the…
We report the discovery of ancient massive merger events in the early-type galaxies NGC 1380 and NGC 1427, members of the Fornax galaxy cluster. Both galaxies have been observed by the MUSE IFU instrument on the VLT, as part of the Fornax3D project. By fitting recently-developed population-orbital superposition models to the observed surface brightness as well as stellar kinematic, age, and metallicity maps, we obtain the stellar orbits, age and metallicity distributions of each galaxy. We then decompose each galaxy into multiple orbital-based components, including a dynamically hot inner stel…
We study whether dry merger-driven size growth of massive elliptical galaxies depends on their initial structural concentration, and analyse the validity of the homology hypothesis for virial mass determination in massive ellipticals grown by dry mergers. High-resolution simulations of a few realistic merger trees, starting with compact progenitors of different structural concentrations (Sérsic indices n), show that galaxy growth has little dependence on the initial Sérsic index (larger n leads to slightly larger size growth), and depends more on other particulars of the merger history. We sho…
Mergers of gas-rich galaxies are key events in the hierarchical built-up of cosmic structures, and can lead to the formation of massive black hole binaries. By means of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations we consider the late stages of a gas-rich major merger, detailing the dynamics of two circumnuclear discs, and of the hosted massive black holes during their pairing phase. During the merger gas clumps with masses of a fraction of the black hole mass form because of fragmentation. Such high-density gas is very effective in forming stars, and the most massive clumps can substantially pe…
By employing N-body simulations, we inestigate the formation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) through the sinking of two massive black holes (MBHs) during galaxy mergers. With different impact parameters and different central stellar density of the progenitor galaxies, we analyze the orbits of the MBHs from the beginning of the merger until the time when the bound MBHB forms. Contrary to the previous theory that the timing of the dual MBHs entering their dynamical radius is similar as the timing of the formation of the bound MBHB, we find that these two timings could deviate when the cen…
Accretion disks around supermassive black holes are promising sites for stellar mass black hole mergers detectable with LIGO. Here we present the results of Monte-Carlo simulations of black hole mergers within 1-d AGN disk models. For the spin distribution in the disk bulk, key findings are: (1) The distribution of $χ_{\rm eff}$ is naturally centered around $\tildeχ_{\rm eff} \approx 0.0$, (2) the width of the $χ_{\rm eff}$ distribution is narrow for low natal spins. For the mass distribution in the disk bulk, key findings are: (3) mass ratios $\tilde{q} \sim 0.5-0.7$, (4) the maximum merger m…
We investigate the formation history of massive disk galaxies in hydro-dynamical simulation--the IllustrisTNG, to study why massive disk galaxies survive through cosmic time. 83 galaxies in the simulation are selected with M$_{*,z=0}$ $>8\times10^{10}$ M$_\odot$ and kinematic bulge-to-total ratio less than $0.3$. We find that 8.4 percent of these massive disk galaxies have quiet merger histories and preserve disk morphology since formed. 54.2 percent have a significant increase in bulge components in history, then become disks again till present time. The rest 37.3 percent experience prominent…
The global 21 cm HI emission-line profile of a galaxy encodes valuable information on the spatial distribution and kinematics of the neutral atomic gas. Galaxy interactions significantly influence the HI disk and imprint observable features on the integrated HI line profile. In this work, we study the neutral atomic gas properties of galaxy mergers selected from the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey. The HI spectra come from new observations with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope and from a collection of archival data. We quantify the HI profile of the mergers with a ne…
Young star clusters like R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and NGC 3603, Westerlund 1, and 2 in the Milky Way are dynamically more evolved than expected based on their current relaxation times. In particular, the combination of a high degree of mass segregation, a relatively low central density, and the large number of massive runaway stars in their vicinity are hard to explain with the monolithic formation of these clusters. Young star clusters can achieve such a mature dynamical state if they formed through the mergers of a number of less massive clusters. The shorter relaxation times of le…
There is some weak evidence that the black hole merger named GW190521 had a non-zero eccentricity. In addition, the component black holes' masses exceeded the limit predicted by stellar evolution. The large masses can be explained by successive mergers, which may be efficient in gas disks surrounding active galactic nuclei (AGN), but it is difficult to maintain an eccentric orbit all the way to the merger, as basic physics would argue for circularization. Here we show that AGN-disk environments can lead to an excess of eccentric mergers, if the interactions between single and binary black hole…
