Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Merging Galaxies and Evidence for Potential Sub-parsec Binaries

Details Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Merging Galaxies and Evidence for Potential Sub-parsec Binaries Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Merging Galaxies and Evidence for Potential Sub-parsec Binaries

Jan 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21543518b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #435.18; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.382

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

As a result of galactic mergers, a significant number of supermassive black holes are expected to be in binary systems and at various stages in their orbital evolution. During galactic mergers, matter in the form of gas and stars is available for the black holes to accrete, providing fuel for black hole growth and a potential mechanism for the onset of a quasar phase. To better understand how supermassive black holes and their active phases evolve over time, the Arkansas Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES) team is studying binary black hole systems at a range of separations, r. We have examined the scarce number of binary systems (10,000 > r > 1,000 pc) to infer information about their individual masses, the amount of gas and dust in the nuclear regions, the accretion rates of the individual nuclei, and the estimated timescale for dynamical friction to reduce the black holes’ separation to parsec scales. We have compared these results to those from theoretical calculations. Furthermore, we have visually examined the spectra of SDSS quasars for "unusual” double-peaked emitters looking for evidence of binary orbital motion at separations of < 1 pc. If found, such close binaries will have measurable orbital periods and will provide important information about the environments of quasars in the final stages of a merger. In addition, they will be excellent sources for gravitational wave emission for future space-based detectors such as LISA.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Merging Galaxies and Evidence for Potential Sub-parsec Binaries does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Merging Galaxies and Evidence for Potential Sub-parsec Binaries, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Merging Galaxies and Evidence for Potential Sub-parsec Binaries will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-968530