Recent observations show evidence that high-z (z\sim 2 - 3) early-type galaxies (ETGs) are more compact than those with comparable mass at z\sim 0. Such a size evolution is most likely explained by the `Dry Merger Sceanario'. However, previous studies based on this scenario are not able to consistantly explain both the properties of the high-z compact massive ETGs and the local ETGs. We investigate the effect of multiple sequential dry minor mergers on the size evolution of the compact massive ETGs. From an analysis of the Millennium Simulation Database, we show that such minor (stellar mass r…
Major galaxy mergers are thought to play an important part in fuelling the growth of supermassive black holes. However, observational support for this hypothesis is mixed, with some studies showing a correlation between merging galaxies and luminous quasars and others showing no such association. Recent observations have shown that a black hole is likely to become heavily obscured behind merger-driven gas and dust, even in the early stages of the merger, when the galaxies are well separated (5 to 40 kiloparsecs). Merger simulations further suggest that such obscuration and black-hole accretion…
We present the results from a Chandra pilot study of 12 massive galaxy mergers selected from Galaxy Zoo. The sample includes major mergers down to a host galaxy mass of 10$^{11}$ $M_\odot$ that already have optical AGN signatures in at least one of the progenitors. We find that the coincidences of optically selected active nuclei with mildly obscured ($N_H \lesssim 1.1 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$) X-ray nuclei are relatively common (8/12), but the detections are too faint ($< 40$ counts per nucleus; $f_{2-10 keV} \lesssim 1.2 \times 10^{-13}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$) to reliably separate starburs…
We use the SDSS Stripe 82 to empirically quantify the stellar-mass and black-hole growth triggered by minor mergers in local spiral (disk) galaxies. Since major mergers destroy disks and create spheroids, morphologically disturbed spirals are likely remnants of minor mergers. Disturbed spirals exhibit enhanced specific star formation rates (SSFRs), the enhancement increasing in galaxies of 'later' morphological type (which have more gas and smaller bulges). By combining the SSFR enhancements with the fraction of time spirals spend in this 'enhanced' mode, we estimate that ~40% of the star form…
I present a set of long-term, direct, relativistic many-body computations of model dense stellar clusters with up-to-date stellar-evolutionary, supernova (SN), and remnant natal-kick models, including pair instability and pulsation pair instability supernova (PSN and PPSN), using an updated version of NBODY7 N-body simulation program. The N-body model also includes stellar evolution-based natal spins of BHs and treatments of binary black hole (BBH) mergers based on numerical relativity. These, for the first time in a direct N-body simulation, allow for second-generation BBH mergers. The set of…
GW231123: Likely a product of successive mergers from $\sim 10 $ stellar-mass black holes
Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（暗物质和空间天文重点实验室，中国科学院紫金山天文台）；Department of Physics, University of Florida（佛罗里达大学物理系）；School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学天文与空间科学学院）
The recent discovery of GW150914, the binary black hole merger detected by Advanced LIGO, has the potential to revolutionize observational astrophysics. But to fully utilize this new window into the universe, we must compare these new observations to detailed models of binary black hole formation throughout cosmic time. Expanding upon our previous work (Rodriguez et al., 2015), we study merging binary black holes formed in globular clusters using our Monte Carlo approach to stellar dynamics. We have created a new set of 52 cluster models with different masses, metallicities, and radii to fully…
I investigate the roles of cluster dynamics and massive binary evolution in producing stellar-remnant binary black hole (BBH) mergers over the cosmic time. To that end, dynamical BBH mergers are obtained from long-term direct N-body evolutionary models of $\sim10^4M_\odot$, pc-scale young massive clusters (YMC) evolving into moderate-mass open clusters (OC). Fast evolutionary models of massive isolated binaries (IB) yield BBHs from binary evolution. Population synthesis in a Model Universe is then performed, taking into account observed cosmic star-formation and enrichment histories, to obtain…
We present an empirical approach for interpreting gravitational wave signals of binary black hole mergers under the assumption that the underlying black hole population is sourced by remnants of stellar evolution. Using the observed relationship between galaxy mass and stellar metallicity, we predict the black hole count as a function of galaxy stellar mass. We show, for example, that a galaxy like the Milky Way should host millions of $\sim 30~M_\odot$ black holes and dwarf satellite galaxies like Draco should host $\sim 100$ such remnants, with weak dependence on the assumed IMF and stellar …
