Assessing the Detectability of Gravitational Waves from Coalescing Binary Black Holes with Precessing Spin

Science.gov (United States)

Frederick, Sara; Privitera, Stephen; Weinstein, Alan J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration

2015-01-01

The Advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors will come online within the year and are expected to outperform the strain sensitivity of initial LIGO/Virgo detectors by an order of magnitude and operate with greater bandwidth, possibly to frequencies as low as 10 Hz. Coalescing binary black holes (BBH) are anticipated to be among the most likely sources of gravitational radiation observable by the detectors. Searches for such systems benefit greatly from the use of accurate predictions for the gravitational wave signal to filter the data. The component black holes of these systems are predicted to have substantial spin, which greatly influences the gravitational waveforms from these sources; however, recent LIGO/Virgo searches have made use of banks of waveform models which neglect the effects of the component spins. The inclusion of spinning components is relatively simplified when the spins are taken to be aligned with the orbital angular momentum, though the difficult task of including precession (allowing for mis-aligned component spins) remains a goal of this work. We aim to assess the ability of the GSTLAL gravitational wave search pipeline using IMR aligned-spin template waveforms to recover signals from generically spinning black hole binaries injected into simulated Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector noise. If black holes are highly spinning as predicted, use of aligned-spin template banks in upcoming searches could increase the detection rate of these systems in Advanced LIGO and Virgo data, providing the opportunity for a deeper understanding of the sources.

Binary black holes on a budget: simulations using workstations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marronetti, Pedro; Tichy, Wolfgang; Bruegmann, Bernd; Gonzalez, Jose; Hannam, Mark; Husa, Sascha; Sperhake, Ulrich

2007-01-01

Binary black hole simulations have traditionally been computationally very expensive: current simulations are performed in supercomputers involving dozens if not hundreds of processors, thus systematic studies of the parameter space of binary black hole encounters still seem prohibitive with current technology. Here we show how the multi-layered refinement level code BAM can be used on dual processor workstations to simulate certain binary black hole systems. BAM, based on the moving punctures method, provides grid structures composed of boxes of increasing resolution near the centre of the grid. In the case of binaries, the highest resolution boxes are placed around each black hole and they track them in their orbits until the final merger when a single set of levels surrounds the black hole remnant. This is particularly useful when simulating spinning black holes since the gravitational fields gradients are larger. We present simulations of binaries with equal mass black holes with spins parallel to the binary axis and intrinsic magnitude of S/m 2 = 0.75. Our results compare favourably to those of previous simulations of this particular system. We show that the moving punctures method produces stable simulations at maximum spatial resolutions up to M/160 and for durations of up to the equivalent of 20 orbital periods

Distinguishing spin-aligned and isotropic black hole populations with gravitational waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Farr, Will M; Stevenson, Simon; Miller, M Coleman; Mandel, Ilya; Farr, Ben; Vecchio, Alberto

2017-08-23

The direct detection of gravitational waves from merging binary black holes opens up a window into the environments in which binary black holes form. One signature of such environments is the angular distribution of the black hole spins. Binary systems that formed through dynamical interactions between already-compact objects are expected to have isotropic spin orientations (that is, the spins of the black holes are randomly oriented with respect to the orbit of the binary system), whereas those that formed from pairs of stars born together are more likely to have spins that are preferentially aligned with the orbit. The best-measured combination of spin parameters for each of the four likely binary black hole detections GW150914, LVT151012, GW151226 and GW170104 is the 'effective' spin. Here we report that, if the magnitudes of the black hole spins are allowed to extend to high values, the effective spins for these systems indicate a 0.015 odds ratio against an aligned angular distribution compared to an isotropic one. When considering the effect of ten additional detections, this odds ratio decreases to 2.9 × 10 -7 against alignment. The existing preference for either an isotropic spin distribution or low spin magnitudes for the observed systems will be confirmed (or overturned) confidently in the near future.

Recoil velocity at second post-Newtonian order for spinning black hole binaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Racine, Etienne; Buonanno, Alessandra; Kidder, Larry

2009-01-01

We compute the flux of linear momentum carried by gravitational waves emitted from spinning binary black holes at second post-Newtonian (2PN) order for generic orbits. In particular we provide explicit expressions of three new types of terms, namely, next-to-leading order spin-orbit terms at 1.5 post-Newtonian (1.5PN) order, spin-orbit tail terms at 2PN order, and spin-spin terms at 2PN order. Restricting ourselves to quasicircular orbits, we integrate the linear-momentum flux over time to obtain the recoil velocity as function of orbital frequency. We find that in the so-called superkick configuration the higher-order spin corrections can increase the recoil velocity up to a factor ∼3 with respect to the leading-order PN prediction. Whereas the recoil velocity computed in PN theory within the adiabatic approximation can accurately describe the early inspiral phase, we find that its fast increase during the late inspiral and plunge, and the arbitrariness in determining until when it should be trusted, makes the PN predictions for the total recoil not very accurate and robust. Nevertheless, the linear-momentum flux at higher PN orders can be employed to build more reliable resummed expressions aimed at capturing the nonperturbative effects until merger. Furthermore, we provide expressions valid for generic orbits, and accurate at 2PN order, for the energy and angular momentum carried by gravitational waves emitted from spinning binary black holes. Specializing to quasicircular orbits we compute the spin-spin terms at 2PN order in the expression for the evolution of the orbital frequency and found agreement with Mikoczi, Vasuth, and Gergely. We also verified that in the limit of extreme mass ratio our expressions for the energy and angular momentum fluxes match the ones of Tagoshi, Shibata, Tanaka, and Sasaki obtained in the context of black hole perturbation theory.

Mergers of Black-Hole Binaries with Aligned Spins: Waveform Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Bernard J.; Baker, John G.; vanMeter, James R.; Boggs, William D.; McWilliams, Sean T.; Centrella, Joan

2011-01-01

"We apply our gravitational-waveform analysis techniques, first presented in the context of nonspinning black holes of varying mass ratio [1], to the complementary case of equal-mass spinning black-hole binary systems. We find that, as with the nonspinning mergers, the dominant waveform modes phases evolve together in lock-step through inspiral and merger, supporting the previous model of the binary system as an adiabatically rigid rotator driving gravitational-wave emission - an implicit rotating source (IRS). We further apply the late-merger model for the rotational frequency introduced in [1], along with a new mode amplitude model appropriate for the dominant (2, plus or minus 2) modes. We demonstrate that this seven-parameter model performs well in matches with the original numerical waveform for system masses above - 150 solar mass, both when the parameters are freely fit, and when they are almost completely constrained by physical considerations."

Measuring Parameters of Massive Black Hole Binaries with Partially-Aligned Spins

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Ryan N.; Hughes, Scott A.; Cornish, Neil J.

2010-01-01

It is important to understand how well the gravitational-wave observatory LISA can measure parameters of massive black hole binaries. It has been shown that including spin precession in the waveform breaks degeneracies and produces smaller expected parameter errors than a simpler, precession-free analysis. However, recent work has shown that gas in binaries can partially align the spins with the orbital angular momentum, thus reducing the precession effect. We show how this degrades the earlier results, producing more pessimistic errors in gaseous mergers. However, we then add higher harmonics to the signal model; these also break degeneracies, but they are not affected by the presence of gas. The harmonics often restore the errors in partially-aligned binaries to the same as, or better than/ those that are obtained for fully precessing binaries with no harmonics. Finally, we investigate what LISA measurements of spin alignment can tell us about the nature of gas around a binary,

Black holes in binary stars

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijers, R.A.M.J.

1996-01-01

Introduction Distinguishing neutron stars and black holes Optical companions and dynamical masses X-ray signatures of the nature of a compact object Structure and evolution of black-hole binaries High-mass black-hole binaries Low-mass black-hole binaries Low-mass black holes Formation of black holes

First Higher-Multipole Model of Gravitational Waves from Spinning and Coalescing Black-Hole Binaries.

Science.gov (United States)

London, Lionel; Khan, Sebastian; Fauchon-Jones, Edward; García, Cecilio; Hannam, Mark; Husa, Sascha; Jiménez-Forteza, Xisco; Kalaghatgi, Chinmay; Ohme, Frank; Pannarale, Francesco

2018-04-20

Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes currently rely on theoretical models that predict the dominant multipoles (ℓ=2,|m|=2) of the radiation during inspiral, merger, and ringdown. We introduce a simple method to include the subdominant multipoles to binary black hole gravitational waveforms, given a frequency-domain model for the dominant multipoles. The amplitude and phase of the original model are appropriately stretched and rescaled using post-Newtonian results (for the inspiral), perturbation theory (for the ringdown), and a smooth transition between the two. No additional tuning to numerical-relativity simulations is required. We apply a variant of this method to the nonprecessing PhenomD model. The result, PhenomHM, constitutes the first higher-multipole model of spinning and coalescing black-hole binaries, and currently includes the (ℓ,|m|)=(2,2),(3,3),(4,4),(2,1),(3,2),(4,3) radiative moments. Comparisons with numerical-relativity waveforms demonstrate that PhenomHM is more accurate than dominant-multipole-only models for all binary configurations, and typically improves the measurement of binary properties.

First Higher-Multipole Model of Gravitational Waves from Spinning and Coalescing Black-Hole Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

London, Lionel; Khan, Sebastian; Fauchon-Jones, Edward; García, Cecilio; Hannam, Mark; Husa, Sascha; Jiménez-Forteza, Xisco; Kalaghatgi, Chinmay; Ohme, Frank; Pannarale, Francesco

2018-04-01

Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes currently rely on theoretical models that predict the dominant multipoles (ℓ=2 ,|m |=2 ) of the radiation during inspiral, merger, and ringdown. We introduce a simple method to include the subdominant multipoles to binary black hole gravitational waveforms, given a frequency-domain model for the dominant multipoles. The amplitude and phase of the original model are appropriately stretched and rescaled using post-Newtonian results (for the inspiral), perturbation theory (for the ringdown), and a smooth transition between the two. No additional tuning to numerical-relativity simulations is required. We apply a variant of this method to the nonprecessing PhenomD model. The result, PhenomHM, constitutes the first higher-multipole model of spinning and coalescing black-hole binaries, and currently includes the (ℓ,|m |)=(2 ,2 ),(3 ,3 ),(4 ,4 ),(2 ,1 ),(3 ,2 ),(4 ,3 ) radiative moments. Comparisons with numerical-relativity waveforms demonstrate that PhenomHM is more accurate than dominant-multipole-only models for all binary configurations, and typically improves the measurement of binary properties.

Visualizing, Approximating, and Understanding Black-Hole Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, David A.

Numerical-relativity simulations of black-hole binaries and advancements in gravitational-wave detectors now make it possible to learn more about the collisions of compact astrophysical bodies. To be able to infer more about the dynamical behavior of these objects requires a fuller analysis of the connection between the dynamics of pairs of black holes and their emitted gravitational waves. The chapters of this thesis describe three approaches to learn more about the relationship between the dynamics of black-hole binaries and their gravitational waves: modeling momentum flow in binaries with the Landau-Lifshitz formalism, approximating binary dynamics near the time of merger with post-Newtonian and black-hole-perturbation theories, and visualizing spacetime curvature with tidal tendexes and frame-drag vortexes. In Chapters 2--4, my collaborators and I present a method to quantify the flow of momentum in black-hole binaries using the Landau-Lifshitz formalism. Chapter 2 reviews an intuitive version of the formalism in the first-post-Newtonian approximation that bears a strong resemblance to Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. Chapter 3 applies this approximation to relate the simultaneous bobbing motion of rotating black holes in the superkick configuration---equal-mass black holes with their spins anti-aligned and in the orbital plane---to the flow of momentum in the spacetime, prior to the black holes' merger. Chapter 4 then uses the Landau-Lifshitz formalism to explain the dynamics of a head-on merger of spinning black holes, whose spins are anti-aligned and transverse to the infalling motion. Before they merge, the black holes move with a large, transverse, velocity, which we can explain using the post-Newtonian approximation; as the holes merge and form a single black hole, we can use the Landau-Lifshitz formalism without any approximations to connect the slowing of the final black hole to its absorbing momentum density during the merger. In Chapters 5

Dual jets from binary black holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Palenzuela, Carlos; Lehner, Luis; Liebling, Steven L

2010-08-20

The coalescence of supermassive black holes--a natural outcome when galaxies merge--should produce gravitational waves and would likely be associated with energetic electromagnetic events. We have studied the coalescence of such binary black holes within an external magnetic field produced by the expected circumbinary disk surrounding them. Solving the Einstein equations to describe black holes interacting with surrounding plasma, we present numerical evidence for possible jets driven by these systems. Extending the process described by Blandford and Znajek for a single, spinning black hole, the picture that emerges suggests that the electromagnetic field extracts energy from the orbiting black holes, which ultimately merge and settle into the standard Blandford-Znajek scenario. Emissions along these jets could potentially be observable at large distances.

Implications of the Low Binary Black Hole Aligned Spins Observed by LIGO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hotokezaka, Kenta [Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010 (United States); Piran, Tsvi [Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904 (Israel)

2017-06-20

We explore the implications of the low-spin components along the orbital axis observed in an Advanced LIGO O1 run on binary black hole (BBH) merger scenarios in which the merging BBHs have evolved from field binaries. The coalescence time determines the initial orbital separation of BBHs. This, in turn, determines whether the stars are synchronized before collapse, and hence determines their projected spins. Short coalescence times imply synchronization and large spins. Among known stellar objects, Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars seem to be the only progenitors consistent with the low aligned spins observed in LIGO’s O1, provided that the orbital axis maintains its direction during the collapse. We calculate the spin distribution of BBH mergers in the local universe, and its redshift evolution for WR progenitors. Assuming that the BBH formation rate peaks around a redshift of ∼2–3, we show that BBH mergers in the local universe are dominated by low-spin events. The high-spin population starts to dominate at a redshift of ∼0.5–1.5. WR stars are also progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts that take place at a comparable rate to BBH mergers. We discuss the possible connection between the two phenomena. Additionally, we show that hypothetical Population III star progenitors are also possible. Although WR and Population III progenitors are consistent with the current data, both models predict a non-vanishing fraction of high positive values of the BBHs’ aligned spin. If those are not detected within the coming LIGO/Virgo runs, it will be unlikely that the observed BBHs formed via field binaries.

Massive Binary Black Holes in the Cosmic Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Colpi, Monica; Dotti, Massimo

2011-02-01

Binary black holes occupy a special place in our quest for understanding the evolution of galaxies along cosmic history. If massive black holes grow at the center of (pre-)galactic structures that experience a sequence of merger episodes, then dual black holes form as inescapable outcome of galaxy assembly, and can in principle be detected as powerful dual quasars. But, if the black holes reach coalescence, during their inspiral inside the galaxy remnant, then they become the loudest sources of gravitational waves ever in the universe. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna is being developed to reveal these waves that carry information on the mass and spin of these binary black holes out to very large look-back times. Nature seems to provide a pathway for the formation of these exotic binaries, and a number of key questions need to be addressed: How do massive black holes pair in a merger? Depending on the properties of the underlying galaxies, do black holes always form a close Keplerian binary? If a binary forms, does hardening proceed down to the domain controlled by gravitational wave back reaction? What is the role played by gas and/or stars in braking the black holes, and on which timescale does coalescence occur? Can the black holes accrete on flight and shine during their pathway to coalescence? After outlining key observational facts on dual/binary black holes, we review the progress made in tracing their dynamics in the habitat of a gas-rich merger down to the smallest scales ever probed with the help of powerful numerical simulations. N-Body/hydrodynamical codes have proven to be vital tools for studying their evolution, and progress in this field is expected to grow rapidly in the effort to describe, in full realism, the physics of stars and gas around the black holes, starting from the cosmological large scale of a merger. If detected in the new window provided by the upcoming gravitational wave experiments, binary black holes will provide a deep view

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Camp, J. B.

2016-01-01

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of masses 36(+5/-4) solar mass and 29(+4/-4) solar mass; for each parameter we report the median value and the range of the 90% credible interval. The dimensionless spin magnitude of the more massive black hole is bound to be less than 0.7 (at 90% probability). The luminosity distance to the source is 410(+160/-180) Mpc, corresponding to a redshift 0.09(+0.03/-0.04) assuming standard cosmology. The source location is constrained to an annulus section of 610 sq deg, primarily in the southern hemisphere. The binary merges into a black hole of mass 62(+4/-4) solar mass and spin 0.67(+0.05/-0.07). This black hole is significantly more massive than any other inferred from electromagnetic observations in the stellar-mass regime.

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C. J.; Berger, B. K.; Bergman, J.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bojtos, P.; Bond, C.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Carbon Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Daveloza, H. P.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dereli, H.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dojcinoski, G.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fournier, J.-D.; Franco, S.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gatto, A.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Gendre, B.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Hofman, D.; Hollitt, S. E.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idrisy, A.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Islas, G.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Johnson-McDaniel, N. K.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; K, Haris; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kéfélian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.; Key, J. S.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, C.; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y.-M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Kokeyama, K.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B. M.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Luo, J.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; MacDonald, T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magee, R. M.; Mageswaran, M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R. M.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pan, Y.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Premachandra, S. S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Röver, C.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Serna, G.; Setyawati, Y.; Sevigny, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shah, S.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shao, Z.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Simakov, D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, N. D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson, S. P.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van der Sluys, M. V.; van Heijningen, J. V.; Vañó-Viñuales, A.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welborn, T.; Wen, L.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.; Boyle, M.; Brügamin, B.; Campanelli, M.; Clark, M.; Hamberger, D.; Kidder, L. E.; Kinsey, M.; Laguna, P.; Ossokine, S.; Scheel, M. A.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; Zlochower, Y.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2016-06-01

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of masses 3 6-4+5M⊙ and 2 9-4+4M⊙ ; for each parameter we report the median value and the range of the 90% credible interval. The dimensionless spin magnitude of the more massive black hole is bound to be <0.7 (at 90% probability). The luminosity distance to the source is 41 0-180+160 Mpc , corresponding to a redshift 0.0 9-0.04+0.03 assuming standard cosmology. The source location is constrained to an annulus section of 610 deg2 , primarily in the southern hemisphere. The binary merges into a black hole of mass 6 2-4+4M⊙ and spin 0.6 7-0.07+0.05. This black hole is significantly more massive than any other inferred from electromagnetic observations in the stellar-mass regime.

Statistical constraints on binary black hole inspiral dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galley, Chad R; Herrmann, Frank; Silberholz, John; Tiglio, Manuel [Department of Physics, Center for Fundamental Physics, Center for Scientific Computation and Mathematical Modeling, Joint Space Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States); Guerberoff, Gustavo, E-mail: tiglio@umd.ed [Facultad de IngenierIa, Instituto de Matematica y EstadIstica, ' Prof. Ing. Rafael Laguardia' , Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo (Uruguay)

2010-12-21

We perform a statistical analysis of binary black holes in the post-Newtonian approximation by systematically sampling and evolving the parameter space of initial configurations for quasi-circular inspirals. Through a principal component analysis of spin and orbital angular momentum variables, we systematically look for uncorrelated quantities and find three of them which are highly conserved in a statistical sense, both as functions of time and with respect to variations in initial spin orientations. For example, we find a combination of spin scalar products, 2S-circumflex{sub 1{center_dot}}S-circumflex{sub 2} + (S-circumflex{sub 1{center_dot}}L-circumflex) (S-circumflex{sub 2{center_dot}}L-circumflex), that is exactly conserved in time at the considered post-Newtonian order (including spin-spin and radiative effects) for binaries with equal masses and spin magnitudes evolving in a quasi-circular inspiral. We also look for and find the variables that account for the largest variations in the problem. We present binary black hole simulations of the full Einstein equations analyzing to what extent these results might carry over to the full theory in the inspiral and merger regimes. Among other applications these results should be useful both in semi-analytical and numerical building of templates of gravitational waves for gravitational wave detectors.

Systematic Biases in Parameter Estimation of Binary Black-Hole Mergers

Science.gov (United States)

Littenberg, Tyson B.; Baker, John G.; Buonanno, Alessandra; Kelly, Bernard J.

2012-01-01

Parameter estimation of binary-black-hole merger events in gravitational-wave data relies on matched filtering techniques, which, in turn, depend on accurate model waveforms. Here we characterize the systematic biases introduced in measuring astrophysical parameters of binary black holes by applying the currently most accurate effective-one-body templates to simulated data containing non-spinning numerical-relativity waveforms. For advanced ground-based detectors, we find that the systematic biases are well within the statistical error for realistic signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). These biases grow to be comparable to the statistical errors at high signal-to-noise ratios for ground-based instruments (SNR approximately 50) but never dominate the error budget. At the much larger signal-to-noise ratios expected for space-based detectors, these biases will become large compared to the statistical errors but are small enough (at most a few percent in the black-hole masses) that we expect they should not affect broad astrophysical conclusions that may be drawn from the data.

Formation of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries with Non-degenerate Donors in Globular Clusters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivanova, Natalia; Rocha, Cassio A. da; Van, Kenny X.; Nandez, Jose L. A., E-mail: nata.ivanova@ualberta.ca [Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E7 (Canada)

2017-07-10

In this Letter, we propose a formation channel for low-mass X-ray binaries with black hole accretors and non-degenerate donors via grazing tidal encounters with subgiants. We estimate that in a typically dense globular cluster with a core density of 10{sup 5} stars pc{sup −3}, the formation rates are about one binary per Gyr per 50–100 retained black holes. The donors—stripped subgiants—will be strongly underluminous when compared to subgiant or giant branch stars of the same colors. The products of tidal stripping are underluminous by at least one magnitude for several hundred million years when compared to normal stars of the same color, and differ from underluminous red stars that could be produced by non-catastrophic mass transfer in an ordinary binary. The dynamically formed binaries become quiescent LMXBs, with lifetimes of about a Gyr. The expected number of X-ray binaries is one per 50–200 retained black holes, while the expected number of strongly underluminous subsubgiant is about half this. The presence of strongly underluminous stars in a GC may be indicative of the presence of black holes.

Formation of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries with Non-degenerate Donors in Globular Clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanova, Natalia; Rocha, Cassio A. da; Van, Kenny X.; Nandez, Jose L. A.

2017-01-01

In this Letter, we propose a formation channel for low-mass X-ray binaries with black hole accretors and non-degenerate donors via grazing tidal encounters with subgiants. We estimate that in a typically dense globular cluster with a core density of 10 5 stars pc −3 , the formation rates are about one binary per Gyr per 50–100 retained black holes. The donors—stripped subgiants—will be strongly underluminous when compared to subgiant or giant branch stars of the same colors. The products of tidal stripping are underluminous by at least one magnitude for several hundred million years when compared to normal stars of the same color, and differ from underluminous red stars that could be produced by non-catastrophic mass transfer in an ordinary binary. The dynamically formed binaries become quiescent LMXBs, with lifetimes of about a Gyr. The expected number of X-ray binaries is one per 50–200 retained black holes, while the expected number of strongly underluminous subsubgiant is about half this. The presence of strongly underluminous stars in a GC may be indicative of the presence of black holes.

Gravitational Waves from Coalescing Binary Black Holes: Theoretical and Experimental Challenges

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2010-01-01

(LIGO/VIRGO/GEO/...) is currently taking data near its planned sensitivity. Coalescing black hole binaries are among the most promising, and most exciting, gravitational wave sources for these detectors. The talk will review the theoretical and experimental challenges that must be met in order to successfully detect gravitational waves from coalescing black hole binaries, and to be able to reliably measure the physical parameters of the source (masses, spins, ...).

The Extreme Spin of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, Lijun; McClintock, Jeffrey E.; Reid, Mark J.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Steiner, James F.; Narayan, Ramesh; Xiang, Jingen; Remillard, Ronald A.; Arnaud, Keith A.; Davis, Shane W.

2011-01-01

The compact primary in the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole to be established via dynamical observations. We have recently determined accurate values for its mass and distance, and for the orbital inclination angle of the binary. Building on these results, which are based on our favored (asynchronous) dynamical model, we have measured the radius of the inner edge of the black hole s accretion disk by fitting its thermal continuum spectrum to a fully relativistic model of a thin accretion disk. Assuming that the spin axis of the black hole is aligned with the orbital angular momentum vector, we have determined that Cygnus X-1 contains a near-extreme Kerr black hole with a spin parameter a* > 0.95 (3(sigma)). For a less probable (synchronous) dynamical model, we find a. > 0.92 (3 ). In our analysis, we include the uncertainties in black hole mass, orbital inclination angle, and distance, and we also include the uncertainty in the calibration of the absolute flux via the Crab. These four sources of uncertainty totally dominate the error budget. The uncertainties introduced by the thin-disk model we employ are particularly small in this case given the extreme spin of the black hole and the disk s low luminosity.

Galactic nuclei evolution with spinning black holes: method and implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Fiacconi, Davide; Sijacki, Debora; Pringle, J. E.

2018-04-01

Supermassive black holes at the centre of galactic nuclei mostly grow in mass through gas accretion over cosmic time. This process also modifies the angular momentum (or spin) of black holes, both in magnitude and in orientation. Despite being often neglected in galaxy formation simulations, spin plays a crucial role in modulating accretion power, driving jet feedback, and determining recoil velocity of coalescing black hole binaries. We present a new accretion model for the moving-mesh code AREPO that incorporates (i) mass accretion through a thin α-disc, and (ii) spin evolution through the Bardeen-Petterson effect. We use a diverse suite of idealised simulations to explore the physical connection between spin evolution and larger scale environment. We find that black holes with mass ≲ 107 M⊙ experience quick alignment with the accretion disc. This favours prolonged phases of spin-up, and the spin direction evolves according to the gas inflow on timescales as short as ≲ 100 Myr, which might explain the observed jet direction distribution in Seyfert galaxies. Heavier black holes (≳ 108 M⊙) are instead more sensitive to the local gas kinematic. Here we find a wider distribution in spin magnitudes: spin-ups are favoured if gas inflow maintains a preferential direction, and spin-downs occur for nearly isotropic infall, while the spin direction does not change much over short timescales ˜100 Myr. We therefore conclude that supermassive black holes with masses ≳ 5 × 108 M⊙ may be the ideal testbed to determine the main mode of black hole fuelling over cosmic time.

Post-Newtonian templates for binary black-hole inspirals: the effect of the horizon fluxes and the secular change in the black-hole masses and spins

Science.gov (United States)

Isoyama, Soichiro; Nakano, Hiroyuki

2018-01-01

Black holes (BHs) in an inspiraling compact binary system absorb the gravitational-wave (GW) energy and angular-momentum fluxes across their event horizons and this leads to the secular change in their masses and spins during the inspiral phase. The goal of this paper is to present ready-to-use, 3.5 post-Newtonian (PN) template families for spinning, non-precessing, binary BH inspirals in quasicircular orbits, including the 2.5 PN and 3.5 PN horizon-flux contributions as well as the correction due to the secular change in the BH masses and spins through 3.5 PN order, respectively, in phase. We show that, for binary BHs observable by Advanced LIGO with high mass ratios (larger than  ∼10) and large aligned-spins (larger than  ∼ 0.7 ), the mismatch between the frequency-domain template with and without the horizon-flux contribution is typically above the 3% mark. For (supermassive) binary BHs observed by LISA, even a moderate mass-ratios and spins can produce a similar level of the mismatch. Meanwhile, the mismatch due to the secular time variations of the BH masses and spins is well below the 1% mark in both cases, hence this is truly negligible. We also point out that neglecting the cubic-in-spin, point-particle phase term at 3.5 PN order would deteriorate the effect of BH absorption in the template.

Tidal deformations of spinning black holes in Bowen–York initial data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cabero, Miriam; Krishnan, Badri

2015-01-01

We study the tidal deformations of the shape of a spinning black hole horizon due to a binary companion in the Bowen–York initial data set. We use the framework of quasi-local horizons and identify a black hole by marginally outer trapped surfaces. The intrinsic horizon geometry is specified by a set of mass and angular-momentum multipole moments M n and J n , respectively. The tidal deformations are described by the change in these multipole moments caused by an external perturbation. This leads us to define two sets of dimensionless numbers, the tidal coefficients for M n and J n , which specify the deformations of a black hole with a binary companion. We compute these tidal coefficients in a specific model problem, namely the Bowen–York initial data set for binary black holes. We restrict ourselves to axisymmetric situations and to small spins. Within this approximation, we analytically compute the conformal factor, the location of the marginally trapped surfaces, and finally the multipole moments and the tidal coefficients. (paper)

Impact of Bayesian Priors on the Characterization of Binary Black Hole Coalescences.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitale, Salvatore; Gerosa, Davide; Haster, Carl-Johan; Chatziioannou, Katerina; Zimmerman, Aaron

2017-12-22

In a regime where data are only mildly informative, prior choices can play a significant role in Bayesian statistical inference, potentially affecting the inferred physics. We show this is indeed the case for some of the parameters inferred from current gravitational-wave measurements of binary black hole coalescences. We reanalyze the first detections performed by the twin LIGO interferometers using alternative (and astrophysically motivated) prior assumptions. We find different prior distributions can introduce deviations in the resulting posteriors that impact the physical interpretation of these systems. For instance, (i) limits on the 90% credible interval on the effective black hole spin χ_{eff} are subject to variations of ∼10% if a prior with black hole spins mostly aligned to the binary's angular momentum is considered instead of the standard choice of isotropic spin directions, and (ii) under priors motivated by the initial stellar mass function, we infer tighter constraints on the black hole masses, and in particular, we find no support for any of the inferred masses within the putative mass gap M≲5  M_{⊙}.

"Iron-Clad" Evidence For Spinning Black Hole

Science.gov (United States)

2003-09-01

competing explanations that do not require extreme gravitational effects, and provide the best look yet at the geometry of the space-time around a stellar black hole created by the death of a massive star." The orbit of a particle near a black hole depends on the curvature of space around the black hole, which also depends on how fast the black hole is spinning. A spinning black hole drags space around with it and allows atoms to orbit closer to the black hole than is possible for a non-spinning black hole. The latest Chandra data from Cygnus X-1, the first stellar-size black hole discovered, show that the gravitational effects on the signal from the iron atoms can only be due to relativistic effects, and that some of the atoms are no closer than 100 miles to the black hole. There was no evidence that the Cygnus X-1 black hole is spinning. The XMM-Newton data from the black hole, XTE J1650-500, show a very similar distribution of iron atom X-rays with one important exception. More low energy X-rays from iron atoms are observed, an indication that some X-rays are coming from deep in the gravitational well around the black hole, as close as 20 miles to the black hole event horizon. This black hole must be spinning rapidly. Chandra observations of a third stellar black hole, GX 339-4, have revealed that it is also spinning rapidly, and clouds of warm absorbing gas appear to be flowing away from the black hole at speeds of about three hundred thousand miles per hour. Such warm gas flows have been observed in the vicinity of supermassive black holes. Previous observations of some supermassive black holes by Japan's ASCA satellite, XMM-Newton and Chandra have indicated that they may also be rotating rapidly. The latest results presented by Miller indicate that the peculiar geometry of space around spinning stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes is remarkably similar. Stellar and supermassive black holes may be similar in other ways. Powerful jets of high

CIRCUMBINARY MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC ACCRETION INTO INSPIRALING BINARY BLACK HOLES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noble, Scott C.; Mundim, Bruno C.; Nakano, Hiroyuki; Campanelli, Manuela; Zlochower, Yosef [Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623 (United States); Krolik, Julian H. [Physics and Astronomy Department, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Yunes, Nicolas, E-mail: scn@astro.rit.edu [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 (United States)

2012-08-10

We have simulated the magnetohydrodynamic evolution of a circumbinary disk surrounding an equal-mass binary comprising two non-spinning black holes during the period in which the disk inflow time is comparable to the binary evolution time due to gravitational radiation. Both the changing spacetime and the binary orbital evolution are described by an innovative technique utilizing high-order post-Newtonian approximations. Prior to the beginning of the inspiral, the structure of the circumbinary disk is predicted well by extrapolation from Newtonian results: a gap of roughly two binary separation radii is cleared, and matter piles up at the outer edge of this gap as inflow is retarded by torques exerted by the binary; the accretion rate is roughly half its value at large radius. During inspiral, the inner edge of the disk initially moves inward in coordination with the shrinking binary, but-as the orbital evolution accelerates-the inward motion of the disk edge falls behind the rate of binary compression. In this stage, the binary torque falls substantially, but the accretion rate decreases by only 10%-20%. When the binary separation is tens of gravitational radii, the rest-mass efficiency of disk radiation is a few percent, suggesting that supermassive binary black holes could be very luminous at this stage of their evolution. Inner disk heating is modulated at a beat frequency comparable to the binary orbital frequency. However, a disk with sufficient surface density to be luminous may be optically thick, suppressing periodic modulation of the luminosity.

GRAVITATIONAL MEMORY IN BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollney, Denis; Reisswig, Christian

2011-01-01

In addition to the dominant oscillatory gravitational wave signals produced during binary inspirals, a non-oscillatory component arises from the nonlinear 'memory' effect, sourced by the emitted gravitational radiation. The memory grows significantly during the late-inspiral and merger, modifying the signal by an almost step-function profile, and making it difficult to model by approximate methods. We use numerical evolutions of binary black holes (BHs) to evaluate the nonlinear memory during late-inspiral, merger, and ringdown. We identify two main components of the signal: the monotonically growing portion corresponding to the memory, and an oscillatory part which sets in roughly at the time of merger and is due to the BH ringdown. Counterintuitively, the ringdown is most prominent for models with the lowest total spin. Thus, the case of maximally spinning BHs anti-aligned to the orbital angular momentum exhibits the highest signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for interferometric detectors. The largest memory offset, however, occurs for highly spinning BHs, with an estimated value of h tot 20 ≅ 0.24 in the maximally spinning case. These results are central to determining the detectability of nonlinear memory through pulsar timing array measurements.

Accuracy of Binary Black Hole waveforms for Advanced LIGO searches

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Prayush; Barkett, Kevin; Bhagwat, Swetha; Chu, Tony; Fong, Heather; Brown, Duncan; Pfeiffer, Harald; Scheel, Mark; Szilagyi, Bela

2015-04-01

Coalescing binaries of compact objects are flagship sources for the first direct detection of gravitational waves with LIGO-Virgo observatories. Matched-filtering based detection searches aimed at binaries of black holes will use aligned spin waveforms as filters, and their efficiency hinges on the accuracy of the underlying waveform models. A number of gravitational waveform models are available in literature, e.g. the Effective-One-Body, Phenomenological, and traditional post-Newtonian ones. While Numerical Relativity (NR) simulations provide for the most accurate modeling of gravitational radiation from compact binaries, their computational cost limits their application in large scale searches. In this talk we assess the accuracy of waveform models in two regions of parameter space, which have only been explored cursorily in the past: the high mass-ratio regime as well as the comparable mass-ratio + high spin regime.s Using the SpEC code, six q = 7 simulations with aligned-spins and lasting 60 orbits, and tens of q ∈ [1,3] simulations with high black hole spins were performed. We use them to study the accuracy and intrinsic parameter biases of different waveform families, and assess their viability for Advanced LIGO searches.

High-accuracy waveforms for binary black hole inspiral, merger, and ringdown

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheel, Mark A.; Boyle, Michael; Chu, Tony; Matthews, Keith D.; Pfeiffer, Harald P.; Kidder, Lawrence E.

2009-01-01

The first spectral numerical simulations of 16 orbits, merger, and ringdown of an equal-mass nonspinning binary black hole system are presented. Gravitational waveforms from these simulations have accumulated numerical phase errors through ringdown of f /M=0.951 62±0.000 02, and the final black hole spin is S f /M f 2 =0.686 46±0.000 04.

BHDD: Primordial black hole binaries code

Science.gov (United States)

Kavanagh, Bradley J.; Gaggero, Daniele; Bertone, Gianfranco

2018-06-01

BHDD (BlackHolesDarkDress) simulates primordial black hole (PBH) binaries that are clothed in dark matter (DM) halos. The software uses N-body simulations and analytical estimates to follow the evolution of PBH binaries formed in the early Universe.

Black Hole Binaries: The Journey from Astrophysics to Physics

Science.gov (United States)

McClintock, Jeffrey E.

This paper is based on a talk presented at the 208th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in the session on Short-Period Binary Stars. The talk (and this paper in turn) are based on a parent paper, which is a comprehensive review by Remillard and McClintock (2006; hereafter RM06) on the X-ray properties of binary stars that contain a stellar black-hole primary. We refer to these systems as black hole binaries. In this present paper, which follows closely the content of the talk, we give sketches of some of the main topics covered in RM06. For a detailed account of the topics discussed herein and a full list of references (which are provided only sketchily below), see RM06 and also a second review paper by McClintock & Remillard (2006; hereafter MR06). There is one subject that is treated in more detail here than in the two review papers just cited, namely, the measurement of black hole spin; on this topic, see McClintock et al. (2006) for further details and references.

Investigating Dark Energy with Black Hole Binaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mersini-Houghton, Laura; Kelleher, Adam

2009-01-01

The accelerated expansion of the universe is ascribed to the existence of dark energy. Black holes accrete dark energy. The accretion induces a mass change proportional to the energy density and pressure of the background dark energy fluid. The time scale during which the mass of black holes changes considerably is long relative to the age of the universe, thus beyond detection possibilities. We propose to take advantage of the modified black hole masses for exploring the equation of state w[z] of dark energy, by investigating the evolution of supermassive black hole binaries on a dark energy background. Deriving the signatures of dark energy accretion on the evolution of binaries, we find that dark energy imprints on the emitted gravitational radiation and on the changes in the orbital radius of the binary can be within detection limits for certain supermassive black hole binaries. This talk describes how binaries can provide a useful tool in obtaining complementary information on the nature of dark energy.

Robustness of binary black hole mergers in the presence of spurious radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bode, Tanja; Shoemaker, Deirdre; Herrmann, Frank; Hinder, Ian

2008-01-01

We present an investigation into how sensitive the last orbits and merger of binary black hole systems are to the presence of spurious radiation in the initial data. Our numerical experiments consist of a binary black hole system starting the last couple of orbits before merger with additional spurious radiation centered at the origin and fixed initial angular momentum. As the energy in the added spurious radiation increases, the binary is invariably hardened for the cases we tested; i.e., the merger of the two black holes is hastened. The change in merger time becomes significant when the additional energy provided by the spurious radiation increases the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass of the spacetime by about 1%. While the final masses of the black holes increase due to partial absorption of the radiation, the final spins remain constant to within our numerical accuracy. We conjecture that the spurious radiation is primarily increasing the eccentricity of the orbit and secondarily increasing the mass of the black holes while propagating out to infinity

Instability of ultra-spinning black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emparan, Roberto; Myers, Robert C.

2003-01-01

It has long been known that, in higher-dimensional general relativity, there are black hole solutions with an arbitrarily large angular momentum for a fixed mass. We examine the geometry of the event horizon of such ultra-spinning black holes and argue that these solutions become unstable at large enough rotation. Hence we find that higher-dimensional general relativity imposes an effective 'Kerr-bound' on spinning black holes through a dynamical decay mechanism. Our results also give indications of the existence of new stationary black holes with 'rippled' horizons of spherical topology. We consider various scenarios for the possible decay of ultra-spinning black holes, and finally discuss the implications of our results for black holes in braneworld scenarios. (author)

From binary black hole simulation to triple black hole simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai Shan; Cao Zhoujian; Han, Wen-Biao; Lin, Chun-Yu; Yo, Hwei-Jang; Yu, Jui-Ping

2011-01-01

Black hole systems are among the most promising sources for a gravitational wave detection project. Now, China is planning to construct a space-based laser interferometric detector as a follow-on mission of LISA in the near future. Aiming to provide some theoretical support to this detection project on the numerical relativity side, we focus on black hole systems simulation in this work. Considering the globular galaxy, multiple black hole systems also likely to exist in our universe and play a role as a source for the gravitational wave detector we are considering. We will give a progress report in this paper on our black hole system simulation. More specifically, we will present triple black hole simulation together with binary black hole simulation. On triple black hole simulations, one novel perturbational method is proposed.

What Can We Learn About Black-Hole Formation from Black-Hole X-ray Binaries?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nelemans, G.A.

2007-01-01

I discuss the effect of the formation of a black hole on a (close) binary and show some of the current constraints that the observed properties of black hole X-ray binaries put on the formation of black holes. In particular, I discuss the evidence for and against asymmetric kicks imparted on the

Charged spinning black holes as particle accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Shaowen; Liu Yuxiao; Guo Heng; Fu Chune

2010-01-01

It has recently been pointed out that the spinning Kerr black hole with maximal spin could act as a particle collider with arbitrarily high center-of-mass energy. In this paper, we will extend the result to the charged spinning black hole, the Kerr-Newman black hole. The center-of-mass energy of collision for two uncharged particles falling freely from rest at infinity depends not only on the spin a but also on the charge Q of the black hole. We find that an unlimited center-of-mass energy can be approached with the conditions: (1) the collision takes place at the horizon of an extremal black hole; (2) one of the colliding particles has critical angular momentum; (3) the spin a of the extremal black hole satisfies (1/√(3))≤(a/M)≤1, where M is the mass of the Kerr-Newman black hole. The third condition implies that to obtain an arbitrarily high energy, the extremal Kerr-Newman black hole must have a large value of spin, which is a significant difference between the Kerr and Kerr-Newman black holes. Furthermore, we also show that, for a near-extremal black hole, there always exists a finite upper bound for center-of-mass energy, which decreases with the increase of the charge Q.

Measuring the spins of accreting black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClintock, Jeffrey E; Narayan, Ramesh; Gou, Lijun; Kulkarni, Akshay; Penna, Robert F; Steiner, James F; Davis, Shane W; Orosz, Jerome A; Remillard, Ronald A

2011-01-01

A typical galaxy is thought to contain tens of millions of stellar-mass black holes, the collapsed remnants of once massive stars, and a single nuclear supermassive black hole. Both classes of black holes accrete gas from their environments. The accreting gas forms a flattened orbiting structure known as an accretion disk. During the past several years, it has become possible to obtain measurements of the spins of the two classes of black holes by modeling the x-ray emission from their accretion disks. Two methods are employed, both of which depend upon identifying the inner radius of the accretion disk with the innermost stable circular orbit, whose radius depends only on the mass and spin of the black hole. In the Fe Kα method, which applies to both classes of black holes, one models the profile of the relativistically broadened iron line with a special focus on the gravitationally redshifted red wing of the line. In the continuum-fitting (CF) method, which has so far only been applied to stellar-mass black holes, one models the thermal x-ray continuum spectrum of the accretion disk. We discuss both methods, with a strong emphasis on the CF method and its application to stellar-mass black holes. Spin results for eight stellar-mass black holes are summarized. These data are used to argue that the high spins of at least some of these black holes are natal, and that the presence or absence of relativistic jets in accreting black holes is not entirely determined by the spin of the black hole.

Dynamical evolution of quasicircular binary black hole data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcubierre, Miguel; Bruegmann, Bernd; Diener, Peter; Guzman, F. Siddhartha; Hawke, Ian; Hawley, Scott; Herrmann, Frank; Pollney, Denis; Thornburg, Jonathan; Koppitz, Michael; Seidel, Edward

2005-01-01

We study the fully nonlinear dynamical evolution of binary black hole data, whose orbital parameters are specified via the effective potential method for determining quasicircular orbits. The cases studied range from the Cook-Baumgarte innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) to significantly beyond that separation. In all cases we find the black holes to coalesce (as determined by the appearance of a common apparent horizon) in less than half an orbital period. The results of the numerical simulations indicate that the initial holes are not actually in quasicircular orbits, but that they are in fact nearly plunging together. The dynamics of the final horizon are studied to determine physical parameters of the final black hole, such as its spin, mass, and oscillation frequency, revealing information about the inspiral process. We show that considerable resolution is required to extract accurate physical information from the final black hole formed in the merger process, and that the quasinormal modes of the final hole are strongly excited in the merger process. For the ISCO case, by comparing physical measurements of the final black hole formed to the initial data, we estimate that less than 3% of the total energy is radiated in the merger process

An axion-like scalar field environment effect on binary black hole merger

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qing; Ji, Li-Wei; Hu, Bin; Cao, Zhou-Jian; Cai, Rong-Gen

2018-06-01

The environment, such as an accretion disk, could modify the signal of the gravitational wave from astrophysical black hole binaries. In this article, we model the matter field around intermediate-mass binary black holes by means of an axion-like scalar field and investigate their joint evolution. In detail, we consider equal mass binary black holes surrounded by a shell of axion-like scalar field both in spherically symmetric and non-spherically symmetric cases, and with different strengths of the scalar field. Our result shows that the environmental scalar field could essentially modify the dynamics. Firstly, in the spherically symmetric case, with increase of the scalar field strength, the number of circular orbits for the binary black hole is reduced. This means that the scalar field could significantly accelerate the merger process. Secondly, once the scalar field strength exceeds a certain critical value, the scalar field could collapse into a third black hole with its mass being larger than that of the binary. Consequently, the new black hole that collapses from the environmental scalar field could accrete the binary promptly and the binary collides head-on with each other. In this process, there is almost no quadrupole signal produced, and, consequently, the gravitational wave is greatly suppressed. Thirdly, when the scalar field strength is relatively smaller than the critical value, the black hole orbit could develop eccentricity through accretion of the scalar field. Fourthly, during the initial stage of the inspiral, the gravitational attractive force from the axion-like scalar field could induce a sudden turn in the binary orbits, hence resulting in a transient wiggle in the gravitational waveform. Finally, in the non-spherical case, the scalar field could gravitationally attract the binary moving toward the center of mass for the scalar field and slow down the merger process.

Massive Black Hole Binary Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merritt David

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Coalescence of binary supermassive black holes (SBHs would constitute the strongest sources of gravitational waves to be observed by LISA. While the formation of binary SBHs during galaxy mergers is almost inevitable, coalescence requires that the separation between binary components first drop by a few orders of magnitude, due presumably to interaction of the binary with stars and gas in a galactic nucleus. This article reviews the observational evidence for binary SBHs and discusses how they would evolve. No completely convincing case of a bound, binary SBH has yet been found, although a handful of systems (e.g. interacting galaxies; remnants of galaxy mergers are now believed to contain two SBHs at projected separations of <~ 1kpc. N-body studies of binary evolution in gas-free galaxies have reached large enough particle numbers to reproduce the slow, “diffusive” refilling of the binary’s loss cone that is believed to characterize binary evolution in real galactic nuclei. While some of the results of these simulations - e.g. the binary hardening rate and eccentricity evolution - are strongly N-dependent, others - e.g. the “damage” inflicted by the binary on the nucleus - are not. Luminous early-type galaxies often exhibit depleted cores with masses of ~ 1-2 times the mass of their nuclear SBHs, consistent with the predictions of the binary model. Studies of the interaction of massive binaries with gas are still in their infancy, although much progress is expected in the near future. Binary coalescence has a large influence on the spins of SBHs, even for mass ratios as extreme as 10:1, and evidence of spin-flips may have been observed.

Binary black hole in a double magnetic monopole field

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Maria J.

2018-01-01

Ambient magnetic fields are thought to play a critical role in black hole jet formation. Furthermore, dual electromagnetic signals could be produced during the inspiral and merger of binary black hole systems. In this paper, we derive the exact solution for the electromagnetic field occurring when a static, axisymmetric binary black hole system is placed in the field of two magnetic or electric monopoles. As a by-product of this derivation, we also find the exact solution of the binary black hole configuration in a magnetic or electric dipole field. The presence of conical singularities in the static black hole binaries represent the gravitational attraction between the black holes that also drag the external two monopole field. We show that these off-balance configurations generate no energy outflows.

Binary black hole in a double magnetic monopole field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez, Maria J. [Utah State University, Department of Physics, Logan, UT (United States); Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam (Germany)

2018-01-15

Ambient magnetic fields are thought to play a critical role in black hole jet formation. Furthermore, dual electromagnetic signals could be produced during the inspiral and merger of binary black hole systems. In this paper, we derive the exact solution for the electromagnetic field occurring when a static, axisymmetric binary black hole system is placed in the field of two magnetic or electric monopoles. As a by-product of this derivation, we also find the exact solution of the binary black hole configuration in a magnetic or electric dipole field. The presence of conical singularities in the static black hole binaries represent the gravitational attraction between the black holes that also drag the external two monopole field. We show that these off-balance configurations generate no energy outflows. (orig.)

Dynamical Formation and Merger of Binary Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Nicholas

2017-01-01

The advent of gravitational wave (GW) astronomy began with Advanced LIGO's 2015 discovery of GWs from coalescing black hole (BH) binaries. GW astronomy holds great promise for testing general relativity, but also for investigating open astrophysical questions not amenable to traditional electromagnetic observations. One such question concerns the origin of stellar mass BH binaries in the universe: do these form primarily from evolution of isolated binaries of massive stars, or do they form through more exotic dynamical channels? The best studied dynamical formation channel involves multibody interactions of BHs and stars in dense globular cluster environments, but many other dynamical scenarios have recently been proposed, ranging from the Kozai effect in hierarchical triple systems to BH binary formation in the outskirts of Toomre-unstable accretion disks surrounding supermassive black holes. The BH binaries formed through these processes will have different distributions of observable parameters (e.g. mass ratios, spins) than BH binaries formed through the evolution of isolated binary stars. In my talk I will overview these and other dynamical formation scenarios, and summarize the key observational tests that will enable Advanced LIGO or other future detectors to determine what formation pathway creates the majority of binary BHs in the universe. NCS thanks NASA, which has funded his work through Einstein postdoctoral grant PF5-160145.

Is black-hole ringdown a memory of its progenitor?

Science.gov (United States)

Kamaretsos, Ioannis; Hannam, Mark; Sathyaprakash, B S

2012-10-05

We perform an extensive numerical study of coalescing black-hole binaries to understand the gravitational-wave spectrum of quasinormal modes excited in the merged black hole. Remarkably, we find that the masses and spins of the progenitor are clearly encoded in the mode spectrum of the ringdown signal. Some of the mode amplitudes carry the signature of the binary's mass ratio, while others depend critically on the spins. Simulations of precessing binaries suggest that our results carry over to generic systems. Using Bayesian inference, we demonstrate that it is possible to accurately measure the mass ratio and a proper combination of spins even when the binary is itself invisible to a detector. Using a mapping of the binary masses and spins to the final black-hole spin allows us to further extract the spin components of the progenitor. Our results could have tremendous implications for gravitational astronomy by facilitating novel tests of general relativity using merging black holes.

EFFECTS OF SPIN ON HIGH-ENERGY RADIATION FROM ACCRETING BLACK HOLES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O’ Riordan, Michael; Pe’er, Asaf [Physics Department, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); McKinney, Jonathan C., E-mail: michael_oriordan@umail.ucc.ie [Department of Physics and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

2016-11-01

Observations of jets in X-ray binaries show a correlation between radio power and black hole spin. This correlation, if confirmed, points toward the idea that relativistic jets may be powered by the rotational energy of black holes. In order to examine this further, we perform general relativistic radiative transport calculations on magnetically arrested accretion flows, which are known to produce powerful jets via the Blandford–Znajek (BZ) mechanism. We find that the X-ray and γ -ray emission strongly depend on spin and inclination angle. Surprisingly, the high-energy power does not show the same dependence on spin as the BZ jet power, but instead can be understood as a redshift effect. In particular, photons observed perpendicular to the spin axis suffer little net redshift until originating from close to the horizon. Such observers see deeper into the hot, dense, highly magnetized inner disk region. This effect is largest for rapidly rotating black holes due to a combination of frame dragging and decreasing horizon radius. While the X-ray emission is dominated by the near horizon region, the near-infrared (NIR) radiation originates at larger radii. Therefore, the ratio of X-ray to NIR power is an observational signature of black hole spin.

Mass accretion rate fluctuations in black hole X-ray binaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rapisarda, S.

2017-01-01

This thesis is about the first systematic and quantitative application of propagating mass accretion rate fluctuations models to black hole X-ray binaries. Black hole X-ray binaries are systems consisting of a solar mass star orbiting around a stellar mass black hole. Eventually, the black hole

Binary pairs of supermassive black holes - Formation in merging galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valtaoja, L.; Valtonen, M.J.; Byrd, G.G. (Turku Univ. (Finland); Alabama Univ., Tuscaloosa (USA))

1989-08-01

A process in which supermassive binary blackholes are formed in nuclei of supergiant galaxies due to galaxy mergers is examined. There is growing evidence that mergers of galaxies are common and that supermassive black holes in center of galaxies are also common. Consequently, it is expected that binary black holes should arise in connection with galaxy mergers. The merger process in a galaxy modeled after M87 is considered. The capture probability of a companion is derived as a function of its mass. Assuming a correlation between the galaxy mass and the blackholes mass, the expected mass ratio in binary black holes is calculated. The binary black holes formed in this process are long lived, surviving longer than the Hubble time unless they are perturbed by black holes from successive mergers. The properties of these binaries agree with Gaskell's (1988) observational work on quasars and its interpretation in terms of binary black holes. 39 refs.

Eternal higher spin black holes: a thermofield Interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, Alejandra; Iqbal, Nabil; Llabrés, Eva

2016-01-01

We study Lorentzian eternal black holes in the Chern-Simons sector of AdS 3 higher spin gravity. We probe such black holes using bulk Wilson lines and motivate new regularity conditions that must be obeyed by the bulk connections in order for the geometry to be consistent with an interpretation as a thermofield state in the dual CFT 2 . We demonstrate that any higher spin black hole may be placed in a gauge that satisfies these conditions: this is the Chern-Simons analogue of the construction of Kruskal coordinates that permit passage through the black hole horizon. We also argue that the Wilson line provides a higher-spin notion of causality in higher spin gravity that can be used to associate a Penrose diagram with the black hole. We present some applications of the formalism, including a study of the time-dependent entanglement entropy arising from the higher spin black hole interior and evidence for an emergent AdS 2 region in the extremal limit.

Supermassive black hole spin-flip during the inspiral

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gergely, Laszlo A; Biermann, Peter L; Caramete, Laurentiu I

2010-01-01

During post-Newtonian evolution of a compact binary, a mass ratio ν different from 1 provides a second small parameter, which can lead to unexpected results. We present a statistics of supermassive black hole candidates, which enables us first to derive their mass distribution, and then to establish a logarithmically even probability in ν of the mass ratios at their encounter. In the mass ratio range ν in (1/30, 1/3) of supermassive black hole mergers representing 40% of all possible cases, the combined effect of spin-orbit precession and gravitational radiation leads to a spin-flip of the dominant spin during the inspiral phase of the merger. This provides a mechanism for explaining a large set of observations on X-shaped radio galaxies. In another 40% with mass ratios ν in (1/30, 1/1000) a spin-flip never occurs, while in the remaining 20% of mergers with mass ratios ν in (1/3, 1) it may occur during the plunge. We analyze the magnitude of the spin-flip angle occurring during the inspiral as a function of the mass ratio and original relative orientation of the spin and orbital angular momentum. We also derive a formula for the final spin at the end of the inspiral in this mass ratio range.

Hangup effect in unequal mass binary black hole mergers and further studies of their gravitational radiation and remnant properties

Science.gov (United States)

Healy, James; Lousto, Carlos O.

2018-04-01

We present the results of 74 new simulations of nonprecessing spinning black hole binaries with mass ratios q =m1/m2 in the range 1 /7 ≤q ≤1 and individual spins covering the parameter space -0.95 ≤α1 ,2≤0.95 . We supplement those runs with 107 previous simulations to study the hangup effect in black hole mergers, i.e. the delay or prompt merger of spinning holes with respect to nonspinning binaries. We perform the numerical evolution for typically the last ten orbits before the merger and down to the formation of the final remnant black hole. This allows us to study the hangup effect for unequal mass binaries leading us to identify the spin variable that controls the number of orbits before merger as S→ hu.L ^ , where S→ hu=(1 +1/2 m/2 m1 )S→ 1+(1 +1/2 m/1 m2 )S→ 2 . We also combine the total results of those 181 simulations to obtain improved fitting formulas for the remnant final black hole mass, spin and recoil velocity as well as for the peak luminosity and peak frequency of the gravitational strain, and find new correlations among them. This accurate new set of simulations enhances the number of available numerical relativity waveforms available for parameter estimation of gravitational wave observations.

Observing the dynamics of supermassive black hole binaries with pulsar timing arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Mingarelli, C M F; Grover, K; Sidery, T; Smith, R J E; Vecchio, A

2012-08-24

Pulsar timing arrays are a prime tool to study unexplored astrophysical regimes with gravitational waves. Here, we show that the detection of gravitational radiation from individually resolvable supermassive black hole binary systems can yield direct information about the masses and spins of the black holes, provided that the gravitational-wave-induced timing fluctuations both at the pulsar and at Earth are detected. This in turn provides a map of the nonlinear dynamics of the gravitational field and a new avenue to tackle open problems in astrophysics connected to the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes. We discuss the potential, the challenges, and the limitations of these observations.

Measuring spin of black holes in the universe

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Table of contents. Measuring spin of black holes in the universe · What is black hole? Accretion Disk and Jet · What is black hole's spin? Accretion Disk · Black Hole's Potential · Light Curves: Photon Count Rate Vs Time · Quasi-Periodic Oscillation · Slide 9 · Model · Slide 11 · Slide 12 · Slide 13 · Summary.

Massive Black Hole Binaries: Dynamical Evolution and Observational Signatures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Dotti

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The study of the dynamical evolution of massive black hole pairs in mergers is crucial in the context of a hierarchical galaxy formation scenario. The timescales for the formation and the coalescence of black hole binaries are still poorly constrained, resulting in large uncertainties in the expected rate of massive black hole binaries detectable in the electromagnetic and gravitational wave spectra. Here, we review the current theoretical understanding of the black hole pairing in galaxy mergers, with a particular attention to recent developments and open issues. We conclude with a review of the expected observational signatures of massive binaries and of the candidates discussed in literature to date.

Static spin-3/2 perturbations of two-black hole system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Embacher, F.; Aichelburg, P.C.

1984-01-01

We construct the most general static regular, non-gauge spin-3/2 perturbations on the Majumdar-Papapetrou background for two black holes. The construction applies a limiting procedure by combining Killing spinors and spacetime perturbations. The supercharge associated with the spin-3/2 field is proportional to the difference of the mass parameters, implying that a system of two equal black holes has zero supercharge. (Author)

Inferences about Supernova Physics from Gravitational-Wave Measurements: GW151226 Spin Misalignment as an Indicator of Strong Black-Hole Natal Kicks.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Shaughnessy, Richard; Gerosa, Davide; Wysocki, Daniel

2017-07-07

The inferred parameters of the binary black hole GW151226 are consistent with nonzero spin for the most massive black hole, misaligned from the binary's orbital angular momentum. If the black holes formed through isolated binary evolution from an initially aligned binary star, this misalignment would then arise from a natal kick imparted to the first-born black hole at its birth during stellar collapse. We use simple kinematic arguments to constrain the characteristic magnitude of this kick, and find that a natal kick v_{k}≳50  km/s must be imparted to the black hole at birth to produce misalignments consistent with GW151226. Such large natal kicks exceed those adopted by default in most of the current supernova and binary evolution models.

Distinguishing Between Formation Channels for Binary Black Holes with LISA

Science.gov (United States)

Breivik, Katelyn; Rodriguez, Carl L.; Larson, Shane L.; Kalogera, Vassiliki; Rasio, Frederic A.

2017-01-01

The recent detections of GW150914 and GW151226 imply an abundance of stellar-mass binary-black-hole mergers in the local universe. While ground-based gravitational-wave detectors are limited to observing the final moments before a binary merges, space-based detectors, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), can observe binaries at lower orbital frequencies where such systems may still encode information about their formation histories. In particular, the orbital eccentricity and mass of binary black holes in the LISA frequency band can be used together to discriminate between binaries formed in isolation in galactic fields and those formed in dense stellar environments such as globular clusters. In this letter, we explore the orbital eccentricity and mass of binary-black-hole populations as they evolve through the LISA frequency band. Overall we find that there are two distinct populations discernible by LISA. We show that up to ~90% of binaries formed either dynamically or in isolation have eccentricities measurable by LISA. Finally, we note how measured eccentricities of low-mass binary black holes evolved in isolation could provide detailed constraints on the physics of black-hole natal kicks and common-envelope evolution.

Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background due to Primordial Binary Black Hole Mergers.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandic, Vuk; Bird, Simeon; Cholis, Ilias

2016-11-11

Recent Advanced LIGO detections of binary black hole mergers have prompted multiple studies investigating the possibility that the heavy GW150914 binary system was of primordial origin, and hence could be evidence for dark matter in the form of black holes. We compute the stochastic background arising from the incoherent superposition of such primordial binary black hole systems in the Universe and compare it to the similar background spectrum due to binary black hole systems of stellar origin. We investigate the possibility of detecting this background with future gravitational-wave detectors, and conclude that constraining the dark matter component in the form of black holes using stochastic gravitational-wave background measurements will be very challenging.

Precessing Black Hole Binaries and Their Gravitational Radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

László Á. Gergely

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The first and second observational runs of Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO have marked the first direct detections of gravitational waves, either from black hole binaries or, in one case, from coalescing neutron stars. These observations opened up the era of gravitational wave astronomy, but also of gravitational wave cosmology, in the form of an independent derivation of the Hubble constant. They were equally important to prove false a plethora of modified gravity theories predicting gravitational wave propagation speed different from that of light. For a continued and improved testing of general relativity, the precise description of compact binary dynamics, not only in the final coalescence phase but also earlier, when precessional effects dominate, are required. We report on the derivation of the full secular dynamics for compact binaries, valid over the precessional time-scale, in the form of an autonomous closed system of differential equations for the set of spin angles and periastron. The system can be applied for mapping the parameter space for the occurrence of the spin flip-flop effect and for more accurately analyzing the spin-flip effect, which could explain the formation of X-shaped radio galaxies.

Black holes and neutron stars: evolution of binary systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraft, R.P.

1975-01-01

Evidence for the existence of neutron stars and black holes in binary systems has been reviewed, and the following summarizes the current situation: (1) No statistically significant case has been made for the proposition that black holes and/or neutron stars contribute to the population of unseen companions of ordinary spectroscopic binaries; (2) Plausible evolutionary scenarios can be advanced that place compact X-ray sources into context as descendants of several common types of mass-exchange binaries. The collapse object may be a black hole, a neutron star, or a white dwarf, depending mostly on the mass of the original primary; (3) The rotating neutron star model for the pulsating X-ray sources Her X-1 and Cen X-3 is the simplest interpretation of these objects, but the idea that the pulsations result from the non-radial oscillations of a white dwarf cannot be altogether dismissed. The latter is particularly attractive in the case of Her X-1 because the total mass of the system is small; (4) The black hole picture for Cyg X-1 represents the simplest model that can presently be put forward to explain the observations. This does not insure its correctness, however. The picture depends on a long chain of inferences, some of which are by no means unassailable. (Auth.)

The search for massive black hole binaries with LISA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornish, Neil J; Porter, Edward K

2007-01-01

In this work we focus on the search and detection of massive black hole binary (MBHB) systems, including systems at high redshift. As well as expanding on previous works where we used a variant of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), called Metropolis-Hastings Monte Carlo, with simulated annealing, we introduce a new search method based on frequency annealing which leads to a more rapid and robust detection. We compare the two search methods on systems where we do and do not see the merger of the black holes. In the non-merger case, we also examine the posterior distribution exploration using a 7D MCMC algorithm. We demonstrate that this method is effective in dealing with the high correlations between parameters, has a higher acceptance rate than previously proposed methods and produces posterior distribution functions that are close to the prediction from the Fisher information matrix. Finally, after carrying out searches where there is only one binary in the data stream, we examine the case where two black hole binaries are present in the same data stream. We demonstrate that our search algorithm can accurately recover both binaries, and more importantly showing that we can safely extract the MBHB sources without contaminating the rest of the data stream

Accretion Disks Around Binary Black Holes of Unequal Mass: GRMHD Simulations Near Decoupling

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Roman; Paschalidis, Vasileios; Etienne, Zachariah B.; Shapiro, Stuart L.; Pfeiffer, Harald, P.

2013-01-01

We report on simulations in general relativity of magnetized disks onto black hole binaries. We vary the binary mass ratio from 1:1 to 1:10 and evolve the systems when they orbit near the binary disk decoupling radius. We compare (surface) density profiles, accretion rates (relative to a single, non-spinning black hole), variability, effective alpha-stress levels and luminosities as functions of the mass ratio. We treat the disks in two limiting regimes: rapid radiative cooling and no radiative cooling. The magnetic field lines clearly reveal jets emerging from both black hole horizons and merging into one common jet at large distances. The magnetic fields give rise to much stronger shock heating than the pure hydrodynamic flows, completely alter the disk structure, and boost accretion rates and luminosities. Accretion streams near the horizons are among the densest structures; in fact, the 1:10 no-cooling evolution results in a refilling of the cavity. The typical effective temperature in the bulk of the disk is approx. 10(exp5) (M / 10(exp 8)M solar mass (exp -1/4(L/L(sub edd) (exp 1/4K) yielding characteristic thermal frequencies approx. 10 (exp 15) (M /10(exp 8)M solar mass) (exp -1/4(L/L (sub edd) (1+z) (exp -1)Hz. These systems are thus promising targets for many extragalactic optical surveys, such as LSST, WFIRST, and PanSTARRS.

Measuring Intermediate-Mass Black-Hole Binaries with Advanced Gravitational Wave Detectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Veitch, John; Pürrer, Michael; Mandel, Ilya

2015-10-02

We perform a systematic study to explore the accuracy with which the parameters of intermediate-mass black-hole binary systems can be measured from their gravitational wave (GW) signatures using second-generation GW detectors. We make use of the most recent reduced-order models containing inspiral, merger, and ringdown signals of aligned-spin effective-one-body waveforms to significantly speed up the calculations. We explore the phenomenology of the measurement accuracies for binaries with total masses between 50M(⊙) and 500M(⊙) and mass ratios between 0.1 and 1. We find that (i) at total masses below ∼200M(⊙), where the signal-to-noise ratio is dominated by the inspiral portion of the signal, the chirp mass parameter can be accurately measured; (ii) at higher masses, the information content is dominated by the ringdown, and total mass is measured more accurately; (iii) the mass of the lower-mass companion is poorly estimated, especially at high total mass and more extreme mass ratios; and (iv) spin cannot be accurately measured for our injection set with nonspinning components. Most importantly, we find that for binaries with nonspinning components at all values of the mass ratio in the considered range and at a network signal-to-noise ratio of 15, analyzed with spin-aligned templates, the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole with mass >100M(⊙) can be confirmed with 95% confidence in any binary that includes a component with a mass of 130M(⊙) or greater.

Turbulent black holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Huan; Zimmerman, Aaron; Lehner, Luis

2015-02-27

We demonstrate that rapidly spinning black holes can display a new type of nonlinear parametric instability-which is triggered above a certain perturbation amplitude threshold-akin to the onset of turbulence, with possibly observable consequences. This instability transfers from higher temporal and azimuthal spatial frequencies to lower frequencies-a phenomenon reminiscent of the inverse cascade displayed by (2+1)-dimensional fluids. Our finding provides evidence for the onset of transitory turbulence in astrophysical black holes and predicts observable signatures in black hole binaries with high spins. Furthermore, it gives a gravitational description of this behavior which, through the fluid-gravity duality, can potentially shed new light on the remarkable phenomena of turbulence in fluids.

Binary Black Hole Mergers from Globular Clusters: Implications for Advanced LIGO.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Carl L; Morscher, Meagan; Pattabiraman, Bharath; Chatterjee, Sourav; Haster, Carl-Johan; Rasio, Frederic A

2015-07-31

The predicted rate of binary black hole mergers from galactic fields can vary over several orders of magnitude and is extremely sensitive to the assumptions of stellar evolution. But in dense stellar environments such as globular clusters, binary black holes form by well-understood gravitational interactions. In this Letter, we study the formation of black hole binaries in an extensive collection of realistic globular cluster models. By comparing these models to observed Milky Way and extragalactic globular clusters, we find that the mergers of dynamically formed binaries could be detected at a rate of ∼100 per year, potentially dominating the binary black hole merger rate. We also find that a majority of cluster-formed binaries are more massive than their field-formed counterparts, suggesting that Advanced LIGO could identify certain binaries as originating from dense stellar environments.

Eccentric, nonspinning, inspiral, Gaussian-process merger approximant for the detection and characterization of eccentric binary black hole mergers

Science.gov (United States)

Huerta, E. A.; Moore, C. J.; Kumar, Prayush; George, Daniel; Chua, Alvin J. K.; Haas, Roland; Wessel, Erik; Johnson, Daniel; Glennon, Derek; Rebei, Adam; Holgado, A. Miguel; Gair, Jonathan R.; Pfeiffer, Harald P.

2018-01-01

We present ENIGMA, a time domain, inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform model that describes nonspinning binary black holes systems that evolve on moderately eccentric orbits. The inspiral evolution is described using a consistent combination of post-Newtonian theory, self-force and black hole perturbation theory. Assuming eccentric binaries that circularize prior to coalescence, we smoothly match the eccentric inspiral with a stand-alone, quasicircular merger, which is constructed using machine learning algorithms that are trained with quasicircular numerical relativity waveforms. We show that ENIGMA reproduces with excellent accuracy the dynamics of quasicircular compact binaries. We validate ENIGMA using a set of Einstein Toolkit eccentric numerical relativity waveforms, which describe eccentric binary black hole mergers with mass-ratios between 1 ≤q ≤5.5 , and eccentricities e0≲0.2 ten orbits before merger. We use this model to explore in detail the physics that can be extracted with moderately eccentric, nonspinning binary black hole mergers. In particular, we use ENIGMA to show that the gravitational wave transients GW150914, GW151226, GW170104, GW170814 and GW170608 can be effectively recovered with spinning, quasicircular templates if the eccentricity of these events at a gravitational wave frequency of 10 Hz satisfies e0≤{0.175 ,0.125 ,0.175 ,0.175 ,0.125 }, respectively. We show that if these systems have eccentricities e0˜0.1 at a gravitational wave frequency of 10 Hz, they can be misclassified as quasicircular binaries due to parameter space degeneracies between eccentricity and spin corrections. Using our catalog of eccentric numerical relativity simulations, we discuss the importance of including higher-order waveform multipoles in gravitational wave searches of eccentric binary black hole mergers.

Black-hole binaries as relics of gamma-ray burst/hypernova explosions

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno Mendez, Enrique

The Collapsar model, in which a fast-spinning massive star collapses into a Kerr black hole, has become the standard model to explain long-soft gamma-ray bursts and hypernova explosions (GRB/HN). However, stars massive enough (those with ZAMS mass ≳ (18--20) M⊙ ) to produce these events evolve through a path that loses too much angular momentum to produce a central engine capable of delivering the necessary energy. In this work I suggest that the soft X-ray transient sources are the remnants of GRBs/HNe. Binaries in which the massive primary star evolves a carbon-oxygen burning core, then start to transfer material to the secondary star (Case C mass transfer), causing the orbit to decay until a common-envelope phase sets in. The secondary spirals in, further narrowing the orbit of the binary and removing the hydrogen envelope of the primary star. Eventually the primary star becomes tidally locked and spins up, acquiring enough rotational energy to power up a GRB/HN explosion. The central engine producing the GRB/HN event is the Kerr black hole acting through the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. This model can explain not only the long-soft GRBs, but also the subluminous bursts (which comprise ˜ 97% of the total), the long-soft bursts and the short-hard bursts (in a neutron star, black hole merger). Because of our binary evolution through Case C mass transfer, it turns out that for the subluminous and cosmological bursts, the angular momentum O is proportional to m3/2D , where mD is the mass of the donor (secondary star). This binary evolution model has a great advantage over the Woosley Collapsar model; one can "dial" the donor mass in order to obtain whatever angular momentum is needed to drive the explosion. Population syntheses show that there are enough binaries to account for the progenitors of all known classes of GRBs.

The birth of a supermassive black hole binary

Science.gov (United States)

Pfister, Hugo; Lupi, Alessandro; Capelo, Pedro R.; Volonteri, Marta; Bellovary, Jillian M.; Dotti, Massimo

2017-11-01

We study the dynamical evolution of supermassive black holes, in the late stage of galaxy mergers, from kpc to pc scales. In particular, we capture the formation of the binary, a necessary step before the final coalescence, and trace back the main processes causing the decay of the orbit. We use hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy mergers with different resolutions, from 20 pc down to 1 pc, in order to study the effects of the resolution on our results, remove numerical effects, and assess that resolving the influence radius of the orbiting black hole is a minimum condition to fully capture the formation of the binary. Our simulations include the relevant physical processes, namely star formation, supernova feedback, accretion on to the black holes and the ensuing feedback. We find that, in these mergers, dynamical friction from the smooth stellar component of the nucleus is the main process that drives black holes from kpc to pc scales. Gas does not play a crucial role and even clumps do not induce scattering or perturb the orbits. We compare the time needed for the formation of the binary to analytical predictions and suggest how to apply such analytical formalism to obtain estimates of binary formation times in lower resolution simulations.

Hybrid Black-Hole Binary Initial Data

Science.gov (United States)

Mundim, Bruno C.; Kelly, Bernard J.; Nakano, Hiroyuki; Zlochower, Yosef; Campanelli, Manuela

2010-01-01

"Traditional black-hole binary puncture initial data is conformally flat. This unphysical assumption is coupled with a lack of radiation signature from the binary's past life. As a result, waveforms extracted from evolutions of this data display an abrupt jump. In Kelly et al. [Class. Quantum Grav. 27:114005 (2010)], a new binary black-hole initial data with radiation contents derived in the post-Newtonian (PN) calculations was adapted to puncture evolutions in numerical relativity. This data satisfies the constraint equations to the 2.5PN order, and contains a transverse-traceless "wavy" metric contribution, violating the standard assumption of conformal flatness. Although the evolution contained less spurious radiation, there were undesired features; the unphysical horizon mass loss and the large initial orbital eccentricity. Introducing a hybrid approach to the initial data evaluation, we significantly reduce these undesired features."

Energetics and phasing of nonprecessing spinning coalescing black hole binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Nagar, Alessandro; Damour, Thibault; Reisswig, Christian; Pollney, Denis

2016-02-01

We present an improved numerical relativity (NR) calibration of the new effective-one-body (EOB) model for coalescing nonprecessing spinning black hole binaries recently introduced by Damour and Nagar [Phys. Rev. D 90, 044018 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevD.90.044018]. We do so by comparing the EOB predictions to both the phasing and the energetics provided by two independent sets of NR data covering mass ratios 1 ≤q ≤9.989 and dimensionless spin range -0.95 ≤χ ≤+0.994 . One set of data is a subset of the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) catalog of public waveforms; the other set consists of new simulations obtained with the Llama code plus Cauchy characteristic evolution. We present the first systematic computation of the gauge-invariant relation between the binding energy and the total angular momentum, Eb(j ), for a large sample of, spin-aligned, SXS and Llama data. The dynamics of the EOB model presented here involves only two free functional parameters, one [a6c(ν )] entering the nonspinning sector, as a 5PN effective correction to the interaction potential, and one [c3(a˜1,a˜2,ν )] in the spinning sector, as an effective next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order correction to the spin-orbit coupling. These parameters are determined [together with a third functional parameter Δ tNQC(χ ) entering the waveform] by comparing the EOB phasing with the SXS phasing, the consistency of the energetics being checked afterwards. The quality of the analytical model for gravitational wave data analysis purposes is assessed by computing the EOB/NR faithfulness. Over the NR data sample and when varying the total mass between 20 and 200 M⊙ the EOB/NR unfaithfulness (integrated over the NR frequency range) is found to vary between 99.493% and 99.984% with a median value of 99.944%.

Black-Hole Binaries, Gravitational Waves, and Numerical Relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Bernard J.; Centrella, Joan; Baker, John G.; Kelly, Bernard J.; vanMeter, James R.

2010-01-01

Understanding the predictions of general relativity for the dynamical interactions of two black holes has been a long-standing unsolved problem in theoretical physics. Black-hole mergers are monumental astrophysical events ' releasing tremendous amounts of energy in the form of gravitational radiation ' and are key sources for both ground- and spacebased gravitational wave detectors. The black-hole merger dynamics and the resulting gravitational waveforms can only he calculated through numerical simulations of Einstein's equations of general relativity. For many years, numerical relativists attempting to model these mergers encountered a host of problems, causing their codes to crash after just a fraction of a binary orbit cnuld be simulated. Recently ' however, a series of dramatic advances in numerical relativity has ' for the first time, allowed stable / robust black hole merger simulations. We chronicle this remarkable progress in the rapidly maturing field of numerical relativity, and the new understanding of black-hole binary dynamics that is emerging. We also discuss important applications of these fundamental physics results to astrophysics, to gravitationalwave astronomy, and in other areas.

Innermost stable circular orbit of spinning particle in charged spinning black hole background

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yu-Peng; Wei, Shao-Wen; Guo, Wen-Di; Sui, Tao-Tao; Liu, Yu-Xiao

2018-04-01

In this paper we investigate the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) (spin-aligned or anti-aligned orbit) for a classical spinning test particle with the pole-dipole approximation in the background of Kerr-Newman black hole in the equatorial plane. It is shown that the orbit of the spinning particle is related to the spin of the test particle. The motion of the spinning test particle will be superluminal if its spin is too large. We give an additional condition by considering the superluminal constraint for the ISCO in the black hole backgrounds. We obtain numerically the relations between the ISCO and the properties of the black holes and the test particle. It is found that the radius of the ISCO for a spinning test particle is smaller than that of a nonspinning test particle in the black hole backgrounds.

WHEN CAN GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE OBSERVATIONS DISTINGUISH BETWEEN BLACK HOLES AND NEUTRON STARS?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hannam, Mark; Fairhurst, Stephen; Brown, Duncan A.; Fryer, Chris L.; Harry, Ian W.

2013-01-01

Gravitational-wave observations of compact binaries have the potential to uncover the distribution of masses and spins of black holes and neutron stars in the universe. The binary components' physical parameters can be inferred from their effect on the phasing of the gravitational-wave signal, but a partial degeneracy between the components' mass ratio and their spins limits our ability to measure the individual component masses. At the typical signal amplitudes expected by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (signal-to-noise ratios between 10 and 20), we show that it will in many cases be difficult to distinguish whether the components are neutron stars or black holes. We identify when the masses of the binary components could be unambiguously measured outside the range of current observations: a system with a chirp mass M ≤ 0.871 M ☉ would unambiguously contain the smallest-mass neutron star observed, and a system with M ≥ 2.786 M ☉ must contain a black hole. However, additional information would be needed to distinguish between a binary containing two 1.35 M ☉ neutron stars and an exotic neutron-star-black-hole binary. We also identify those configurations that could be unambiguously identified as black hole binaries, and show how the observation of an electromagnetic counterpart to a neutron-star-black-hole binary could be used to constrain the black hole spin.

Boosting jet power in black hole spacetimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Neilsen, David; Lehner, Luis; Palenzuela, Carlos; Hirschmann, Eric W; Liebling, Steven L; Motl, Patrick M; Garrett, Travis

2011-08-02

The extraction of rotational energy from a spinning black hole via the Blandford-Znajek mechanism has long been understood as an important component in models to explain energetic jets from compact astrophysical sources. Here we show more generally that the kinetic energy of the black hole, both rotational and translational, can be tapped, thereby producing even more luminous jets powered by the interaction of the black hole with its surrounding plasma. We study the resulting Poynting jet that arises from single boosted black holes and binary black hole systems. In the latter case, we find that increasing the orbital angular momenta of the system and/or the spins of the individual black holes results in an enhanced Poynting flux.

Error analysis of numerical gravitational waveforms from coalescing binary black holes

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Heather; Chu, Tony; Kumar, Prayush; Pfeiffer, Harald; Boyle, Michael; Hemberger, Daniel; Kidder, Lawrence; Scheel, Mark; Szilagyi, Bela; SXS Collaboration

2016-03-01

The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO) has finished a successful first observation run and will commence its second run this summer. Detection of compact object binaries utilizes matched-filtering, which requires a vast collection of highly accurate gravitational waveforms. This talk will present a set of about 100 new aligned-spin binary black hole simulations. I will discuss their properties, including a detailed error analysis, which demonstrates that the numerical waveforms are sufficiently accurate for gravitational wave detection purposes, as well as for parameter estimation purposes.

Merging Black Hole Binaries in Galactic Nuclei: Implications for Advanced-LIGO Detections

Science.gov (United States)

Antonini, Fabio; Rasio, Frederic A.

2016-11-01

Motivated by the recent detection of gravitational waves from the black hole binary merger GW150914, we study the dynamical evolution of (stellar-mass) black holes in galactic nuclei, where massive star clusters reside. With masses of ˜ {10}7 {M}⊙ and sizes of only a few parsecs, nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are the densest stellar systems observed in the local universe and represent a robust environment where black hole binaries can dynamically form, harden, and merge. We show that due to their large escape speeds, NSCs can retain a large fraction of their merger remnants. Successive mergers can then lead to significant growth and produce black hole mergers of several tens of solar masses similar to GW150914 and up to a few hundreds of solar masses, without the need to invoke extremely low metallicity environments. We use a semi-analytical approach to describe the dynamics of black holes in massive star clusters. Our models give a black hole binary merger rate of ≈ 1.5 {{Gpc}}-3 {{yr}}-1 from NSCs, implying up to a few tens of possible detections per year with Advanced LIGO. Moreover, we find a local merger rate of ˜ 1 {{Gpc}}-3 {{yr}}-1 for high mass black hole binaries similar to GW150914; a merger rate comparable to or higher than that of similar binaries assembled dynamically in globular clusters (GCs). Finally, we show that if all black holes receive high natal kicks, ≳ 50 {km} {{{s}}}-1, then NSCs will dominate the local merger rate of binary black holes compared to either GCs or isolated binary evolution.

Mergers of black-hole binaries with aligned spins: Waveform characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, Bernard J.; Baker, John G.; Centrella, Joan; Boggs, William D.; McWilliams, Sean T.

2011-01-01

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 further apply the late-time merger-ringdown model for the rotational frequency introduced in [J. G. Baker et al., Phys. Rev. D 78, 044046 (2008).], along with an improved amplitude model appropriate for the dominant (2, ±2) modes. This provides a quantitative description of the merger-ringdown waveforms, and suggests that the major features of these waveforms can be described with reference only to the intrinsic parameters associated with the state of the final black hole formed in the merger. We provide an explicit model for the merger-ringdown radiation, and demonstrate that this model agrees to fitting factors better than 95% with the original numerical waveforms for system masses above ∼150M · . This model may be directly applicable to gravitational-wave detection of intermediate-mass black-hole mergers.

The Extreme Spin of the Black Hole Cygnus X-1

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, Lijun; McClintock, Jeffrey E.; Reid, Mark J.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Steiner, James F.; Narayan, Ramesh; Xiang, Jingen; Remillard, Ronald A.; Arnaud, Keith A.; Davis, Shane W.

2011-01-01

Remarkably, an astronomical black hole is completely described by the two numbers that specify its mass and its spin. Knowledge of spin is crucial for understanding how, for example, black holes produce relativistic jets. Recently, it has become possible to measure the spins of black holes by focusing on the very inner region of an accreting disk of hot gas orbiting the black hole. According to General Relativity (GR), this disk is truncated at an inner radius 1 that depends only on the mass and spin of the black hole. We measure the radius of the inner edge of this disk by fitting its continuum X-ray spectrum to a fully relativistic model. Using our measurement of this radius, we deduce that the spin of Cygnus X-1 exceeds 97% of the maximum value allowed by GR.

Microlensing Signature of Binary Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Schnittman, Jeremy; Sahu, Kailash; Littenberg, Tyson

2012-01-01

We calculate the light curves of galactic bulge stars magnified via microlensing by stellar-mass binary black holes along the line-of-sight. We show the sensitivity to measuring various lens parameters for a range of survey cadences and photometric precision. Using public data from the OGLE collaboration, we identify two candidates for massive binary systems, and discuss implications for theories of star formation and binary evolution.

Particle accelerators inside spinning black holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lake, Kayll

2010-05-28

On the basis of the Kerr metric as a model for a spinning black hole accreting test particles from rest at infinity, I show that the center-of-mass energy for a pair of colliding particles is generically divergent at the inner horizon. This shows not only that classical black holes are internally unstable, but also that Planck-scale physics is a characteristic feature within black holes at scales much larger that the Planck length. The novel feature of the divergence discussed here is that the phenomenon is present only for black holes with rotation, and in this sense it is distinct from the well-known Cauchy horizon instability.

The disk wind in the rapidly spinning stellar-mass black hole 4U 1630-472 observed with NuSTAR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

King, Ashley L.; Walton, Dominic J.; Miller, Jon M.

2014-01-01

We present an analysis of a short NuSTAR observation of the stellar-mass black hole and low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1630-472. Reflection from the inner accretion disk is clearly detected for the first time in this source, owing to the sensitivity of NuSTAR. With fits to the reflection spectrum, we...... find evidence for a rapidly spinning black hole, (1σ statistical errors). However, archival data show that the source has relatively low radio luminosity. Recently claimed relationships between jet power and black hole spin would predict either a lower spin or a higher peak radio luminosity. We also...

Gravitational Waveforms in the Early Inspiral of Binary Black Hole Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Barkett, Kevin; Kumar, Prayush; Bhagwat, Swetha; Brown, Duncan; Scheel, Mark; Szilagyi, Bela; Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes Collaboration

2015-04-01

The inspiral, merger and ringdown of compact object binaries are important targets for gravitational wave detection by aLIGO. Detection and parameter estimation will require long, accurate waveforms for comparison. There are a number of analytical models for generating gravitational waveforms for these systems, but the only way to ensure their consistency and correctness is by comparing with numerical relativity simulations that cover many inspiral orbits. We've simulated a number of binary black hole systems with mass ratio 7 and a moderate, aligned spin on the larger black hole. We have attached these numerical waveforms to analytical waveform models to generate long hybrid gravitational waveforms that span the entire aLIGO frequency band. We analyze the robustness of these hybrid waveforms and measure the faithfulness of different hybrids with each other to obtain an estimate on how long future numerical simulations need to be in order to ensure that waveforms are accurate enough for use by aLIGO.

Understanding the fate of merging supermassive black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campanelli, Manuela

2005-01-01

Understanding the fate of merging supermassive black holes in galactic mergers, and the gravitational wave emission from this process, are important LISA science goals. To this end, we present results from numerical relativity simulations of binary black hole mergers using the so-called Lazarus approach to model gravitational radiation from these events. In particular, we focus here on some recent calculations of the final spin and recoil velocity of the remnant hole formed at the end of a binary black hole merger process, which may constrain the growth history of massive black holes at the core of galaxies and globular clusters

Featured Image: Making a Rapidly Rotating Black Hole

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-10-01

These stills from a simulation show the evolution (from left to right and top to bottom) of a high-mass X-ray binary over 1.1 days, starting after the star on the right fails to explode as a supernova and then collapses into a black hole. Many high-mass X-ray binaries like the well-known Cygnus X-1, the first source widely accepted to be a black hole host rapidly spinning black holes. Despite our observations of these systems, however, were still not sure how these objects end up with such high rotation speeds. Using simulations like that shown above, a team of scientists led by Aldo Batta (UC Santa Cruz) has demonstrated how a failed supernova explosion can result in such a rapidly spinning black hole. The authors work shows that in a binary where one star attempts to explode as a supernova and fails it doesnt succeed in unbinding the star the large amount of fallback material can interact with the companion star and then accrete onto the black hole, spinning it up in the process. You can read more about the authors simulations and conclusions in the paper below.CitationAldo Batta et al 2017 ApJL 846 L15. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa8506

Interacting black holes on the brane: the seeding of binaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majumdar, A.S.; Mehta, Anita; Luck, J.M.

2005-01-01

We consider the evolution of subhorizon-sized black holes which are formed during the high energy phase of the braneworld scenario. These black holes are long-lived due to modified evaporation and accretion of radiation during the radiation dominated era. We argue that an initial mass difference between any two neighbouring black holes is always amplified because of their exchange of energy with the surrounding radiation. We present a scheme of binary formation based on mass differences suggesting that such a scenario could lead to binaries with observable signatures

Gravitational waveforms for neutron star binaries from binary black hole simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Barkett, Kevin; Scheel, Mark; Haas, Roland; Ott, Christian; Bernuzzi, Sebastiano; Brown, Duncan; Szilagyi, Bela; Kaplan, Jeffrey; Lippuner, Jonas; Muhlberger, Curran; Foucart, Francois; Duez, Matthew

2016-03-01

Gravitational waves from binary neutron star (BNS) and black-hole/neutron star (BHNS) inspirals are primary sources for detection by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The tidal forces acting on the neutron stars induce changes in the phase evolution of the gravitational waveform, and these changes can be used to constrain the nuclear equation of state. Current methods of generating BNS and BHNS waveforms rely on either computationally challenging full 3D hydrodynamical simulations or approximate analytic solutions. We introduce a new method for computing inspiral waveforms for BNS/BHNS systems by adding the post-Newtonian (PN) tidal effects to full numerical simulations of binary black holes (BBHs), effectively replacing the non-tidal terms in the PN expansion with BBH results. Comparing a waveform generated with this method against a full hydrodynamical simulation of a BNS inspiral yields a phase difference of < 1 radian over ~ 15 orbits. The numerical phase accuracy required of BNS simulations to measure the accuracy of the method we present here is estimated as a function of the tidal deformability parameter λ.

The formation and gravitational-wave detection of massive stellar black hole binaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belczynski, Krzysztof; Walczak, Marek; Buonanno, Alessandra; Cantiello, Matteo; Fryer, Chris L.; Holz, Daniel E.; Mandel, Ilya; Miller, M. Coleman

2014-01-01

If binaries consisting of two ∼100 M ☉ black holes exist, they would serve as extraordinarily powerful gravitational-wave sources, detectable to redshifts of z ∼ 2 with the advanced LIGO/Virgo ground-based detectors. Large uncertainties about the evolution of massive stars preclude definitive rate predictions for mergers of these massive black holes. We show that rates as high as hundreds of detections per year, or as low as no detections whatsoever, are both possible. It was thought that the only way to produce these massive binaries was via dynamical interactions in dense stellar systems. This view has been challenged by the recent discovery of several ≳ 150 M ☉ stars in the R136 region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Current models predict that when stars of this mass leave the main sequence, their expansion is insufficient to allow common envelope evolution to efficiently reduce the orbital separation. The resulting black hole-black hole binary remains too wide to be able to coalesce within a Hubble time. If this assessment is correct, isolated very massive binaries do not evolve to be gravitational-wave sources. However, other formation channels exist. For example, the high multiplicity of massive stars, and their common formation in relatively dense stellar associations, opens up dynamical channels for massive black hole mergers (e.g., via Kozai cycles or repeated binary-single interactions). We identify key physical factors that shape the population of very massive black hole-black hole binaries. Advanced gravitational-wave detectors will provide important constraints on the formation and evolution of very massive stars.

Direct imaging rapidly-rotating non-Kerr black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bambi, Cosimo, E-mail: Cosimo.Bambi@physik.uni-muenchen.de [Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, 80333 Munich (Germany); Caravelli, Francesco, E-mail: fcaravelli@perimeterinstitute.ca [Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Albert Einstein Institute, 14476 Golm (Germany); Department of Physics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5 (Canada); Modesto, Leonardo, E-mail: lmodesto@perimeterinstitute.ca [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5 (Canada)

2012-05-01

Recently, two of us have argued that non-Kerr black holes in gravity theories different from General Relativity may have a topologically non-trivial event horizon. More precisely, the spatial topology of the horizon of non-rotating and slow-rotating objects would be a 2-sphere, like in Kerr space-time, while it would change above a critical value of the spin parameter. When the topology of the horizon changes, the black hole central singularity shows up. The accretion process from a thin disk can potentially overspin these black holes and induce the topology transition, violating the Weak Cosmic Censorship Conjecture. If the astrophysical black hole candidates are not the black holes predicted by General Relativity, we might have the quite unique opportunity to see their central region, where classical physics breaks down and quantum gravity effects should appear. Even if the quantum gravity region turned out to be extremely small, at the level of the Planck scale, the size of its apparent image would be finite and potentially observable with future facilities.

SPIN-PRECESSION: BREAKING THE BLACK HOLE-NEUTRON STAR DEGENERACY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chatziioannou, Katerina; Cornish, Neil; Klein, Antoine; Yunes, Nicolás [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 (United States)

2015-01-01

Mergers of compact stellar remnants are prime targets for the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave detectors. The gravitational wave signals from these merger events can be used to study the mass and spin distribution of stellar remnants, and provide information about black hole horizons and the material properties of neutron stars. However, it has been suggested that degeneracies in the way that the star's mass and spin are imprinted in the waveforms may make it impossible to distinguish between black holes and neutron stars. Here we show that the precession of the orbital plane due to spin-orbit coupling breaks the mass-spin degeneracy, and allows us to distinguish between standard neutron stars and alternative possibilities, such as black holes or exotic neutron stars with large masses and spins.

Black holes in massive close binaries - observational data and evolutionary status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tutukov, A.V.; Cherepashchuk, A.M.; Moskovskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet, Moscow, USSR)

1985-01-01

The available information on the mass of four candidate black holes in X-ray binary systems is summarized; these systems are compared with neutron star binaries with regard to the mass of their components. In mass, the relativistic objects form two distinct groups, neutron stars with masses equal to about 1-2 solar masses and black hole candidates with masses equal to about 10-60 solar masses (there seem to be no intermediate cases), but there is no correlation with the mass of the optical star. Mass exchange between the optical component of a close binary and its neutron star companion would be unlikely to produce a black hole more massive than 5-7 solar masses. Instead, the black holes having masses greater than about 10 solar masses might result from core collapse in stars of initial mass equating 20-100 solar masses through either a rise in the presupernova core mass or weakness of the magnetic field. The (10-30)-fold disparity in the incidence of black holes coupled with OB stars and with radio pulsars could indicate that black holes tend to form in pairs. 36 references

The superradiant instability regime of the spinning Kerr black hole

Science.gov (United States)

Hod, Shahar

2016-07-01

Spinning Kerr black holes are known to be superradiantly unstable to massive scalar perturbations. We here prove that the instability regime of the composed Kerr-black-hole-massive-scalar-field system is bounded from above by the dimensionless inequality Mμ r+ is the dimensionless ratio between the horizon radii of the black hole. It is further shown that this analytically derived upper bound on the superradiant instability regime of the spinning Kerr black hole agrees with recent numerical computations of the instability resonance spectrum.

Massive disc formation in the tidal disruption of a neutron star by a nearly extremal black hole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lovelace, Geoffrey; Kidder, Lawrence E; Duez, Matthew D; Foucart, Francois; Pfeiffer, Harald P; Scheel, Mark A; Szilágyi, Béla

2013-01-01

Black hole–neutron star (BHNS) binaries are important sources of gravitational waves for second-generation interferometers, and BHNS mergers are also a proposed engine for short, hard gamma-ray bursts. The behavior of both the spacetime (and thus the emitted gravitational waves) and the neutron-star matter in a BHNS merger depend strongly and nonlinearly on the black hole's spin. While there is a significant possibility that astrophysical black holes could have spins that are nearly extremal (i.e. near the theoretical maximum), to date fully relativistic simulations of BHNS binaries have included black-hole spins only up to S/M 2 = 0.9, which corresponds to the black hole having approximately half as much rotational energy as possible, given the black hole's mass. In this paper, we present a new simulation of a BHNS binary with a mass ratio q = 3 and black-hole spin S/M 2 = 0.97, the highest simulated to date. We find that the black hole's large spin leads to the most massive accretion disc and the largest tidal tail outflow of any fully relativistic BHNS simulations to date, even exceeding the results implied by extrapolating results from simulations with lower black-hole spin. The disc appears to be remarkably stable. We also find that the high black-hole spin persists until shortly before the time of merger; afterward, both merger and accretion spin down the black hole. (paper)

Binary Black Hole Mergers in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fong, H.; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Geng, P.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, R.G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hamilton-Ayers, M.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.A.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jian, L.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Johnson-McDaniel, N. K.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Namjun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Lewis, J. B.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lousto, C.; Lueck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magana; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pan, Y.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Porter, E. K.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, D.M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson-Moore, P.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.G.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whitcomb, S. E.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, D.S.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

2016-01-01

The first observational run of the Advanced LIGO detectors, from September 12, 2015 to January 19, 2016, saw the first detections of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers. In this paper, we present full results from a search for binary black hole merger signals with total masses up to

Binary Black Hole Mergers in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, F.; Camp, J. B.;

Binary Black Hole Mergers in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The first observational run of the Advanced LIGO detectors, from September 12, 2015 to January 19, 2016, saw the first detections of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers. In this paper, we present full results from a search for binary black hole merger signals with total masses up to 100M_{⊙} and detailed implications from our observations of these systems. Our search, based on general-relativistic models of gravitational-wave signals from binary black hole systems, unambiguously identified two signals, GW150914 and GW151226, with a significance of greater than 5σ over the observing period. It also identified a third possible signal, LVT151012, with substantially lower significance and with an 87% probability of being of astrophysical origin. We provide detailed estimates of the parameters of the observed systems. Both GW150914 and GW151226 provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the two-body motion of a compact-object binary in the large velocity, highly nonlinear regime. We do not observe any deviations from general relativity, and we place improved empirical bounds on several high-order post-Newtonian coefficients. From our observations, we infer stellar-mass binary black hole merger rates lying in the range 9–240  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}. These observations are beginning to inform astrophysical predictions of binary black hole formation rates and indicate that future observing runs of the Advanced detector network will yield many more gravitational-wave detections.

High Frequency QPOs due to Black Hole Spin

Science.gov (United States)

Kazanas, Demos; Fukumura, K.

2009-01-01

We present detailed computations of photon orbits emitted by flares at the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) of accretion disks around rotating black holes. We show that for sufficiently large spin parameter, i.e. a > 0.94 M, flare a sufficient number of photons arrive at an observer after multiple orbits around the black hole, to produce an "photon echo" of constant lag, i.e. independent of the relative phase between the black hole and the observer, of T approximates 14 M. This constant time delay, then, leads to a power spectrum with a QPO at a frequency nu approximates 1/14M, even for a totally random ensemble of such flares. Observation of such a QPO will provide incontrovertible evidence for the high spin of the black hole and a very accurate, independent, measurement of its mass.

Detecting binary black holes with efficient and reliable templates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damour, T.; Iyer, B.R.; Sathyaprakash, B.S.

2001-01-01

Detecting binary black holes in interferometer data requires an accurate knowledge of the orbital phase evolution of the system. From the point of view of data analysis one also needs fast algorithms to compute the templates that will be employed in searching for black hole binaries. Recently, there has been progress on both these fronts: On one hand, re-summation techniques have made it possible to accelerate the convergence of poorly convergent asymptotic post-Newtonian series and derive waveforms beyond the conventional adiabatic approximation. We now have a waveform model that extends beyond the inspiral regime into the plunge phase followed by the quasi-normal mode ringing. On the other hand, explicit Fourier domain waveforms have been derived that make the generation of waveforms fast enough so as not to be a burden on the computational resources required in filtering the detector data. These new developments should make it possible to efficiently and reliably search for black hole binaries in data from first interferometers. (author)

Black-hole hair loss: Learning about binary progenitors from ringdown signals

Science.gov (United States)

Kamaretsos, Ioannis; Hannam, Mark; Husa, Sascha; Sathyaprakash, B. S.

2012-01-01

Perturbed Kerr black holes emit gravitational radiation, which (for the practical purposes of gravitational-wave astronomy) consists of a superposition of damped sinusoids termed quasinormal modes. The frequencies and time constants of the modes depend only on the mass and spin of the black hole—a consequence of the no-hair theorem. It has been proposed that a measurement of two or more quasinormal modes could be used to confirm that the source is a black hole and to test if general relativity continues to hold in ultrastrong gravitational fields. In this paper, we propose a practical approach to testing general relativity with quasinormal modes. We will also argue that the relative amplitudes of the various quasinormal modes encode important information about the origin of the perturbation that caused them. This helps in inferring the nature of the perturbation from an observation of the emitted quasinormal modes. In particular, we will show that the relative amplitudes of the different quasinormal modes emitted in the process of the merger of a pair of nonspinning black holes can be used to measure the component masses of the progenitor binary.

Jet precession in binary black holes

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Zulema

2018-06-01

Supermassive binary black holes are thought to lie at the centres of merging galaxies. The blazar OJ 287 is the poster child of such systems, showing strong and periodic variability across the electromagnetic spectrum. A new study questions the physical origin of this variability.

On the gravitational wave background from black hole binaries after the first LIGO detections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cholis, Ilias, E-mail: icholis1@jhu.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218 (United States)

2017-06-01

The detection of gravitational waves from the merger of binary black holes by the LIGO Collaboration has opened a new window to astrophysics. With the sensitivities of ground based detectors in the coming years, we will principally detect local binary black hole mergers. The integrated merger rate can instead be probed by the gravitational-wave background, the incoherent superposition of the released energy in gravitational waves during binary-black-hole coalescence. Through that, the properties of the binary black holes can be studied. In this work we show that by measuring the energy density Ω{sub GW} (in units of the cosmic critical density) of the gravitational-wave background, we can search for the rare ∼ 100 M {sub ⊙} massive black holes formed in the Universe. In addition, we can answer how often the least massive BHs of mass ≳ 3 M {sub ⊙} form. Finally, if there are multiple channels for the formation of binary black holes and if any of them predicts a narrow mass range for the black holes, then the total Ω{sub GW} spectrum may have features that with the future Einstein Telescope can be detected.

Black holes

OpenAIRE

Brügmann, B.; Ghez, A. M.; Greiner, J.

2001-01-01

Recent progress in black hole research is illustrated by three examples. We discuss the observational challenges that were met to show that a supermassive black hole exists at the center of our galaxy. Stellar-size black holes have been studied in x-ray binaries and microquasars. Finally, numerical simulations have become possible for the merger of black hole binaries.

Can black-hole MACHO binaries be detected by the Brazilian spherical antenna?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araujo, J C N de; Miranda, O D; Castro, C S; Paleo, B W; Aguiar, O D

2004-01-01

Different studies show that dark matter of non-baryonic origin might exist. There is experimental evidence that at least one form of dark matter has been detected through microlensing effects. This form of dark matter is named MACHOs (massive astrophysical compact halo objects). The MACHO collaboration estimated that the masses of these objects are to be in the range 0.15-0.95M o-dot , where the most probable mass is of 0.5M o-dot . Some authors argue that MACHOs could be black holes, and that they could form binary systems, BHMACHO binaries. As is well known, binary systems are sources of gravitational waves. The Brazilian spherical antenna will operate in the frequency band of 3.0-3.4 kHz, sensitive to binaries of a pair of 0.5M o-dot black holes just before coalescing. In the present work we study the detectability of these putative BHMACHO binaries by the Brazilian spherical antenna Mario Schenberg

Relativistic three-body effects in black hole coalescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campanelli, Manuela; Dettwyler, Miranda; Lousto, Carlos O.; Hannam, Mark

2006-01-01

Three-body interactions are expected to be common in globular clusters and in galactic cores hosting supermassive black holes. We consider an equal-mass binary black hole system in the presence of a third black hole. Using numerically generated binary black hole initial data sets, and first and second-order post-Newtonian (1PN and 2PN) techniques, we find that the presence of the third black hole has non-negligible relativistic effects on the location of the binary's innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO), and that these effects arise at 2PN order. For a stellar-mass black hole binary in orbit about a supermassive black hole, the massive black hole has stabilizing effects on the orbiting binary, leading to an increase in merger time and a decrease of the terminal orbital frequency, and an amplification of the gravitational radiation emitted from the binary system by up to 6%

Directly comparing GW150914 with numerical solutions of Einstein's equations for binary black hole coalescence

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bond, C.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fan, X.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Geng, P.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jian, L.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, N.; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Królak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Lewis, J. B.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lück, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magaña; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, N. D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.; Boyle, M.; Campanelli, M.; Chu, T.; Clark, M.; Fauchon-Jones, E.; Fong, H.; Healy, J.; Hemberger, D.; Hinder, I.; Husa, S.; Kalaghati, C.; Khan, S.; Kidder, L. E.; Kinsey, M.; Laguna, P.; London, L. T.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Ossokine, S.; Pannarale, F.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Scheel, M.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; Vinuales, A. Vano; Zlochower, Y.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2016-09-01

We compare GW150914 directly to simulations of coalescing binary black holes in full general relativity, including several performed specifically to reproduce this event. Our calculations go beyond existing semianalytic models, because for all simulations—including sources with two independent, precessing spins—we perform comparisons which account for all the spin-weighted quadrupolar modes, and separately which account for all the quadrupolar and octopolar modes. Consistent with the posterior distributions reported by Abbott et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241102 (2016)] (at the 90% credible level), we find the data are compatible with a wide range of nonprecessing and precessing simulations. Follow-up simulations performed using previously estimated binary parameters most resemble the data, even when all quadrupolar and octopolar modes are included. Comparisons including only the quadrupolar modes constrain the total redshifted mass Mz∈[64 M⊙-82 M⊙] , mass ratio 1 /q =m2/m1∈[0.6 ,1 ], and effective aligned spin χeff∈[-0.3 ,0.2 ], where χeff=(S1/m1+S2/m2).L ^/M . Including both quadrupolar and octopolar modes, we find the mass ratio is even more tightly constrained. Even accounting for precession, simulations with extreme mass ratios and effective spins are highly inconsistent with the data, at any mass. Several nonprecessing and precessing simulations with similar mass ratio and χeff are consistent with the data. Though correlated, the components' spins (both in magnitude and directions) are not significantly constrained by the data: the data is consistent with simulations with component spin magnitudes a1 ,2 up to at least 0.8, with random orientations. Further detailed follow-up calculations are needed to determine if the data contain a weak imprint from transverse (precessing) spins. For nonprecessing binaries, interpolating between simulations, we reconstruct a posterior distribution consistent with previous results. The final black hole

Chaos and order in models of black hole pairs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levin, Janna

2006-01-01

Chaos in the orbits of black hole pairs has by now been confirmed by several independent groups. While the chaotic behavior of binary black hole orbits is no longer argued, it remains difficult to quantify the importance of chaos to the evolutionary dynamics of a pair of comparable mass black holes. None of our existing approximations are robust enough to offer convincing quantitative conclusions in the most highly nonlinear regime. It is intriguing to note that, in three different approximations to a black hole pair built of a spinning black hole and a nonspinning companion, two approximations exhibit chaos and one approximation does not. The fully relativistic scenario of a spinning test mass around a Schwarzschild black hole shows chaos, as does the post-Newtonian Lagrangian approximation. However, the approximately equivalent post-Newtonian Hamiltonian approximation does not show chaos when only one body spins. It is well known in dynamical systems theory that one system can be regular while an approximately related system is chaotic, so there is no formal conflict. However, the physical question remains: Is there chaos for comparable mass binaries when only one object spins? We are unable to answer this question given the poor convergence of the post-Newtonian approximation to the fully relativistic system. A resolution awaits better approximations that can be trusted in the highly nonlinear regime

Dirac equation of spin particles and tunneling radiation from a Kinnersly black hole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Guo-Ping; Zu, Xiao-Tao [University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, School of Physical Electronics, Chengdu (China); Feng, Zhong-Wen [University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, School of Physical Electronics, Chengdu (China); China West Normal University, College of Physics and Space Science, Nanchong (China); Li, Hui-Ling [University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, School of Physical Electronics, Chengdu (China); Shenyang Normal University, College of Physics Science and Technology, Shenyang (China)

2017-04-15

In curved space-time, the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is a semi-classical particle equation of motion, which plays an important role in the research of black hole physics. In this paper, starting from the Dirac equation of spin 1/2 fermions and the Rarita-Schwinger equation of spin 3/2 fermions, respectively, we derive a Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the non-stationary spherically symmetric gravitational field background. Furthermore, the quantum tunneling of a charged spherically symmetric Kinnersly black hole is investigated by using the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The result shows that the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is helpful to understand the thermodynamic properties and the radiation characteristics of a black hole. (orig.)

RECOILING SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN SPIN-FLIP RADIO GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, F. K.; Wang Dong; Chen Xian

2012-01-01

Numerical relativity simulations predict that coalescence of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries leads not only to a spin flip but also to a recoiling of the merger remnant SMBHs. In the literature, X-shaped radio sources are popularly suggested to be candidates for SMBH mergers with spin flip of jet-ejecting SMBHs. Here we investigate the spectral and spatial observational signatures of the recoiling SMBHs in radio sources undergoing black hole spin flip. Our results show that SMBHs in most spin-flip radio sources have mass ratio q ∼> 0.3 with a minimum possible value q min ≅ 0.05. For major mergers, the remnant SMBHs can get a kick velocity as high as 2100 km s –1 in the direction within an angle ∼< 40° relative to the spin axes of remnant SMBHs, implying that recoiling quasars are biased to be with high Doppler-shifted broad emission lines while recoiling radio galaxies are biased to large apparent spatial off-center displacements. We also calculate the distribution functions of line-of-sight velocity and apparent spatial off-center displacements for spin-flip radio sources with different apparent jet reorientation angles. Our results show that the larger the apparent jet reorientation angle is, the larger the Doppler-shifting recoiling velocity and apparent spatial off-center displacement will be. We investigate the effects of recoiling velocity on the dust torus in spin-flip radio sources and suggest that recoiling of SMBHs would lead to 'dust-poor' active galactic nuclei. Finally, we collect a sample of 19 X-shaped radio objects and for each object give the probability of detecting the predicted signatures of recoiling SMBH.

GW150914: Implications for the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Binary Black Holes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C. J.; Berger, B. K.; Bergman, J.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bojtos, P.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Daveloza, H. P.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dereli, H.; Dergachev, V.A.; DeRosa, R. T.; Rosa, R.; DeSalvo, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dojcinoski, G.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fournier, J. -D.; Franco, S; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gatto, A.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Gendre, B.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, Idelmis G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Haris, K.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Hofman, D.; Hollitt, S. E.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idrisy, A.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Islas, G.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, C.; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y.M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Kokeyama, K.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B. M.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lueck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Luo, J.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; MacDonald, T.T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Magee, R. M.; Mageswaran, M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R.M.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Premachandra, S. S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schoenbeck, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Serna, G.; Setyawati, Y.; Sevigny, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shah, S.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shao, Z.M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Simakov, D.; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toeyrae, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Van Bakel, N.; Van Beuzekom, Martin; Van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welborn, T.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

2016-01-01

The LIGO detection of the gravitational wave transient GW150914, from the inspiral and merger of two black holes with masses ≳30M⊙, suggests a population of binary black holes with relatively high mass. This observation implies that the stochastic gravitational-wave background from binary black

Investigating Supermassive Black Hole Spin at Different Redshift

Science.gov (United States)

Sinanan-Singh, Jasmine

2018-01-01

Supermassive black hole (SMBH) spin encodes vital information about the history of SMBH growth. High spins indicate a history of growth through large mass accretion events, which spin-up the black hole; Intermediate spins indicate a history of galactic mergers, which don't tend to systemcatically spin-up or spin-down black holes; low spins are attributed to successive, small accretion events with random orientations. Examining spin over different redshifts will help us understand the relative growth of SMBHs by mergers or accretion over cosmic time, an important part of understanding how SMBHs and their host galaxies co-evolved over time. To study spin, we compute the Fe K alpha emission line from the X-ray spectra of AGN sources in the Chandra-COSMOS Legacy Survey. We stack rest frame AGN spectra to improve the signal-to-noise ratio since the photon counts are low for individual spectra, and then average the spectra using an unwieghted mean. Our method is derived from Corral et al. (2008). We test our method on the two brightest sources in the COSMOS Survey and compute the rest frame average Fe K alpha emission line for different redshift bins. The SAO REU program is funded by the National Science Foundation REU and Department of Defense ASSURE programs under NSF Grant AST-1659473, and by the Smithsonian Institution.

Unmodeled search for black hole binary systems in the NINJA project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadonati, Laura; Fischetti, Sebastian; Mohapatra, Satyanarayan R P; Chatterji, Shourov; Guidi, Gianluca; Sturani, Riccardo; Vicere, Andrea

2009-01-01

The gravitational-wave signature from binary black hole coalescences is an important target for ground-based interferometric detectors such as LIGO and Virgo. The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project brought together the numerical relativity and gravitational wave data analysis communities, with the goal to optimize the detectability of these events. In its first instantiation, the NINJA project produced a simulated data set with numerical waveforms from binary black hole coalescences of various morphologies (spin, mass ratio, initial conditions), superimposed to Gaussian colored noise at the design sensitivity for initial LIGO and Virgo. We analyzed the NINJA simulated data set with the Q-pipeline algorithm, designed for the all-sky detection of gravitational-wave bursts with minimal assumptions on the shape of the waveform. The algorithm filters the data with a bank of sine-Gaussians, sinusoids with Gaussian envelope, to identify significant excess power in the time-frequency domain. We compared the performance of this burst search algorithm with lalapps r ing, which match-filters data with a bank of ring-down templates to specifically target the final stage of a coalescence of black holes. A comparison of the output of the two algorithms on NINJA data in a single detector analysis yielded qualitatively consistent results; however, due to the low simulation statistics in the first NINJA project, it is premature to draw quantitative conclusions at this stage, and further studies with higher statistics and real detector noise will be needed.

Black Holes and Exotic Spinors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. M. Hoff da Silva

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Exotic spin structures are non-trivial liftings, of the orthogonal bundle to the spin bundle, on orientable manifolds that admit spin structures according to the celebrated Geroch theorem. Exotic spin structures play a role of paramount importance in different areas of physics, from quantum field theory, in particular at Planck length scales, to gravity, and in cosmological scales. Here, we introduce an in-depth panorama in this field, providing black hole physics as the fount of spacetime exoticness. Black holes are then studied as the generators of a non-trivial topology that also can correspond to some inequivalent spin structure. Moreover, we investigate exotic spinor fields in this context and the way exotic spinor fields branch new physics. We also calculate the tunneling probability of exotic fermions across a Kerr-Sen black hole, showing that the exotic term does affect the tunneling probability, altering the black hole evaporation rate. Finally we show that it complies with the Hawking temperature universal law.

Gravitational waves from quasicircular black-hole binaries in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yagi, Kent; Yunes, Nicolás; Tanaka, Takahiro

2012-12-21

Dynamical Chern-Simons gravity cannot be strongly constrained with current experiments because it reduces to general relativity in the weak-field limit. This theory, however, introduces modifications in the nonlinear, dynamical regime, and thus it could be greatly constrained with gravitational waves from the late inspiral of black-hole binaries. We complete the first self-consistent calculation of such gravitational waves in this theory. For favorable spin orientations, advanced ground-based detectors may improve existing solar system constraints by 6 orders of magnitude.

The Final Merger of Black-Hole Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Bernard J.; Centrealla, Joan; Baker, John G.; Kelly, Bernard J.; vanMeter, James R.

2010-01-01

Recent breakthroughs in the field of numerical relativity have led to dramatic progress in understanding the predictions of General Relativity for the dynamical interactions of two black holes in the regime of very strong gravitational fields. Such black-hole binaries are important astrophysical systems and are a key target of current and developing gravitational-wave detectors. The waveform signature of strong gravitational radiation emitted as the black holes fall together and merge provides a clear observable record of the process. After decades of slow progress / these mergers and the gravitational-wave signals they generate can now be routinely calculated using the methods of numerical relativity. We review recent advances in understanding the predicted physics of events and the consequent radiation, and discuss some of the impacts this new knowledge is having in various areas of astrophysics

Formation of the black-hole binary M33 X-7 through mass exchange in a tight massive system.

Science.gov (United States)

Valsecchi, Francesca; Glebbeek, Evert; Farr, Will M; Fragos, Tassos; Willems, Bart; Orosz, Jerome A; Liu, Jifeng; Kalogera, Vassiliki

2010-11-04

The X-ray source M33 X-7 in the nearby galaxy Messier 33 is among the most massive X-ray binary stellar systems known, hosting a rapidly spinning, 15.65M(⊙) black hole orbiting an underluminous, 70M(⊙) main-sequence companion in a slightly eccentric 3.45-day orbit (M(⊙), solar mass). Although post-main-sequence mass transfer explains the masses and tight orbit, it leaves unexplained the observed X-ray luminosity, the star's underluminosity, the black hole's spin and the orbital eccentricity. A common envelope phase, or rotational mixing, could explain the orbit, but the former would lead to a merger and the latter to an overluminous companion. A merger would also ensue if mass transfer to the black hole were invoked for its spin-up. Here we report simulations of evolutionary tracks which reveal that if M33 X-7 started as a primary body of 85M(⊙)-99M(⊙) and a secondary body of 28M(⊙)-32M(⊙), in a 2.8-3.1-d orbit, its observed properties can be consistently explained. In this model, the main-sequence primary transfers part of its envelope to the secondary and loses the rest in a wind; it ends its life as a ∼16M(⊙) helium star with an iron-nickel core that collapses to a black hole (with or without an accompanying supernova). The release of binding energy, and possibly collapse asymmetries, 'kick' the nascent black hole into an eccentric orbit. Wind accretion explains the X-ray luminosity, and the black-hole spin can be natal.

Black hole binary OJ287 as a testing platform for general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valtonen, M J; Gopakumar, A; Mikkola, S; Wiik, K; Lehto, H J

2014-01-01

The blazar OJ287 is the most promising (and the only) case for an extragalactic binary black hole system inspiralling under the action of gravitational radiation reaction. At present, though it is not possible to directly observe the binary components, it is possible to observe the jet emanating from the primary black hole. We have argued that the orbital motion of the secondary black hole is reflected in the wobble of the jet, and demonstrated that the wobble is orbital position dependent. The erratic wobble of the jet is analyzed by taking into account the binary nature of the system, and we have found that the erratic component of jet wobble is very small

AN ENERGETIC AGN OUTBURST POWERED BY A RAPIDLY SPINNING SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE OR AN ACCRETING ULTRAMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNamara, B. R.; Kazemzadeh, F.; Kirkpatrick, C. C.; Rafferty, D. A.; Birzan, L.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Wise, M. W.

2009-01-01

Powering the 10 62 erg nuclear outburst in the MS0735.6+7421 cluster central galaxy by accretion with a 10% mass-to-energy conversion efficiency implies that its putative supermassive black hole (SMBH) grew by ∼6 x 10 8 M sun over the past 100 Myr. Guided by data at several wavelengths, we place upper limits on the amount of cold gas and star formation near the nucleus of 9 M sun and sun yr -1 , respectively. These limits imply that an implausibly large fraction of the preexisting cold gas in the inner several kpc must have been consumed by its SMBH at the rate of ∼3-5 M sun yr -1 during the past 100 Myr while leaving no trace of star formation. Such a high accretion rate would be difficult to maintain by stellar accretion or the Bondi mechanism, unless the black hole mass approaches 10 11 M sun . Furthermore, its feeble nuclear luminosities in the UV, I, and X-ray bands compared to its enormous mechanical power are inconsistent with rapid accretion onto a ∼5 x 10 9 M sun black hole. We suggest instead that the active galactic nucleus (AGN) outburst is powered by angular momentum released from a rapidly spinning black hole. The rotational energy and power available from a spinning black hole are consistent with the cavity and shock energetics inferred from X-ray observations. A maximally spinning 10 9 M sun black hole contains enough rotational energy, ∼10 62 erg, to quench a cooling flow over its lifetime and to contribute significantly to the excess entropy found in the hot atmospheres of groups and clusters. Two modes of AGN feedback may be quenching star formation in elliptical galaxies centered in cooling halos at late times. An accretion mode that operates in gas-rich systems, and a spin mode operating at modest accretion rates. The spin conjecture may be avoided in MS0735 by appealing to Bondi accretion onto a central black hole whose mass greatly exceeds 10 10 M sun . The host galaxy's unusually large 3.8 kpc stellar core radius (light deficit) may

GW170608: Observation of a 19 Solar-mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence

OpenAIRE

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Adhikari, R. X.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barish, B. C.; Berger, B. K.; Billingsley, G.; Biscans, S; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.

2017-01-01

On 2017 June 8 at 02:01:16.49 UTC, a gravitational-wave (GW) signal from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes was observed by the two Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detectors with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13. This system is the lightest black hole binary so far observed, with component masses of 12^(+7)_(-2) M⊙ and 7^(+2)_(-2) M⊙ (90% credible intervals). These lie in the range of measured black hole masses in low-mass X-ray binaries, thus allowi...

Spinning test particles in the field of a black hole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tod, K P; de Felice, F [Padua Univ. (Italy); Calvani, M [Padua Univ. (Italy). Istituto di Astronomia

1976-08-11

It is studied the motion of spinning test bodies in the gravitational field of a rotating black hole, confining the examination of the pole-dipole approximation and of the special case of motion in the equatorial plane with the spin vector perpendicular to it. The study also provides the locus of the turning points for the equatorial orbits and also the exact limits of validity of the pole-dipole approximation for any given set of particle parameters. The innermost stable circular orbits are studied in details, and it is found that opposite spinning accreting particles are separated by the gravitational field of the black hole and that the fraction of energy ''at infinity'' which can be extracted when the particle spin is opposite to that of the black hole can be as high as 100%.

Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger.

Science.gov (United States)

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Biscans, S; Bisht, A; Bitossi, M; Biwer, C; Bizouard, M A; Blackburn, J K; Blair, C D; Blair, D G; Blair, R M; Bloemen, S; Bock, O; Bodiya, T P; Boer, M; Bogaert, G; Bogan, C; Bohe, A; Bojtos, P; Bond, C; Bondu, F; Bonnand, R; Boom, B A; Bork, R; Boschi, V; Bose, S; Bouffanais, Y; Bozzi, A; Bradaschia, C; Brady, P R; Braginsky, V B; Branchesi, M; Brau, J E; Briant, T; Brillet, A; Brinkmann, M; Brisson, V; Brockill, P; Brooks, A F; Brown, D A; Brown, D D; Brown, N M; Buchanan, C C; Buikema, A; Bulik, T; Bulten, H J; Buonanno, A; Buskulic, D; Buy, C; Byer, R L; Cabero, M; Cadonati, L; Cagnoli, G; Cahillane, C; Calderón Bustillo, J; Callister, T; Calloni, E; Camp, J B; Cannon, K C; Cao, J; Capano, C D; Capocasa, E; Carbognani, F; Caride, S; Casanueva Diaz, J; Casentini, C; Caudill, S; Cavaglià, M; Cavalier, F; Cavalieri, R; Cella, G; Cepeda, C B; Cerboni Baiardi, L; Cerretani, G; Cesarini, E; Chakraborty, R; Chalermsongsak, T; Chamberlin, S J; Chan, M; Chao, S; Charlton, P; Chassande-Mottin, E; 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Qi, H; Qin, J; Quetschke, V; Quintero, E A; Quitzow-James, R; Raab, F J; Rabeling, D S; Radkins, H; Raffai, P; Raja, S; Rakhmanov, M; Ramet, C R; Rapagnani, P; Raymond, V; Razzano, M; Re, V; Read, J; Reed, C M; Regimbau, T; Rei, L; Reid, S; Reitze, D H; Rew, H; Reyes, S D; Ricci, F; Riles, K; Robertson, N A; Robie, R; Robinet, F; Rocchi, A; Rolland, L; Rollins, J G; Roma, V J; Romano, J D; Romano, R; Romanov, G; Romie, J H; Rosińska, D; Rowan, S; Rüdiger, A; Ruggi, P; Ryan, K; Sachdev, S; Sadecki, T; Sadeghian, L; Salconi, L; Saleem, M; Salemi, F; Samajdar, A; Sammut, L; Sampson, L M; Sanchez, E J; Sandberg, V; Sandeen, B; Sanders, G H; Sanders, J R; Sassolas, B; Sathyaprakash, B S; Saulson, P R; Sauter, O; Savage, R L; Sawadsky, A; Schale, P; Schilling, R; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P; Schnabel, R; Schofield, R M S; Schönbeck, A; Schreiber, E; Schuette, D; Schutz, B F; Scott, J; Scott, S M; Sellers, D; Sengupta, A S; Sentenac, D; Sequino, V; Sergeev, A; Serna, G; Setyawati, Y; Sevigny, A; Shaddock, D A; Shaffer, T; Shah, S; Shahriar, M S; Shaltev, M; Shao, Z; Shapiro, B; Shawhan, P; Sheperd, A; Shoemaker, D H; Shoemaker, D M; Siellez, K; Siemens, X; Sigg, D; Silva, A D; Simakov, D; Singer, A; Singer, L P; Singh, A; Singh, R; Singhal, A; Sintes, A M; Slagmolen, B J J; Smith, J R; Smith, M R; Smith, N D; Smith, R J E; Son, E J; Sorazu, B; Sorrentino, F; Souradeep, T; Srivastava, A K; Staley, A; Steinke, M; Steinlechner, J; Steinlechner, S; Steinmeyer, D; Stephens, B C; Stevenson, S P; Stone, R; Strain, K A; Straniero, N; Stratta, G; Strauss, N A; Strigin, S; Sturani, R; Stuver, A L; Summerscales, T Z; Sun, L; Sutton, P J; Swinkels, B L; Szczepańczyk, M J; Tacca, M; Talukder, D; Tanner, D B; Tápai, M; Tarabrin, S P; Taracchini, A; Taylor, R; Theeg, T; Thirugnanasambandam, M P; Thomas, E G; Thomas, M; Thomas, P; Thorne, K A; Thorne, K S; Thrane, E; Tiwari, S; Tiwari, V; Tokmakov, K V; Tomlinson, C; Tonelli, M; Torres, C V; Torrie, C I; Töyrä, D; Travasso, F; Traylor, G; Trifirò, D; Tringali, M C; Trozzo, L; Tse, M; Turconi, M; Tuyenbayev, D; Ugolini, D; Unnikrishnan, C S; Urban, A L; Usman, S A; Vahlbruch, H; Vajente, G; Valdes, G; Vallisneri, M; van Bakel, N; van Beuzekom, M; van den Brand, J F J; Van Den Broeck, C; Vander-Hyde, D C; van der Schaaf, L; van Heijningen, J V; van Veggel, A A; Vardaro, M; Vass, S; Vasúth, M; Vaulin, R; Vecchio, A; Vedovato, G; Veitch, J; Veitch, P J; Venkateswara, K; Verkindt, D; Vetrano, F; Viceré, A; Vinciguerra, S; Vine, D J; Vinet, J-Y; Vitale, S; Vo, T; Vocca, H; Vorvick, C; Voss, D; Vousden, W D; Vyatchanin, S P; Wade, A R; Wade, L E; Wade, M; Waldman, S J; Walker, M; Wallace, L; Walsh, S; Wang, G; Wang, H; Wang, M; Wang, X; Wang, Y; Ward, H; Ward, R L; Warner, J; Was, M; Weaver, B; Wei, L-W; Weinert, M; Weinstein, A J; Weiss, R; Welborn, T; Wen, L; Weßels, P; Westphal, T; Wette, K; Whelan, J T; Whitcomb, S E; White, D J; Whiting, B F; Wiesner, K; Wilkinson, C; Willems, P A; Williams, L; Williams, R D; Williamson, A R; Willis, J L; Willke, B; Wimmer, M H; Winkelmann, L; Winkler, W; Wipf, C C; Wiseman, A G; Wittel, H; Woan, G; Worden, J; Wright, J L; Wu, G; Yablon, J; Yakushin, I; Yam, W; Yamamoto, H; Yancey, C C; Yap, M J; Yu, H; Yvert, M; Zadrożny, A; Zangrando, L; Zanolin, M; Zendri, J-P; Zevin, M; Zhang, F; Zhang, L; Zhang, M; Zhang, Y; Zhao, C; Zhou, M; Zhou, Z; Zhu, X J; Zucker, M E; Zuraw, S E; Zweizig, J

2016-02-12

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160)  Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

A VERY CLOSE BINARY BLACK HOLE IN A GIANT ELLIPTICAL GALAXY 3C 66B AND ITS BLACK HOLE MERGER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iguchi, Satoru; Okuda, Takeshi; Sudou, Hiroshi

2010-01-01

Recent observational results provide possible evidence that binary black holes (BBHs) exist in the center of giant galaxies and may merge to form a supermassive black hole in the process of their evolution. We first detected a periodic flux variation on a cycle of 93 ± 1 days from the 3 mm monitor observations of a giant elliptical galaxy 3C 66B for which an orbital motion with a period of 1.05 ± 0.03 yr had been already observed. The detected signal period being shorter than the orbital period can be explained by taking into consideration the Doppler-shifted modulation due to the orbital motion of a BBH. Assuming that the BBH has a circular orbit and that the jet axis is parallel to the binary angular momentum, our observational results demonstrate the presence of a very close BBH that has a binary orbit with an orbital period of 1.05 ± 0.03 yr, an orbital radius of (3.9 ± 1.0) x 10 -3 pc, an orbital separation of (6.1 +1.0 -0.9 ) x 10 -3 pc, a larger black hole mass of (1.2 +0.5 -0.2 ) x 10 9 M sun , and a smaller black hole mass of (7.0 +4.7 -6.4 ) x 10 8 M sun . The BBH decay time of (5.1 +60.5 -2.5 ) x 10 2 yr provides evidence for the occurrence of black hole mergers. This Letter will demonstrate the interesting possibility of black hole collisions to form a supermassive black hole in the process of evolution, one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the universe.

Massive black-hole binary inspirals: results from the LISA parameter estimation taskforce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arun, K G; Babak, Stas; Porter, Edward K; Sintes, Alicia M; Berti, Emanuele; Cutler, Curt; Cornish, Neil; Gair, Jonathan; Hughes, Scott A; Lang, Ryan N; Iyer, Bala R; Sinha, Siddhartha; Mandel, Ilya; Sathyaprakash, Bangalore S; Van Den Broeck, Chris; Trias, Miquel; Volonteri, Marta

2009-01-01

The LISA Parameter Estimation Taskforce was formed in September 2007 to provide the LISA Project with vetted codes, source distribution models and results related to parameter estimation. The Taskforce's goal is to be able to quickly calculate the impact of any mission design changes on LISA's science capabilities, based on reasonable estimates of the distribution of astrophysical sources in the universe. This paper describes our Taskforce's work on massive black-hole binaries (MBHBs). Given present uncertainties in the formation history of MBHBs, we adopt four different population models, based on (i) whether the initial black-hole seeds are small or large and (ii) whether accretion is efficient or inefficient at spinning up the holes. We compare four largely independent codes for calculating LISA's parameter-estimation capabilities. All codes are based on the Fisher-matrix approximation, but in the past they used somewhat different signal models, source parametrizations and noise curves. We show that once these differences are removed, the four codes give results in extremely close agreement with each other. Using a code that includes both spin precession and higher harmonics in the gravitational-wave signal, we carry out Monte Carlo simulations and determine the number of events that can be detected and accurately localized in our four population models.

BINARY DISRUPTION BY MASSIVE BLACK HOLES: HYPERVELOCITY STARS, S STARS, AND TIDAL DISRUPTION EVENTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bromley, Benjamin C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, 115 S 1400 E, Rm 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Kenyon, Scott J.; Geller, Margaret J.; Brown, Warren R., E-mail: bromley@physics.utah.edu, E-mail: skenyon@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: mgeller@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: wbrown@cfa.harvard.edu [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2012-04-20

We examine whether disrupted binary stars can fuel black hole growth. In this mechanism, tidal disruption produces a single hypervelocity star (HVS) ejected at high velocity and a former companion star bound to the black hole. After a cluster of bound stars forms, orbital diffusion allows the black hole to accrete stars by tidal disruption at a rate comparable to the capture rate. In the Milky Way, HVSs and the S star cluster imply similar rates of 10{sup -5} to 10{sup -3} yr{sup -1} for binary disruption. These rates are consistent with estimates for the tidal disruption rate in nearby galaxies and imply significant black hole growth from disrupted binaries on 10 Gyr timescales.

Relativistic boost as the cause of periodicity in a massive black-hole binary candidate.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Orazio, Daniel J; Haiman, Zoltán; Schiminovich, David

2015-09-17

Because most large galaxies contain a central black hole, and galaxies often merge, black-hole binaries are expected to be common in galactic nuclei. Although they cannot be imaged, periodicities in the light curves of quasars have been interpreted as evidence for binaries, most recently in PG 1302-102, which has a short rest-frame optical period of four years (ref. 6). If the orbital period of the black-hole binary matches this value, then for the range of estimated black-hole masses, the components would be separated by 0.007-0.017 parsecs, implying relativistic orbital speeds. There has been much debate over whether black-hole orbits could be smaller than one parsec (ref. 7). Here we report that the amplitude and the sinusoid-like shape of the variability of the light curve of PG 1302-102 can be fitted by relativistic Doppler boosting of emission from a compact, steadily accreting, unequal-mass binary. We predict that brightness variations in the ultraviolet light curve track those in the optical, but with a two to three times larger amplitude. This prediction is relatively insensitive to the details of the emission process, and is consistent with archival ultraviolet data. Follow-up ultraviolet and optical observations in the next few years can further test this prediction and confirm the existence of a binary black hole in the relativistic regime.

Binary Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, and Numerical Relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Centrella, Joan

2009-01-01

The final merger of two black holes releases a tremendous amount of energy and is one of the brightest sources in the gravitational wave sky. Observing these sources with gravitational wave detectors requires that we know the radiation waveforms they emit. Since these mergers take place in regions of very strong gravitational fields, we need to solve Einstein's equations of general relativity on a computer in order to calculate these waveforms. For more than 30 years, scientists have tried to compute these waveforms using the methods of numerical relativity. The resulting computer codes have been plagued by instabilities, causing them to crash well before the black holes in the binary could complete even a single orbit. Recently this situation has changed dramatically, with a series of amazing breakthroughs. This talk will take you on this quest for the holy grail of numerical relativity, showing how a spacetime is constructed on a computer to build a simulation laboratory for binary black hole mergers. We will focus on the recent advances that are revealing these waveforms, and the dramatic new potential for discoveries that arises when these sources will be observed by LIGO and LISA.

Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Camp, Jordan B.;

Measuring the Binary Black Hole Mass Spectrum with an Astrophysically Motivated Parameterization

Science.gov (United States)

Talbot, Colm; Thrane, Eric

2018-04-01

Gravitational-wave detections have revealed a previously unknown population of stellar mass black holes with masses above 20 M ⊙. These observations provide a new way to test models of stellar evolution for massive stars. By considering the astrophysical processes likely to determine the shape of the binary black hole mass spectrum, we construct a parameterized model to capture key spectral features that relate gravitational-wave data to theoretical stellar astrophysics. In particular, we model the signature of pulsational pair-instability supernovae, which are expected to cause all stars with initial mass 100 M ⊙ ≲ M ≲ 150 M ⊙ to form ∼40 M ⊙ black holes. This would cause a cutoff in the black hole mass spectrum along with an excess of black holes near 40 M ⊙. We carry out a simulated data study to illustrate some of the stellar physics that can be inferred using gravitational-wave measurements of binary black holes and demonstrate several such inferences that might be made in the near future. First, we measure the minimum and maximum stellar black hole mass. Second, we infer the presence of a peak due to pair-instability supernovae. Third, we measure the distribution of black hole mass ratios. Finally, we show how inadequate models of the black hole mass spectrum lead to biased estimates of the merger rate and the amplitude of the stochastic gravitational-wave background.

Modeling AGN outbursts from supermassive black hole binaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanaka T.

2012-12-01

Full Text Available When galaxies merge to assemble more massive galaxies, their nuclear supermassive black holes (SMBHs should form bound binaries. As these interact with their stellar and gaseous environments, they will become increasingly compact, culminating in inspiral and coalescence through the emission of gravitational radiation. Because galaxy mergers and interactions are also thought to fuel star formation and nuclear black hole activity, it is plausible that such binaries would lie in gas-rich environments and power active galactic nuclei (AGN. The primary difference is that these binaries have gravitational potentials that vary – through their orbital motion as well as their orbital evolution – on humanly tractable timescales, and are thus excellent candidates to give rise to coherent AGN variability in the form of outbursts and recurrent transients. Although such electromagnetic signatures would be ideally observed concomitantly with the binary’s gravitational-wave signatures, they are also likely to be discovered serendipitously in wide-field, high-cadence surveys; some may even be confused for stellar tidal disruption events. I discuss several types of possible “smoking gun” AGN signatures caused by the peculiar geometry predicted for accretion disks around SMBH binaries.

Binary black hole initial data from matched asymptotic expansions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yunes, Nicolas; Owen, Benjamin J.; Tichy, Wolfgang; Bruegmann, Bernd

2006-01-01

We present an approximate metric for a binary black-hole spacetime to construct initial data for numerical relativity. This metric is obtained by asymptotically matching a post-Newtonian metric for a binary system to a perturbed Schwarzschild metric for each hole. In the inner zone near each hole, the metric is given by the Schwarzschild solution plus a quadrupolar perturbation corresponding to an external tidal gravitational field. In the near zone, well outside each black hole but less than a reduced wavelength from the center of mass of the binary, the metric is given by a post-Newtonian expansion including the lowest-order deviations from flat spacetime. When the near zone overlaps each inner zone in a buffer zone, the post-Newtonian and perturbed Schwarzschild metrics can be asymptotically matched to each other. By demanding matching (over a 4-volume in the buffer zone) rather than patching (choosing a particular 2-surface in the buffer zone), we guarantee that the errors are small in all zones. The resulting piecewise metric is made formally C ∞ with smooth transition functions so as to obtain the finite extrinsic curvature of a 3-slice. In addition to the metric and extrinsic curvature, we present explicit results for the lapse and the shift, which can be used as initial data for numerical simulations. This initial data is not accurate all the way to the asymptotically flat ends inside each hole, and therefore must be used with evolution codes which employ black hole excision rather than puncture methods. This paper lays the foundations of a method that can be straightforwardly iterated to obtain initial data to higher perturbative order

Black holes in binary stellar systems and galactic nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherepashchuk, A M

2014-01-01

In the last 40 years, following pioneering papers by Ya B Zeldovich and E E Salpeter, in which a powerful energy release from nonspherical accretion of matter onto a black hole (BH) was predicted, many observational studies of black holes in the Universe have been carried out. To date, the masses of several dozen stellar-mass black holes (M BH =(4−20)M ⊙ ) in X-ray binary systems and of several hundred supermassive black holes (M BH =(10 6 −10 10 )M ⊙ ) in galactic nuclei have been measured. The estimated radii of these massive and compact objects do not exceed several gravitational radii. For about ten stellar-mass black holes and several dozen supermassive black holes, the values of the dimensionless angular momentum a ∗ have been estimated, which, in agreement with theoretical predictions, do not exceed the limiting value a ∗ =0.998. A new field of astrophysics, so-called black hole demography, which studies the birth and growth of black holes and their evolutionary connection to other objects in the Universe, namely stars, galaxies, etc., is rapidly developing. In addition to supermassive black holes, massive stellar clusters are observed in galactic nuclei, and their evolution is distinct from that of supermassive black holes. The evolutionary relations between supermassive black holes in galactic centers and spheroidal stellar components (bulges) of galaxies, as well as dark-matter galactic haloes are brought out. The launch into Earth's orbit of the space radio interferometer RadioAstron opened up the real possibility of finally proving that numerous discovered massive and highly compact objects with properties very similar to those of black holes make up real black holes in the sense of Albert Einstein's General Relativity. Similar proofs of the existence of black holes in the Universe can be obtained by intercontinental radio interferometry at short wavelengths λ≲1 mm (the international program, Event Horizon Telescope). (100

Black holes in binary stellar systems and galactic nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Cherepashchuk, A. M.

2014-04-01

In the last 40 years, following pioneering papers by Ya B Zeldovich and E E Salpeter, in which a powerful energy release from nonspherical accretion of matter onto a black hole (BH) was predicted, many observational studies of black holes in the Universe have been carried out. To date, the masses of several dozen stellar-mass black holes (M_BH = (4{-}20) M_\\odot) in X-ray binary systems and of several hundred supermassive black holes (M_BH = (10^{6}{-}10^{10}) M_\\odot) in galactic nuclei have been measured. The estimated radii of these massive and compact objects do not exceed several gravitational radii. For about ten stellar-mass black holes and several dozen supermassive black holes, the values of the dimensionless angular momentum a_* have been estimated, which, in agreement with theoretical predictions, do not exceed the limiting value a_* = 0.998. A new field of astrophysics, so-called black hole demography, which studies the birth and growth of black holes and their evolutionary connection to other objects in the Universe, namely stars, galaxies, etc., is rapidly developing. In addition to supermassive black holes, massive stellar clusters are observed in galactic nuclei, and their evolution is distinct from that of supermassive black holes. The evolutionary relations between supermassive black holes in galactic centers and spheroidal stellar components (bulges) of galaxies, as well as dark-matter galactic haloes are brought out. The launch into Earth's orbit of the space radio interferometer RadioAstron opened up the real possibility of finally proving that numerous discovered massive and highly compact objects with properties very similar to those of black holes make up real black holes in the sense of Albert Einstein's General Relativity. Similar proofs of the existence of black holes in the Universe can be obtained by intercontinental radio interferometry at short wavelengths \\lambda \\lesssim 1 mm (the international program, Event Horizon Telescope).

Spin Interaction under the Collision of Two Kerr-(Anti-de Sitter Black Holes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogeun Gwak

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We investigate herein the spin interaction during collisions between Kerr-(anti-de Sitter black holes. The spin interaction potential depends on the relative rotation directions of the black holes, and this potential can be released as gravitational radiation upon collision. The energy of the radiation depends on the cosmological constant and corresponds to the spin interaction potential in the limit that one of the black holes has negligibly small mass and angular momentum. We then determine the approximate overall behaviors of the upper bounds on the radiation using thermodynamics. The results indicate that the spin interaction can consistently contribute to the radiation. In addition, the radiation depends on the stability of the black hole produced by the collision.

Monitoring the Black Hole Binary GRS 1758-258 with INTEGRAL and RXTE

Science.gov (United States)

Pottschmidt, Katja; Chernyakova, Masha; Lubinski, Piotr; Migliari, Simone; Smith, David M.; Zdziarski, Andrzej A.; Tomsick, John A.; Bezayiff, N.; Kreykenbohm, Ingo; Kretschmar, Peter;

ENHANCED TIDAL DISRUPTION RATES FROM MASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Xian; Liu, F. K.; Madau, Piero; Sesana, Alberto

2009-01-01

'Hard' massive black hole (MBH) binaries embedded in steep stellar cusps can shrink via three-body slingshot interactions. We show that this process will inevitably be accompanied by a burst of stellar tidal disruptions, at a rate that can be several orders of magnitude larger than that appropriate for a single MBH. Our numerical scattering experiments reveal that (1) a significant fraction of stars initially bound to the primary hole are scattered into its tidal disruption loss cone by gravitational interactions with the secondary hole, an enhancement effect that is more pronounced for very unequal mass binaries; (2) about 25% (40%) of all strongly interacting stars are tidally disrupted by an MBH binary of mass ratio q = 1/81 (q = 1/243) and eccentricity 0.1; and (3) two mechanisms dominate the fueling of the tidal disruption loss cone, a Kozai nonresonant interaction that causes the secular evolution of the stellar angular momentum in the field of the binary, and the effect of close encounters with the secondary hole that change the stellar orbital parameters in a chaotic way. For a hard MBH binary of 10 7 M sun and mass ratio 10 -2 , embedded in an isothermal stellar cusp of velocity dispersion σ * = 100 km s -1 , the tidal disruption rate can be as large as N-dot * ∼1 yr -1 . This is 4 orders of magnitude higher than estimated for a single MBH fed by two-body relaxation. When applied to the case of a putative intermediate-mass black hole inspiraling onto Sgr A*, our results predict tidal disruption rates N-dot * ∼0.05-0.1 yr -1 .

Higher spin black holes with soft hair

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grumiller, Daniel [Institute for Theoretical Physics, TU Wien,Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/136, Vienna, A-1040 (Austria); Pérez, Alfredo [Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECs),Av. Arturo Prat 514, Valdivia (Chile); Prohazka, Stefan [Institute for Theoretical Physics, TU Wien,Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/136, Vienna, A-1040 (Austria); Tempo, David; Troncoso, Ricardo [Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECs),Av. Arturo Prat 514, Valdivia (Chile)

2016-10-21

We construct a new set of boundary conditions for higher spin gravity, inspired by a recent “soft Heisenberg hair”-proposal for General Relativity on three-dimensional Anti-de Sitter space. The asymptotic symmetry algebra consists of a set of affine û(1) current algebras. Its associated canonical charges generate higher spin soft hair. We focus first on the spin-3 case and then extend some of our main results to spin-N, many of which resemble the spin-2 results: the generators of the asymptotic W{sub 3} algebra naturally emerge from composite operators of the û(1) charges through a twisted Sugawara construction; our boundary conditions ensure regularity of the Euclidean solutions space independently of the values of the charges; solutions, which we call “higher spin black flowers”, are stationary but not necessarily spherically symmetric. Finally, we derive the entropy of higher spin black flowers, and find that for the branch that is continuously connected to the BTZ black hole, it depends only on the affine purely gravitational zero modes. Using our map to W-algebra currents we recover well-known expressions for higher spin entropy. We also address higher spin black flowers in the metric formalism and achieve full consistency with previous results.

The Final Merger of Massive Black Holes: Recoils, Gravitational Waves, and Electromagnetic Signatures

Science.gov (United States)

Centrella, Joan M.

2010-01-01

The final merger of two massive black holes produces a powerful burst of gravitational radiation, emitting more energy than all the stars in the observable universe combined. The resulting gravitational waveforms will be easily detectable by the space-based LISA out to redshifts z greater than 10, revealing the masses and spins of the black holes to high precision. If the merging black holes have unequal masses, or asymmetric spins, the final black hole that forms can recoil with a velocity exceeding 1000 km/s. And, when the black holes merge in the presence of gas and magnetic fields, various types of electromagnetic signals may also be produced. For more than 30 years, scientists have tried to compute black hole mergers using the methods of numerical relativity. The resulting computer codes have been plagued by instabilities, causing them to crash well before the black holes in the binary could complete even a single orbit. Within the past few years, however, this situation has changed dramatically, with a series of remarkable breakthroughs. This talk will focus on new results that are revealing the dynamics and waveforms of binary black hole mergers, recoil velocities, and the possibility of accompanying electromagnetic outbursts.

GW150914: Implications for the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Binary Black Holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B P; Abbott, R; Abbott, T D; Abernathy, M R; Acernese, F; Ackley, K; Adams, C; Adams, T; Addesso, P; Adhikari, R X; Adya, V B; Affeldt, C; Agathos, M; Agatsuma, K; Aggarwal, N; Aguiar, O D; Aiello, L; Ain, A; Ajith, P; Allen, B; Allocca, A; Altin, P A; Anderson, S B; Anderson, W G; Arai, K; Araya, M C; Arceneaux, C C; Areeda, J S; Arnaud, N; Arun, K G; Ascenzi, S; Ashton, G; Ast, M; Aston, S M; Astone, P; Aufmuth, P; Aulbert, C; Babak, S; Bacon, P; Bader, M K M; Baker, P T; Baldaccini, F; Ballardin, G; Ballmer, S W; Barayoga, J C; Barclay, S E; Barish, B C; Barker, D; Barone, F; Barr, B; Barsotti, L; Barsuglia, M; Barta, D; Bartlett, J; Bartos, I; Bassiri, R; Basti, A; Batch, J C; Baune, C; Bavigadda, V; Bazzan, M; Behnke, B; Bejger, M; Bell, A S; Bell, C J; Berger, B K; Bergman, J; Bergmann, G; Berry, C P L; Bersanetti, D; Bertolini, A; Betzwieser, J; Bhagwat, S; Bhandare, R; Bilenko, I A; Billingsley, G; Birch, J; Birney, R; Biscans, S; Bisht, A; Bitossi, M; Biwer, C; Bizouard, M A; Blackburn, J K; Blair, C D; Blair, D G; Blair, R M; Bloemen, S; Bock, O; Bodiya, T P; Boer, M; Bogaert, G; Bogan, C; Bohe, A; Bojtos, P; Bond, C; Bondu, F; Bonnand, R; Boom, B A; Bork, R; Boschi, V; Bose, S; Bouffanais, Y; Bozzi, A; Bradaschia, C; Brady, P R; Braginsky, V B; Branchesi, M; Brau, J E; Briant, T; Brillet, A; Brinkmann, M; Brisson, V; Brockill, P; Brooks, A F; Brown, D D; Brown, N M; Buchanan, C C; Buikema, A; Bulik, T; Bulten, H J; Buonanno, A; Buskulic, D; Buy, C; Byer, R L; Cadonati, L; Cagnoli, G; Cahillane, C; Bustillo, J Calderón; Callister, T; Calloni, E; Camp, J B; Cannon, K C; Cao, J; Capano, C D; Capocasa, E; Carbognani, F; Caride, S; Diaz, J Casanueva; Casentini, C; Caudill, S; Cavaglià, M; Cavalier, F; Cavalieri, R; Cella, G; Cepeda, C B; Baiardi, L Cerboni; Cerretani, G; Cesarini, E; Chakraborty, R; Chalermsongsak, T; Chamberlin, S J; Chan, M; Chao, S; Charlton, P; Chassande-Mottin, E; Chen, H Y; Chen, Y; Cheng, C; Chincarini, A; Chiummo, A; Cho, H S; Cho, M; Chow, J H; Christensen, N; Chu, Q; Chua, S; Chung, S; Ciani, G; Clara, F; Clark, J A; Cleva, F; Coccia, E; Cohadon, P-F; Colla, A; Collette, C G; Cominsky, L; Constancio, M; Conte, A; Conti, L; Cook, D; Corbitt, T R; Cornish, N; Corsi, A; Cortese, S; Costa, C A; Coughlin, M W; Coughlin, S B; Coulon, J-P; Countryman, S T; Couvares, P; Cowan, E E; Coward, D M; Cowart, M J; Coyne, D C; Coyne, R; Craig, K; Creighton, J D E; Cripe, J; Crowder, S G; Cumming, A; Cunningham, L; Cuoco, E; Canton, T Dal; Danilishin, S L; D'Antonio, S; Danzmann, K; Darman, N S; Dattilo, V; Dave, I; Daveloza, H P; Davier, M; Davies, G S; Daw, E J; Day, R; DeBra, D; Debreczeni, G; Degallaix, J; De Laurentis, M; Deléglise, S; Del Pozzo, W; Denker, T; Dent, T; Dereli, H; Dergachev, V; DeRosa, R T; De Rosa, R; DeSalvo, R; Dhurandhar, S; Díaz, M C; Di Fiore, L; Di Giovanni, M; Di Lieto, A; Di Pace, S; Di Palma, I; Di Virgilio, A; Dojcinoski, G; Dolique, V; Donovan, F; Dooley, K L; Doravari, S; Douglas, R; Downes, T P; Drago, M; Drever, R W P; Driggers, J C; Du, Z; Ducrot, M; Dwyer, S E; Edo, T B; Edwards, M C; Effler, A; Eggenstein, H-B; Ehrens, P; Eichholz, J; Eikenberry, S S; Engels, W; Essick, R C; Etzel, T; Evans, M; Evans, T M; Everett, R; Factourovich, M; Fafone, V; Fair, H; Fairhurst, S; Fan, X; Fang, Q; Farinon, S; Farr, B; Farr, W M; Favata, M; Fays, M; Fehrmann, H; Fejer, M M; Ferrante, I; Ferreira, E C; Ferrini, F; Fidecaro, F; Fiori, I; Fiorucci, D; Fisher, R P; Flaminio, R; Fletcher, M; Fournier, J-D; Franco, S; Frasca, S; Frasconi, F; Frei, Z; Freise, A; Frey, R; Frey, V; Fricke, T T; Fritschel, P; Frolov, V V; Fulda, P; Fyffe, M; Gabbard, H A G; Gair, J R; Gammaitoni, L; Gaonkar, S G; Garufi, F; Gatto, A; Gaur, G; Gehrels, N; Gemme, G; Gendre, B; Genin, E; Gennai, A; George, J; Gergely, L; Germain, V; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S; Giaime, J A; Giardina, K D; Giazotto, A; Gill, K; Glaefke, A; Goetz, E; Goetz, R; Gondan, L; González, G; Castro, J M Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A; Gordon, N A; Gorodetsky, M L; Gossan, S E; Gosselin, M; Gouaty, R; Graef, C; Graff, P B; Granata, M; Grant, A; Gras, S; Gray, C; Greco, G; Green, A C; Groot, P; Grote, H; Grunewald, S; Guidi, G M; Guo, X; Gupta, A; Gupta, M K; Gushwa, K E; Gustafson, E K; Gustafson, R; Hacker, J J; Hall, B R; Hall, E D; Hammond, G; Haney, M; Hanke, M M; Hanks, J; Hanna, C; Hannam, M D; Hanson, J; Hardwick, T; Haris, K; Harms, J; Harry, G M; Harry, I W; Hart, M J; Hartman, M T; Haster, C-J; Haughian, K; Heidmann, A; Heintze, M C; Heitmann, H; Hello, P; Hemming, G; Hendry, M; Heng, I S; Hennig, J; Heptonstall, A W; Heurs, M; Hild, S; Hoak, D; Hodge, K A; Hofman, D; Hollitt, S E; Holt, K; Holz, D E; Hopkins, P; Hosken, D J; Hough, J; Houston, E A; Howell, E J; Hu, Y M; Huang, S; Huerta, E A; Huet, D; Hughey, B; Husa, S; Huttner, S H; Huynh-Dinh, T; Idrisy, A; Indik, N; Ingram, D R; Inta, R; Isa, H N; Isac, J-M; Isi, M; Islas, G; Isogai, T; Iyer, B R; Izumi, K; Jacqmin, T; Jang, H; Jani, K; Jaranowski, P; Jawahar, S; Jiménez-Forteza, F; Johnson, W W; Jones, D I; Jones, R; Jonker, R J G; Ju, L; Kalaghatgi, C V; Kalogera, V; Kandhasamy, S; Kang, G; Kanner, J B; Karki, S; Kasprzack, M; Katsavounidis, E; Katzman, W; Kaufer, S; Kaur, T; Kawabe, K; Kawazoe, F; Kéfélian, F; Kehl, M S; Keitel, D; Kelley, D B; Kells, W; Kennedy, R; Key, J S; Khalaidovski, A; Khalili, F Y; Khan, I; Khan, S; Khan, Z; Khazanov, E A; Kijbunchoo, N; Kim, C; Kim, J; Kim, K; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y-M; King, E J; King, P J; Kinzel, D L; Kissel, J S; Kleybolte, L; Klimenko, S; Koehlenbeck, S M; Kokeyama, K; Koley, S; Kondrashov, V; Kontos, A; Korobko, M; Korth, W Z; Kowalska, I; Kozak, D B; Kringel, V; Królak, A; Krueger, C; Kuehn, G; Kumar, P; Kuo, L; Kutynia, A; Lackey, B D; Landry, M; Lange, J; Lantz, B; Lasky, P D; Lazzarini, A; Lazzaro, C; Leaci, P; Leavey, S; Lebigot, E O; Lee, C H; Lee, H K; Lee, H M; Lee, K; Lenon, A; Leonardi, M; Leong, J R; Leroy, N; Letendre, N; Levin, Y; Levine, B M; Li, T G F; Libson, A; Littenberg, T B; Lockerbie, N A; Logue, J; Lombardi, A L; Lord, J E; Lorenzini, M; Loriette, V; Lormand, M; Losurdo, G; Lough, J D; Lück, H; Lundgren, A P; Luo, J; Lynch, R; Ma, Y; MacDonald, T; Machenschalk, B; MacInnis, M; Macleod, D M; Magaña-Sandoval, F; Magee, R M; Mageswaran, M; Majorana, E; Maksimovic, I; Malvezzi, V; Man, N; Mandel, I; Mandic, V; Mangano, V; Mansell, G L; Manske, M; Mantovani, M; Marchesoni, F; Marion, F; Márka, S; Márka, Z; Markosyan, A S; Maros, E; Martelli, F; Martellini, L; Martin, I W; Martin, R M; Martynov, D V; Marx, J N; Mason, K; Masserot, A; Massinger, T J; Masso-Reid, M; Matichard, F; Matone, L; Mavalvala, N; Mazumder, N; Mazzolo, G; McCarthy, R; McClelland, D E; McCormick, S; McGuire, S C; McIntyre, G; McIver, J; McManus, D J; McWilliams, S T; Meacher, D; Meadors, G D; Meidam, J; Melatos, A; Mendell, G; Mendoza-Gandara, D; Mercer, R A; Merilh, E; Merzougui, M; Meshkov, S; Messenger, C; Messick, C; Meyers, P M; Mezzani, F; Miao, H; Michel, C; Middleton, H; Mikhailov, E E; Milano, L; Miller, J; Millhouse, M; Minenkov, Y; Ming, J; Mirshekari, S; Mishra, C; Mitra, S; Mitrofanov, V P; Mitselmakher, G; Mittleman, R; Moggi, A; Mohan, M; Mohapatra, S R P; Montani, M; Moore, B C; Moore, C J; Moraru, D; Moreno, G; Morriss, S R; Mossavi, K; Mours, B; Mow-Lowry, C M; Mueller, C L; Mueller, G; Muir, A W; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D; Mukherjee, S; Mukund, N; Mullavey, A; Munch, J; Murphy, D J; Murray, P G; Mytidis, A; Nardecchia, I; Naticchioni, L; Nayak, R K; Necula, V; Nedkova, K; Nelemans, G; Neri, M; Neunzert, A; Newton, G; Nguyen, T T; Nielsen, A B; Nissanke, S; Nitz, A; Nocera, F; Nolting, D; Normandin, M E N; Nuttall, L K; Oberling, J; Ochsner, E; O'Dell, J; Oelker, E; Ogin, G H; Oh, J J; Oh, S H; Ohme, F; Oliver, M; Oppermann, P; Oram, Richard J; O'Reilly, B; O'Shaughnessy, R; Ottaway, D J; Ottens, R S; Overmier, H; Owen, B J; Pai, A; Pai, S A; Palamos, J R; Palashov, O; Palomba, C; Pal-Singh, A; Pan, H; Pankow, C; Pannarale, F; Pant, B C; Paoletti, F; Paoli, A; Papa, M A; Paris, H R; Parker, W; Pascucci, D; Pasqualetti, A; Passaquieti, R; Passuello, D; Patricelli, B; Patrick, Z; Pearlstone, B L; Pedraza, M; Pedurand, R; Pekowsky, L; Pele, A; Penn, S; Perreca, A; Phelps, M; Piccinni, O; Pichot, M; Piergiovanni, F; Pierro, V; Pillant, G; Pinard, L; Pinto, I M; Pitkin, M; Poggiani, R; Popolizio, P; Post, A; Powell, J; Prasad, J; Predoi, V; Premachandra, S S; Prestegard, T; Price, L R; Prijatelj, M; Principe, M; Privitera, S; Prodi, G A; Prokhorov, L; Puncken, O; Punturo, M; Puppo, P; Pürrer, M; Qi, H; Qin, J; Quetschke, V; Quintero, E A; Quitzow-James, R; Raab, F J; Rabeling, D S; Radkins, H; Raffai, P; Raja, S; Rakhmanov, M; Rapagnani, P; Raymond, V; Razzano, M; Re, V; Read, J; Reed, C M; Regimbau, T; Rei, L; Reid, S; Reitze, D H; Rew, H; Reyes, S D; Ricci, F; Riles, K; Robertson, N A; Robie, R; Robinet, F; Rocchi, A; Rolland, L; Rollins, J G; Roma, V J; Romano, J D; Romano, R; Romanov, G; Romie, J H; Rosińska, D; Rowan, S; Rüdiger, A; Ruggi, P; Ryan, K; Sachdev, S; Sadecki, T; Sadeghian, L; Salconi, L; Saleem, M; Salemi, F; Samajdar, A; Sammut, L; Sanchez, E J; Sandberg, V; Sandeen, B; Sanders, J R; Sassolas, B; Sathyaprakash, B S; Saulson, P R; Sauter, O; Savage, R L; Sawadsky, A; Schale, P; Schilling, R; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P; Schnabel, R; Schofield, R M S; Schönbeck, A; Schreiber, E; Schuette, D; Schutz, B F; Scott, J; Scott, S M; Sellers, D; Sentenac, D; Sequino, V; Sergeev, A; Serna, G; Setyawati, Y; Sevigny, A; Shaddock, D A; Shah, S; Shahriar, M S; Shaltev, M; Shao, Z; Shapiro, B; Shawhan, P; Sheperd, A; Shoemaker, D H; Shoemaker, D M; Siellez, K; Siemens, X; Sigg, D; Silva, A D; Simakov, D; Singer, A; Singer, L P; Singh, A; Singh, R; Singhal, A; Sintes, A M; Slagmolen, B J J; Smith, J R; Smith, N D; Smith, R J E; Son, E J; Sorazu, B; Sorrentino, F; Souradeep, T; Srivastava, A K; Staley, A; Steinke, M; Steinlechner, J; Steinlechner, S; Steinmeyer, D; Stephens, B C; Stone, R; Strain, K A; Straniero, N; Stratta, G; Strauss, N A; Strigin, S; Sturani, R; Stuver, A L; Summerscales, T Z; Sun, L; Sutton, P J; Swinkels, B L; Szczepańczyk, M J; Tacca, M; Talukder, D; Tanner, D B; Tápai, M; Tarabrin, S P; Taracchini, A; Taylor, R; Theeg, T; Thirugnanasambandam, M P; Thomas, E G; Thomas, M; Thomas, P; Thorne, K A; Thorne, K S; Thrane, E; Tiwari, S; Tiwari, V; Tokmakov, K V; Tomlinson, C; Tonelli, M; Torres, C V; Torrie, C I; Töyrä, D; Travasso, F; Traylor, G; Trifirò, D; Tringali, M C; Trozzo, L; Tse, M; Turconi, M; Tuyenbayev, D; Ugolini, D; Unnikrishnan, C S; Urban, A L; Usman, S A; Vahlbruch, H; Vajente, G; Valdes, G; van Bakel, N; van Beuzekom, M; van den Brand, J F J; Van Den Broeck, C; Vander-Hyde, D C; van der Schaaf, L; van Heijningen, J V; van Veggel, A A; Vardaro, M; Vass, S; Vasúth, M; Vaulin, R; Vecchio, A; Vedovato, G; Veitch, J; Veitch, P J; Venkateswara, K; Verkindt, D; Vetrano, F; Viceré, A; Vinciguerra, S; Vine, D J; Vinet, J-Y; Vitale, S; Vo, T; Vocca, H; Vorvick, C; Voss, D; Vousden, W D; Vyatchanin, S P; Wade, A R; Wade, L E; Wade, M; Walker, M; Wallace, L; Walsh, S; Wang, G; Wang, H; Wang, M; Wang, X; Wang, Y; Ward, R L; Warner, J; Was, M; Weaver, B; Wei, L-W; Weinert, M; Weinstein, A J; Weiss, R; Welborn, T; Wen, L; Weßels, P; Westphal, T; Wette, K; Whelan, J T; White, D J; Whiting, B F; Williams, R D; Williamson, A R; Willis, J L; Willke, B; Wimmer, M H; Winkler, W; Wipf, C C; Wittel, H; Woan, G; Worden, J; Wright, J L; Wu, G; Yablon, J; Yam, W; Yamamoto, H; Yancey, C C; Yap, M J; Yu, H; Yvert, M; Zadrożny, A; Zangrando, L; Zanolin, M; Zendri, J-P; Zevin, M; Zhang, F; Zhang, L; Zhang, M; Zhang, Y; Zhao, C; Zhou, M; Zhou, Z; Zhu, X J; Zucker, M E; Zuraw, S E; Zweizig, J

2016-04-01

The LIGO detection of the gravitational wave transient GW150914, from the inspiral and merger of two black holes with masses ≳30M_{⊙}, suggests a population of binary black holes with relatively high mass. This observation implies that the stochastic gravitational-wave background from binary black holes, created from the incoherent superposition of all the merging binaries in the Universe, could be higher than previously expected. Using the properties of GW150914, we estimate the energy density of such a background from binary black holes. In the most sensitive part of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo band for stochastic backgrounds (near 25 Hz), we predict Ω_{GW}(f=25  Hz)=1.1_{-0.9}^{+2.7}×10^{-9} with 90% confidence. This prediction is robustly demonstrated for a variety of formation scenarios with different parameters. The differences between models are small compared to the statistical uncertainty arising from the currently poorly constrained local coalescence rate. We conclude that this background is potentially measurable by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors operating at their projected final sensitivity.

Black hole astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blandford, R.D.; Thorne, K.S.

1979-01-01

Following an introductory section, the subject is discussed under the headings: on the character of research in black hole astrophysics; isolated holes produced by collapse of normal stars; black holes in binary systems; black holes in globular clusters; black holes in quasars and active galactic nuclei; primordial black holes; concluding remarks on the present state of research in black hole astrophysics. (U.K.)

Coalescence of Black Hole-Neutron Star Binaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masaru Shibata

2011-08-01

Full Text Available We review the current status of general relativistic studies for the coalescence of black hole-neutron star (BH-NS binaries. First, procedures for a solution of BH-NS binaries in quasi-equilibrium circular orbits and the numerical results, such as quasi-equilibrium sequence and mass-shedding limit, of the high-precision computation, are summarized. Then, the current status of numerical-relativity simulations for the merger of BH-NS binaries is described. We summarize our understanding for the merger and/or tidal disruption processes, the criterion for tidal disruption, the properties of the remnant formed after the tidal disruption, gravitational waveform, and gravitational-wave spectrum.

A close-pair binary in a distant triple supermassive black hole system.

Science.gov (United States)

Deane, R P; Paragi, Z; Jarvis, M J; Coriat, M; Bernardi, G; Fender, R P; Frey, S; Heywood, I; Klöckner, H-R; Grainge, K; Rumsey, C

2014-07-03

Galaxies are believed to evolve through merging, which should lead to some hosting multiple supermassive black holes. There are four known triple black hole systems, with the closest black hole pair being 2.4 kiloparsecs apart (the third component in this system is at 3 kiloparsecs), which is far from the gravitational sphere of influence (about 100 parsecs for a black hole with mass one billion times that of the Sun). Previous searches for compact black hole systems concluded that they were rare, with the tightest binary system having a separation of 7 parsecs (ref. 10). Here we report observations of a triple black hole system at redshift z = 0.39, with the closest pair separated by about 140 parsecs and significantly more distant from Earth than any other known binary of comparable orbital separation. The effect of the tight pair is to introduce a rotationally symmetric helical modulation on the structure of the large-scale radio jets, which provides a useful way to search for other tight pairs without needing extremely high resolution observations. As we found this tight pair after searching only six galaxies, we conclude that tight pairs are more common than hitherto believed, which is an important observational constraint for low-frequency gravitational wave experiments.

Thermodynamics of higher spin black holes in AdS3

Science.gov (United States)

de Boer, Jan; Jottar, Juan I.

2014-01-01

We discuss the thermodynamics of recently constructed three-dimensional higher spin black holes in SL( N, ) × SL( N, ) Chern-Simons theory with generalized asymptotically-anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. From a holographic perspective, these bulk theories are dual to two-dimensional CFTs with WN symmetry algebras, and the black hole solutions are dual to thermal states with higher spin chemical potentials and charges turned on. Because the notion of horizon area is not gauge-invariant in the higher spin theory, the traditional approaches to the computation of black hole entropy must be reconsidered. One possibility, explored in the recent literature, involves demanding the existence of a partition function in the CFT, and consistency with the first law of thermodynamics. This approach is not free from ambiguities, however, and in particular different definitions of energy result in different expressions for the entropy. In the present work we show that there are natural definitions of the thermodynamically conjugate variables that follow from careful examination of the variational principle, and moreover agree with those obtained via canonical methods. Building on this intuition, we derive general expressions for the higher spin black hole entropy and free energy which are written entirely in terms of the Chern-Simons connections, and are valid for both static and rotating solutions. We compare our results to other proposals in the literature, and provide a new and efficient way to determine the generalization of the Cardy formula to a situation with higher spin charges.

Contribution of High-Mass Black Holes to Mergers of Compact Binaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bethe, H.A.; Brown, G.E.

1999-01-01

We consider the merging of compact binaries consisting of a high-mass black hole and a neutron star. From stellar evolutionary calculations that include mass loss, we estimate that a zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) mass of approx-gt 80 M circle-dot is necessary before a high-mass black hole can result from a massive O star progenitor. We first consider how Cyg X-1, with its measured orbital radius of ∼17 R circle-dot , might evolve. Although this radius is substantially less than the initial distance of two O stars, it is still so large that the resulting compact objects will merge only if an eccentricity close to unity results from a high kick velocity of the neutron star in the final supernova explosion. We estimate the probability of the necessary eccentricity to be ∼1%; i.e., 99% of the time the explosion of a Cyg X-1 endash type object will end as a binary of compact stars, which will not merge in Hubble time (unless the orbit is tightened in common envelope evolution, which we discuss later). Although we predict ∼7 massive binaries of Cyg X-1 type, we argue that only Cyg X-1 is narrow enough to be observed, and that only Cyg X-1 has an appreciable chance of merging in Hubble time. This gives us a merging rate of ∼3x10 -8 yr -1 in the galaxy, the order of magnitude of the merging rate found by computer-driven population syntheses, if extrapolated to our mass limit of 80 M circle-dot ZAMS mass for high-mass black hole formation. Furthermore, in both our calculation and in those of population syntheses, almost all of the mergings involve an eccentricity close to unity in the final explosion of the O star. From this first part of our development we obtain only a negligible contribution to our final results for mergers, and it turns out to be irrelevant for our final results. In our main development, instead of relying on observed binaries, we consider the general evolution of binaries of massive stars. The critical stage is when the more massive star A has

Renormalized Stress-Energy Tensor of an Evaporating Spinning Black Hole.

Science.gov (United States)

Levi, Adam; Eilon, Ehud; Ori, Amos; van de Meent, Maarten

2017-04-07

We provide the first calculation of the renormalized stress-energy tensor (RSET) of a quantum field in Kerr spacetime (describing a stationary spinning black hole). More specifically, we employ a recently developed mode-sum regularization method to compute the RSET of a minimally coupled massless scalar field in the Unruh vacuum state, the quantum state corresponding to an evaporating black hole. The computation is done here for the case a=0.7M, using two different variants of the method: t splitting and φ splitting, yielding good agreement between the two (in the domain where both are applicable). We briefly discuss possible implications of the results for computing semiclassical corrections to certain quantities, and also for simulating dynamical evaporation of a spinning black hole.

Directly comparing GW150914 with numerical solutions of Einstein’s equations for binary black hole coalescence

OpenAIRE

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Adhikari, R. X.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barish, B. C.; Berger, B. K.; Billingsley, G.; Blackburn, J. K.; Bork, R.; Brooks, A. F.; Brunett, S.

2016-01-01

We compare GW150914 directly to simulations of coalescing binary black holes in full general relativity, including several performed specifically to reproduce this event. Our calculations go beyond existing semianalytic models, because for all simulations—including sources with two independent, precessing spins—we perform comparisons which account for all the spin-weighted quadrupolar modes, and separately which account for all the quadrupolar and octopolar modes. Consistent with the posterio...

EFFICIENT MERGER OF BINARY SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN MERGING GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Fazeel Mahmood; Just, Andreas; Merritt, David

2011-01-01

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.

Constraints on the evolution of black hole spin due to magnetohydrodynamic accretion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Masaaki; Tomimatsu, Akira

2008-01-01

Stationary and axisymmetric ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) accretion onto a black hole is studied analytically. The accreting plasma ejected from a plasma source with low velocity must be superfast magnetosonic before passing through the event horizon. We work out and apply a trans-fast magnetosonic solution without detailed analysis of the regularity conditions at the magnetosonic point, by introducing the bending angle β of the magnetic field line, which is the ratio of the toroidal and poloidal components of the magnetic field. To accrete onto a black hole, the trans-magnetosonic solution has some restrictions on β, which are related to the field-aligned parameters of the MHD flows. One of the restrictions gives the boundary condition at the event horizon for the inclination of a magnetic field line. We find that this inclination is related to the energy and angular momentum transport to the black hole. Then, we discuss the spin-up/down process of a rotating black hole by cold MHD inflows in a secular evolution time scale. There are two asymptotic states for the spin evolution. One is that the angular velocity of the black hole approaches to that of the magnetic field line, and the other is that the spin-up effect by the positive angular momentum influx and the spin-down effect by the energy influx (as the mass-energy influx) are canceled. We also show that the MHD inflows prevents the evolution to the maximally rotating black hole.

Reinvestigation of moving punctured black holes with a new code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Zhoujian; Yo Hweijang; Yu Juiping

2008-01-01

We report on our code, in which the moving puncture method is applied and an adaptive/fixed mesh refinement is implemented, and on its preliminary performance on black hole simulations. Based on the Baumgarte-Sharpiro-Shibata-Nakamura (BSSN) formulation, up-to-date gauge conditions and the modifications of the formulation are also implemented and tested. In this work, we present our primary results about the simulation of a single static black hole, of a moving single black hole, and of the head-on collision of a binary black hole system. For the static punctured black hole simulations, different modifications of the BSSN formulation are applied. It is demonstrated that both the currently used sets of modifications lead to a stable evolution. For cases of a moving punctured black hole with or without spin, we search for viable gauge conditions and study the effect of spin on the black hole evolution. Our results confirm previous results obtained by other research groups. In addition, we find a new gauge condition, which has not yet been adopted by any other researchers, which can also give stable and accurate black hole evolution calculations. We examine the performance of the code for the head-on collision of a binary black hole system, and the agreement of the gravitational waveform it produces with that obtained in other works. In order to understand qualitatively the influence of matter on the binary black hole collisions, we also investigate the same head-on collision scenarios but perturbed by a scalar field. The numerical simulations performed with this code not only give stable and accurate results that are consistent with the works by other numerical relativity groups, but also lead to the discovery of a new viable gauge condition, as well as clarify some ambiguities in the modification of the BSSN formulation. These results demonstrate that this code is reliable and ready to be used in the study of more realistic astrophysical scenarios and of numerical

Disk Emission from Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Spinning Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Schnittman, Jeremy D.; Krolik, Julian H.; Noble, Scott C.

2016-01-01

We present the results of a new series of global, three-dimensional, relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of thin accretion disks around spinning black holes. The disks have aspect ratios of H/R approx. 0.05 and spin parameters of a/M = 0, 0.5, 0.9, and 0.99. Using the ray-tracing code Pandurata, we generate broadband thermal spectra and polarization signatures from the MHD simulations. We find that the simulated spectra can be well fit with a simple, universal emissivity profile that better reproduces the behavior of the emission from the inner disk, compared to traditional analyses carried out using a Novikov-Thorne thin disk model. Finally, we show how spectropolarization observations can be used to convincingly break the spin-inclination degeneracy well known to the continuum-fitting method of measuring black hole spin.

Thermodynamics of higher spin black holes in AdS3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boer, Jan de; Jottar, Juan I.

2014-01-01

We discuss the thermodynamics of recently constructed three-dimensional higher spin black holes in SL(N,ℝ)×SL(N,ℝ) Chern-Simons theory with generalized asymptotically-anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. From a holographic perspective, these bulk theories are dual to two-dimensional CFTs with W N symmetry algebras, and the black hole solutions are dual to thermal states with higher spin chemical potentials and charges turned on. Because the notion of horizon area is not gauge-invariant in the higher spin theory, the traditional approaches to the computation of black hole entropy must be reconsidered. One possibility, explored in the recent literature, involves demanding the existence of a partition function in the CFT, and consistency with the first law of thermodynamics. This approach is not free from ambiguities, however, and in particular different definitions of energy result in different expressions for the entropy. In the present work we show that there are natural definitions of the thermodynamically conjugate variables that follow from careful examination of the variational principle, and moreover agree with those obtained via canonical methods. Building on this intuition, we derive general expressions for the higher spin black hole entropy and free energy which are written entirely in terms of the Chern-Simons connections, and are valid for both static and rotating solutions. We compare our results to other proposals in the literature, and provide a new and efficient way to determine the generalization of the Cardy formula to a situation with higher spin charges

Production of spinning black holes at colliders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, S. C.; Song, H. S.

2003-01-01

When the Planck scale is as low as TeV, there will be chances to produce Black holes at future colliders. Generally, black holes produced via particle collisions can have non-zero angular momenta. We estimate the production cross-section of rotating Black holes in the context of low energy gravitation theories by taking the effects of rotation into account. The production cross section is shown to be enhanced by a factor of 2 - 3 over the naive estimate σ = π ∼ R S 2 , where R S denotes the Schwarzschild radius of black hole for a given energy. We also point out that the decay spectrum may have a distinguishable angular dependence through the grey-body factor of a rotating black hole. The angular dependence of decaying particles may give a clear signature for the effect of rotating black holes.

LIGO Discovers the Merger of Two Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2016-02-01

is: how do binary black holes form? Two primary mechanisms have been proposed:A binary star system contains two stars that are each massive enough to individually collapse into a black hole. If the binary isnt disrupted during the two collapse events, this forms an isolated black-hole binary.Single black holes form in dense cluster environments and then because they are the most massive objects sink to the center of the cluster. There they form pairs through dynamical interactions.Now that were able to observe black-hole binaries through gravitational-wave detections, one way we could distinguish between the two formation mechanisms is from spin measurements. If we discover a clear preference for the misalignment of the two black holes spins, this would favor formation in clusters, where theres no reason for the original spins to be aligned.The current, single detection is not enough to provide constraints, but if we can compile a large enough sample of events, we can start to present a statistical case favoring one channel over the other.What does GW150914 mean for the future of gravitational-wave detection?The fact that Advanced LIGO detected an event even before the start of its first official observing run is certainly promising! The LIGO team estimates that the volume the detectors can probe will still increase by at least a factor of ~10 as the observing runs become more sensitive and of longer duration.Aerial view of the Virgo interferometer near Pisa, Italy. [Virgo Collaboration]In addition, LIGO is not alone in the gravitational-wave game. LIGOs counterpart in Europe, Virgo, is also undergoing design upgrades to increase its sensitivity. Within this year, Virgo should be able to take data simultaneously with LIGO, allowing for better localization of sources. And the launch of (e)LISA, ESAs planned space-based interferometer, will grant us access to a new frequency range, opening a further window to the gravitational-wave sky.The detection of GW150914 marks

NuSTAR Observations of the Black Hole GS 1354-645: Evidence of Rapid Black Hole Spin

Science.gov (United States)

El-Batal, A. M.; Miller, J. M.; Reynolds, M. T.; Boggs, S. E.; Christensen, F. E.; Craig, W. W.; Fuerst, F.; Hailey, C. J.; Harrison, F. A.; Stern, D. K.;

Minidisks in Binary Black Hole Accretion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryan, Geoffrey; MacFadyen, Andrew, E-mail: gsr257@nyu.edu [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Physics Department, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States)

2017-02-01

Newtonian simulations have demonstrated that accretion onto binary black holes produces accretion disks around each black hole (“minidisks”), fed by gas streams flowing through the circumbinary cavity from the surrounding circumbinary disk. We study the dynamics and radiation of an individual black hole minidisk using 2D hydrodynamical simulations performed with a new general relativistic version of the moving-mesh code Disco. We introduce a comoving energy variable that enables highly accurate integration of these high Mach number flows. Tidally induced spiral shock waves are excited in the disk and propagate through the innermost stable circular orbit, providing a Reynolds stress that causes efficient accretion by purely hydrodynamic means and producing a radiative signature brighter in hard X-rays than the Novikov–Thorne model. Disk cooling is provided by a local blackbody prescription that allows the disk to evolve self-consistently to a temperature profile where hydrodynamic heating is balanced by radiative cooling. We find that the spiral shock structure is in agreement with the relativistic dispersion relation for tightly wound linear waves. We measure the shock-induced dissipation and find outward angular momentum transport corresponding to an effective alpha parameter of order 0.01. We perform ray-tracing image calculations from the simulations to produce theoretical minidisk spectra and viewing-angle-dependent images for comparison with observations.

Measuring spin of black holes in the universe

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Measuring spin of black holes in the universe. Department of Physics Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. Notes: 74th Annual Meeting of Indian Academy of Science.

Searching for Signatures of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, Megan; Gezari, Suvi; Liu, Tingting

2018-01-01

Theoretical studies suggest that supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are an inevitable consequence of major galaxy mergers. Additionally, as SMBHBs coalesce they are expected to be sources of tremendous gravitational wave emission. Interest in these sources motivates the search for detection of the first definitive SMBHB and observational signatures to methodize the search. We present spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for a sample of candidate SMBHBs selected from quasars demonstrating optical periodic variability from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. The SEDs were constructed using existing archival data spanning from radio to X-ray emission. For each candidate SMBHB, we also present models of the theoretical spectrum emitted from the circumbinary and minidisks of the SMBHB system using the predictions of Roedig et al. (2014) and inferred parameters of the candidates (combined mass, mass ratio, binary separation, accretion rate). We compare the observational SED for each source to its respective binary model as well as to the expected mean SED of a normal non-binary system quasar to look for supporting evidence of a SMBHB system. This project was supported in part by the NSF REU grant AST-1358980 and by the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association.

Search for Gravitational Waves from Intermediate Mass Binary Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Blackburn, L.; Camp, J. B.; Cannizzo, J.; Stroeer, A. S.

2012-01-01

We present the results of a weakly modeled burst search for gravitational waves from mergers of non-spinning intermediate mass black holes (IMBH) in the total mass range 100-450 solar Mass and with the component mass ratios between 1:1 and 4:1. The search was conducted on data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between November of 2005 and October of 2007. No plausible signals were observed by the search which constrains the astrophysical rates of the IMBH mergers as a function of the component masses. In the most efficiently detected bin centered on 88 + 88 solar Mass , for non-spinning sources, the rate density upper limit is 0.13 per Mpc(exp 3) per Myr at the 90% confidence level.

NuSTAR observations of the black holes GS 1354-645: Evidence of rapid black hole spin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

El-Batal, A. M.; Miller, J. M.; Reynolds, M. T.

2016-01-01

We present the results of a NuSTAR study of the dynamically confirmed stellar-mass black hole GS 1354-645. The source was observed during its 2015 "hard" state outburst; we concentrate on spectra from two relatively bright phases. In the higher-flux observation, the broadband NuSTAR spectra reveal...... a clear, strong disk reflection spectrum, blurred by a degree that requires a black hole spin of a = cf/GM(2) >= 0.98 (1 sigma statistical limits only). The fits also require a high inclination: 0 similar or equal to 75 (2)degrees. Strong "dips" are sometimes observed in the X-ray light curves of sources...... in stellar-mass black holes, and inner accretion flow geometries at moderate accretion rates....

Accuracy of Estimating Highly Eccentric Binary Black Hole Parameters with Gravitational-wave Detections

Science.gov (United States)

Gondán, László; Kocsis, Bence; Raffai, Péter; Frei, Zsolt

2018-03-01

Mergers of stellar-mass black holes on highly eccentric orbits are among the targets for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors, including LIGO, VIRGO, and KAGRA. These sources may commonly form through gravitational-wave emission in high-velocity dispersion systems or through the secular Kozai–Lidov mechanism in triple systems. Gravitational waves carry information about the binaries’ orbital parameters and source location. Using the Fisher matrix technique, we determine the measurement accuracy with which the LIGO–VIRGO–KAGRA network could measure the source parameters of eccentric binaries using a matched filtering search of the repeated burst and eccentric inspiral phases of the waveform. We account for general relativistic precession and the evolution of the orbital eccentricity and frequency during the inspiral. We find that the signal-to-noise ratio and the parameter measurement accuracy may be significantly higher for eccentric sources than for circular sources. This increase is sensitive to the initial pericenter distance, the initial eccentricity, and the component masses. For instance, compared to a 30 {M}ȯ –30 {M}ȯ non-spinning circular binary, the chirp mass and sky-localization accuracy can improve by a factor of ∼129 (38) and ∼2 (11) for an initially highly eccentric binary assuming an initial pericenter distance of 20 M tot (10 M tot).

Efficiency of template banks for binary black-hole detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cokelaer, Thomas; Babak, Stas; Sathyaprakash, B S

2004-01-01

In the framework of matched filtering theory, which is the most promising method for the detection of gravitational waves emitted by coalescing binaries, we report on the ability of a template bank to catch a simulated binary black-hole gravitational wave signal. If we suppose that the incoming signal waveform is known a priori, then both the (simulated) signal and the templates can be based on the same physical model and therefore the template bank can be optimal in the sense of Wiener filtering. This turns out to be true for the case of neutron star binaries but not necessarily for the black-hole case. When the templates and the signal are based on different physical models the detection bank may still remain efficient. Nonetheless, it might be a judicious choice to use a phenomenological template family such as the so-called BCV templates to catch all the different physical models. In the first part of that report, we illustrate in a non-exhaustive study, by using Monte Carlo simulations, the efficiency of a template bank based on the stationary phase approximation and show how it catches simulated signals based on the same physical model but fails to catch signals built using other models (Pade, EOB, ...) especially in the case of high mass binaries. In the second part, we construct a BCV-template bank and test its validity by injecting simulated signals based on different physical models such as the PN-approximants, Pade-approximant and the effective one-body method. We show that it is suitable for a search pipeline since it gives a match higher than 95% for all the different physical models. The range of individual mass which has been used is [3-20]M o-dot

A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH FOR MASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY SPECTROSCOPIC SAMPLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsalmantza, P.; Decarli, R.; Hogg, David W.; Dotti, M.

2011-01-01

We present the results of a systematic search for massive black hole binaries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic database. We focus on bound binaries, under the assumption that one of the black holes is active. In this framework, the broad lines associated with the accreting black hole are expected to show systematic velocity shifts with respect to the narrow lines, which trace the rest frame of the galaxy. For a sample of 54,586 quasars and 3929 galaxies at redshifts 0.1 < z < 1.5, we brute-force model each spectrum as a mixture of two quasars at two different redshifts. The spectral model is a data-driven dimensionality reduction of the SDSS quasar spectra based on a matrix factorization. We identified 32 objects with peculiar spectra. Nine of them can be interpreted as black hole binaries. This doubles the number of known black hole binary candidates. We also report on the discovery of a new class of extreme double-peaked emitters with exceptionally broad and faint Balmer lines. For all the interesting sources, we present detailed analysis of the spectra and discuss possible interpretations.

Thermodynamics of higher dimensional black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Accetta, F.S.; Gleiser, M.

1986-05-01

We discuss the thermodynamics of higher dimensional black holes with particular emphasis on a new class of spinning black holes which, due to the increased number of Casimir invariants, have additional spin degrees of freedom. In suitable limits, analytic solutions in arbitrary dimensions are presented for their temperature, entropy, and specific heat. In 5 + 1 and 9 + 1 dimensions, more general forms for these quantities are given. It is shown that the specific heat for a higher dimensional black hole is negative definite if it has only one non-zero spin parameter, regardless of the value of this parameter. We also consider equilibrium configurations with both massless particles and massive string modes. 16 refs., 3 figs

Thermodynamics of higher dimensional black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Accetta, F.S.; Gleiser, M.

1986-05-01

We discuss the thermodynamics of higher dimensional black holes with particular emphasis on a new class of spinning black holes which, due to the increased number of Casimir invariants, have additional spin degrees of freedom. In suitable limits, analytic solutions in arbitrary dimensions are presented for their temperature, entropy, and specific heat. In 5 + 1 and 9 + 1 dimensions, more general forms for these quantities are given. It is shown that the specific heat for a higher dimensional black hole is negative definite if it has only one non-zero spin parameter, regardless of the value of this parameter. We also consider equilibrium configurations with both massless particles and massive string modes. 16 refs., 3 figs.

Black Hole/Pulsar Binaries in the Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Yong; Li, Xiang-Dong

2018-04-01

We have performed population synthesis calculation on the formation of binaries containing a black hole (BH) and a neutron star (NS) in the Galactic disk. Some of important input parameters, especially for the treatment of common envelope evolution, are updated in the calculation. We have discussed the uncertainties from the star formation rate of the Galaxy and the velocity distribution of NS kicks on the birthrate (˜ 0.6-13 Myr^{-1}) of BH/NS binaries. From incident BH/NS binaries, by modelling the orbital evolution duo to gravitational wave radiation and the NS evolution as radio pulsars, we obtain the distributions of the observable parameters such as the orbital period, eccentricity and pulse period of the BH/pulsar binaries. We estimate that there may be ˜3 - 80 BH/pulsar binaries in the Galactic disk and around 10% of them could be detected by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope.

Black hole/pulsar binaries in the Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Yong; Li, Xiang-Dong

2018-06-01

We have performed population synthesis calculation on the formation of binaries containing a black hole (BH) and a neutron star (NS) in the Galactic disc. Some of important input parameters, especially for the treatment of common envelope evolution, are updated in the calculation. We have discussed the uncertainties from the star formation rate of the Galaxy and the velocity distribution of NS kicks on the birthrate (˜ 0.6-13 M yr^{-1}) of BH/NS binaries. From incident BH/NS binaries, by modelling the orbital evolution due to gravitational wave radiation and the NS evolution as radio pulsars, we obtain the distributions of the observable parameters such as the orbital period, eccentricity, and pulse period of the BH/pulsar binaries. We estimate that there may be ˜3-80 BH/pulsar binaries in the Galactic disc and around 10 per cent of them could be detected by the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical radio Telescope.

FORMATION OF BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARIES IN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanova, N.; Heinke, C. O.; Woods, T. E.; Chaichenets, S.; Fregeau, J.; Lombardi, J. C.

2010-01-01

Inspired by the recent identification in extragalactic globular clusters of the first candidate black hole-white dwarf (BH-WD) X-ray binaries, where the compact accretors may be stellar-mass black holes (BHs), we explore how such binaries could be formed in a dynamical environment. We provide analyses of the formation rates via well-known formation channels like binary exchange and physical collisions and propose that the only possibility of forming BH-WD binaries is via coupling these usual formation channels with subsequent hardening and/or triple formation. In particular, we find that the most important mechanism for the creation of a BH-WD X-ray binary from an initially dynamically formed BH-WD binary is mass transfer induced in a triple system via the Kozai mechanism. Furthermore, we find that BH-WD binaries that evolve into X-ray sources can be formed by exchanges of a BH into a WD-WD binary or possibly by collisions of a BH and a giant star. If BHs undergo significant evaporation from the cluster or form a completely detached subcluster of BHs, then we cannot match the observationally inferred production rates even using the most optimistic estimates of formation rates. To explain the observations with stellar-mass BH-WD binaries, at least 1% of all formed BHs, or presumably 10% of the BHs present in the core now, must be involved in interactions with the rest of the core stellar population.

Shaping Globular Clusters with Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2018-03-01

How many black holes lurk within the dense environments of globular clusters, and how do these powerful objects shape the properties of the cluster around them? One such cluster, NGC 3201, is now helping us to answer these questions.Hunting Stellar-Mass Black HolesSince the detection of merging black-hole binaries by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the dense environments of globular clusters have received increasing attention as potential birthplaces of these compact binary systems.The central region of the globular star cluster NGC 3201, as viewed by Hubble. The black hole is in orbit with the star marked by the blue circle. [NASA/ESA]In addition, more and more stellar-mass black-hole candidates have been observed within globular clusters, lurking in binary pairs with luminous, non-compact companions. The most recent of these detections, found in the globular cluster NGC 3201, stands alone as the first stellar-mass black hole candidate discovered via radial velocity observations: the black holes main-sequence companion gave away its presence via a telltale wobble.Now a team of scientists led by Kyle Kremer (CIERA and Northwestern University) is using models of this system to better understand the impact that black holes might have on their host clusters.A Model ClusterThe relationship between black holes and their host clusters is complicated. Though the cluster environment can determine the dynamical evolution of the black holes, the retention rate of black holes in a globular cluster (i.e., how many remain in the cluster when they are born as supernovae, rather than being kicked out during the explosion) influences how the host cluster evolves.Kremer and collaborators track this complex relationship by modeling the evolution of a cluster similar to NGC 3201 with a Monte Carlo code. The code incorporates physics relevant to the evolution of black holes and black-hole binaries in globular clusters, such as two-body relaxation

ASTRONOMICAL PLATE ARCHIVES AND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

René Hudec

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The recent extensive digitisation of astronomical photographic plate archives, the development of new dedicated software and the use of powerful computers have for the first time enabled effective data mining in extensive plate databases, with wide applications in various fields of recent astrophysics. As an example, analyses of supermassive binary black holes (binary blazars require very long time intervals (50 years and more, which cannot be provided by other data sources. Examples of data obtained from data mining in plate archives are presented and briefly discussed.

Over spinning a black hole?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bouhmadi-Lopez, Mariam; Cardoso, Vitor; Nerozzi, Andrea; Rocha, Jorge V, E-mail: mariam.bouhmadi@ist.utl.pt, E-mail: vitor.cardoso@ist.utl.pt, E-mail: andrea.nerozzi@ist.utl.pt, E-mail: jorge.v.rocha@ist.utl.pt [CENTRA, Department de Fisica, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049 Lisboa (Portugal)

2011-09-22

A possible process to destroy a black hole consists on throwing point particles with sufficiently large angular momentum into the black hole. In the case of Kerr black holes, it was shown by Wald that particles with dangerously large angular momentum are simply not captured by the hole, and thus the event horizon is not destroyed. Here we reconsider this gedanken experiment for black holes in higher dimensions. We show that this particular way of destroying a black hole does not succeed and that Cosmic Censorship is preserved.

Observables and Microcospic Entropy of Higher Spin Black Holes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Compère, G.; Jottar, J.I.; Song, W.

2013-01-01

In the context of recently proposed holographic dualities between higher spin theories in AdS3 and (1 + 1)-dimensional CFTs with W symmetry algebras, we revisit the definition of higher spin black hole thermodynamics and the dictionary between bulk fields and dual CFT operators. We build a canonical

F-Theory, spinning black holes and multi-string branches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haghighat, Babak; Murthy, Sameer; Vafa, Cumrun; Vandoren, Stefan

2016-01-01

We study 5d supersymmetric black holes which descend from strings of generic N=(1,0) supergravity in 6d. These strings have an F-theory realization in 6d as D3 branes wrapping smooth genus g curves in the base of elliptic 3-folds. They enjoy (0,4) worldsheet supersymmetry with an extra SU(2) L current algebra at level g realized on the left-movers. When the smooth curves degenerate they lead to multi-string branches and we find that the microscopic worldsheet theory flows in the IR to disconnected 2d CFTs having different central charges. The single string sector is the one with maximal central charge, which when wrapped on a circle, leads to a 5d spinning BPS black hole whose horizon volume agrees with the leading entropy prediction from the Cardy formula. However, we find new phenomena where this branch meets other branches of the CFT. These include multi-string configurations which have no bound states in 6 dimensions but are bound through KK momenta when wrapping a circle, as well as loci where the curves degenerate to spheres. These loci lead to black hole configurations which can have total angular momentum relative to a Taub-Nut center satisfying J 2 >M 3 and whose number of states, though exponentially large, grows much slower than those of the large spinning black hole.

Gravitational-wave memory revisited: Memory from the merger and recoil of binary black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Favata, Marc

2009-01-01

Gravitational-wave memory refers to the permanent displacement of the test masses in an idealized (freely-falling) gravitational-wave interferometer. Inspiraling binaries produce a particularly interesting form of memory-the Christodoulou memory. Although it originates from nonlinear interactions at 2.5 post-Newtonian order, the Christodoulou memory affects the gravitational-wave amplitude at leading (Newtonian) order. Previous calculations have computed this non-oscillatory amplitude correction during the inspiral phase of binary coalescence. Using an 'effective-one-body' description calibrated with the results of numerical relativity simulations, the evolution of the memory during the inspiral, merger, and ringdown phases, as well as the memory's final saturation value, are calculated. Using this model for the memory, the prospects for its detection are examined, particularly for supermassive black hole binary coalescences that LISA will detect with high signal-to-noise ratios. Coalescing binary black holes also experience center-of-mass recoil due to the anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation. These recoils can manifest themselves in the gravitational-wave signal in the form of a 'linear' memory and a Doppler shift of the quasi-normal-mode frequencies. The prospects for observing these effects are also discussed.

The fate of close encounters between binary stars and binary supermassive black holes

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi-Han; Leigh, Nathan; Yuan, Ye-Fei; Perna, Rosalba

2018-04-01

The evolution of main-sequence binaries that reside in the Galactic Centre can be heavily influenced by the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Due to these perturbative effects, the stellar binaries in dense environments are likely to experience mergers, collisions, or ejections through secular and/or non-secular interactions. More direct interactions with the central SMBH are thought to produce hypervelocity stars (HVSs) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). In this paper, we use N-body simulations to study the dynamics of stellar binaries orbiting a central SMBH primary with an outer SMBH secondary orbiting this inner triple. The effects of the secondary SMBH on the event rates of HVSs, TDEs, and stellar mergers are investigated, as a function of the SMBH-SMBH binary mass ratio. Our numerical experiments reveal that, relative to the isolated SMBH case, the TDE and HVS rates are enhanced for, respectively, the smallest and largest mass ratio SMBH-SMBH binaries. This suggests that the observed event rates of TDEs and HVSs have the potential to serve as a diagnostic of the mass ratio of a central SMBH-SMBH binary. The presence of a secondary SMBH also allows for the creation of hypervelocity binaries. Observations of these systems could thus constrain the presence of a secondary SMBH in the Galactic Centre.

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

OpenAIRE

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abernathy, M. R.; Adhikari, R. X.; Anderson, S. B.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barish, B. C.; Berger, B. K.; Billingsley, G.; Blackburn, J. K.; Bork, R.; Brooks, A. F.; Cahillane, C.

2016-01-01

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of masses 36^(+5...

Reducing orbital eccentricity in binary black hole simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfeiffer, Harald P; Brown, Duncan A; Kidder, Lawrence E; Lindblom, Lee; Lovelace, Geoffrey; Scheel, Mark A

2007-01-01

Binary black hole simulations starting from quasi-circular (i.e., zero radial velocity) initial data have orbits with small but nonzero orbital eccentricities. In this paper, the quasi-equilibrium initial-data method is extended to allow nonzero radial velocities to be specified in binary black hole initial data. New low-eccentricity initial data are obtained by adjusting the orbital frequency and radial velocities to minimize the orbital eccentricity, and the resulting (∼5 orbit) evolutions are compared with those of quasi-circular initial data. Evolutions of the quasi-circular data clearly show eccentric orbits, with eccentricity that decays over time. The precise decay rate depends on the definition of eccentricity; if defined in terms of variations in the orbital frequency, the decay rate agrees well with the prediction of Peters (1964 Phys. Rev. 136 1224-32). The gravitational waveforms, which contain ∼8 cycles in the dominant l = m = 2 mode, are largely unaffected by the eccentricity of the quasi-circular initial data. The overlap between the dominant mode in the quasi-circular evolution and the same mode in the low-eccentricity evolution is about 0.99

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

OpenAIRE

Abbott, BP; Abbott, R; Abbott, TD; Abernathy, MR; Acernese, F; Ackley, K; Adams, C; Adams, T; Addesso, P; Adhikari, RX; Adya, VB; Affeldt, C; Agathos, M; Agatsuma, K; Aggarwal, N

2016-01-01

On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of masses 36+5−4...

Observables and microscopic entropy of higher spin black holes

Science.gov (United States)

Compère, Geoffrey; Jottar, Juan I.; Song, Wei

2013-11-01

In the context of recently proposed holographic dualities between higher spin theories in AdS3 and (1 + 1)-dimensional CFTs with symmetry algebras, we revisit the definition of higher spin black hole thermodynamics and the dictionary between bulk fields and dual CFT operators. We build a canonical formalism based on three ingredients: a gauge-invariant definition of conserved charges and chemical potentials in the presence of higher spin black holes, a canonical definition of entropy in the bulk, and a bulk-to-boundary dictionary aligned with the asymptotic symmetry algebra. We show that our canonical formalism shares the same formal structure as the so-called holomorphic formalism, but differs in the definition of charges and chemical potentials and in the bulk-to-boundary dictionary. Most importantly, we show that it admits a consistent CFT interpretation. We discuss the spin-2 and spin-3 cases in detail and generalize our construction to theories based on the hs[ λ] algebra, and on the sl( N,[InlineMediaObject not available: see fulltext.]) algebra for any choice of sl(2 ,[InlineMediaObject not available: see fulltext.]) embedding.

A massive binary black-hole system in OJ 287 and a test of general relativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Valtonen, M J; Lehto, H J; Nilsson, K; Heidt, J; Takalo, L O; Sillanpää, A; Villforth, C; Kidger, M; Poyner, G; Pursimo, T; Zola, S; Wu, J-H; Zhou, X; Sadakane, K; Drozdz, M; Koziel, D; Marchev, D; Ogloza, W; Porowski, C; Siwak, M; Stachowski, G; Winiarski, M; Hentunen, V-P; Nissinen, M; Liakos, A; Dogru, S

2008-04-17

Tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity have mostly been carried out in weak gravitational fields where the space-time curvature effects are first-order deviations from Newton's theory. Binary pulsars provide a means of probing the strong gravitational field around a neutron star, but strong-field effects may be best tested in systems containing black holes. Here we report such a test in a close binary system of two candidate black holes in the quasar OJ 287. This quasar shows quasi-periodic optical outbursts at 12-year intervals, with two outburst peaks per interval. The latest outburst occurred in September 2007, within a day of the time predicted by the binary black-hole model and general relativity. The observations confirm the binary nature of the system and also provide evidence for the loss of orbital energy in agreement (within 10 per cent) with the emission of gravitational waves from the system. In the absence of gravitational wave emission the outburst would have happened 20 days later.

Super-entropic black holes and the Kerr-CFT correspondence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sinamuli, Musema [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo,200 University Ave., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,31 Caroline St., Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 2Y5 (Canada); Mann, Robert B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo,200 University Ave., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada)

2016-08-24

We demonstrate that Kerr-CFT duality can be extended to super-entropic black holes, which have non-compact horizons with finite area. We demonstrate that this duality is robust insofar as the ultra-spinning limit of a Kerr-AdS black hole (which yields the super-entropic class) commutes with the near-horizon limit (which yields the Kerr-CFT duality). Consequently the Bekenstein-Hawking and the CFT entropies are equivalent. We show that the duality holds for both singly-spinning super-entropic black holes in 4 dimensions and for doubly-spinning super-entropic black holes of gauged supergravity in 5 dimensions. In both cases we obtain not only the expected left/right temperatures, but also temperatures associated with electric charge and with a new thermodynamic parameter specific to super-entropic black holes.

Super-entropic black holes and the Kerr-CFT correspondence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinamuli, Musema; Mann, Robert B.

2016-01-01

We demonstrate that Kerr-CFT duality can be extended to super-entropic black holes, which have non-compact horizons with finite area. We demonstrate that this duality is robust insofar as the ultra-spinning limit of a Kerr-AdS black hole (which yields the super-entropic class) commutes with the near-horizon limit (which yields the Kerr-CFT duality). Consequently the Bekenstein-Hawking and the CFT entropies are equivalent. We show that the duality holds for both singly-spinning super-entropic black holes in 4 dimensions and for doubly-spinning super-entropic black holes of gauged supergravity in 5 dimensions. In both cases we obtain not only the expected left/right temperatures, but also temperatures associated with electric charge and with a new thermodynamic parameter specific to super-entropic black holes.

Higher spins tunneling from a time dependent and spherically symmetric black hole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siahaan, Haryanto M.

2016-01-01

The discussions of Hawking radiation via tunneling method have been performed extensively in the case of scalar particles. Moreover, there are also several works in discussing the tunneling method for Hawking radiation by using higher spins, e.g. neutrino, photon, and gravitino, in the background of static black holes. Interestingly, it is found that the Hawking temperature for static black holes using the higher spins particles has no difference compared to the one computed using scalars. In this paper, we study the Hawking radiation for a spherically symmetric and time dependent black holes using the tunneling of Dirac particles, photon, and gravitino. We find that the obtained Hawking temperature is similar to the one derived in the tunneling method by using scalars. (orig.)

Higher spins tunneling from a time dependent and spherically symmetric black hole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Siahaan, Haryanto M. [Parahyangan Catholic University, Physics Department, Bandung (Indonesia)

2016-03-15

The discussions of Hawking radiation via tunneling method have been performed extensively in the case of scalar particles. Moreover, there are also several works in discussing the tunneling method for Hawking radiation by using higher spins, e.g. neutrino, photon, and gravitino, in the background of static black holes. Interestingly, it is found that the Hawking temperature for static black holes using the higher spins particles has no difference compared to the one computed using scalars. In this paper, we study the Hawking radiation for a spherically symmetric and time dependent black holes using the tunneling of Dirac particles, photon, and gravitino. We find that the obtained Hawking temperature is similar to the one derived in the tunneling method by using scalars. (orig.)

The gravitational-wave recoil from the ringdown phase of coalescing black hole binaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Tiec, Alexandre; Blanchet, Luc; Will, Clifford M

2010-01-01

The gravitational recoil or 'kick' of a black hole formed from the merger of two orbiting black holes, and caused by the anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation, is an astrophysically important phenomenon. We combine (i) an earlier calculation, using post-Newtonian theory, of the kick velocity accumulated up to the merger of two non-spinning black holes, (ii) a 'close-limit approximation' calculation of the radiation emitted during the ringdown phase, and based on a solution of the Regge-Wheeler and Zerilli equations using initial data accurate to second post-Newtonian order. We prove that ringdown radiation produces a significant 'anti-kick'. Adding the contributions due to inspiral, merger and ringdown phases, our results for the net kick velocity agree with those from numerical relativity to 10-15% over a wide range of mass ratios, with a maximum velocity of 180 km s -1 at a mass ratio of 0.38. (fast track communication)

Strong disk winds traced throughout outbursts in black-hole X-ray binaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Tetarenko, B E; Lasota, J-P; Heinke, C O; Dubus, G; Sivakoff, G R

2018-02-01

Recurring outbursts associated with matter flowing onto compact stellar remnants (such as black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs) in close binary systems provide a way of constraining the poorly understood accretion process. The light curves of these outbursts are shaped by the efficiency of angular-momentum (and thus mass) transport in the accretion disks, which has traditionally been encoded in a viscosity parameter, α. Numerical simulations of the magneto-rotational instability that is believed to be the physical mechanism behind this transport yield values of α of roughly 0.1-0.2, consistent with values determined from observations of accreting white dwarfs. Equivalent viscosity parameters have hitherto not been estimated for disks around neutron stars or black holes. Here we report the results of an analysis of archival X-ray light curves of 21 outbursts in black-hole X-ray binaries. By applying a Bayesian approach to a model of accretion, we determine corresponding values of α of around 0.2-1.0. These high values may be interpreted as an indication either of a very high intrinsic rate of angular-momentum transport in the disk, which could be sustained by the magneto-rotational instability only if a large-scale magnetic field threads the disk, or that mass is being lost from the disk through substantial outflows, which strongly shape the outburst in the black-hole X-ray binary. The lack of correlation between our estimates of α and the accretion state of the binaries implies that such outflows can remove a substantial fraction of the disk mass in all accretion states and therefore suggests that the outflows correspond to magnetically driven disk winds rather than thermally driven ones, which require specific radiative conditions.

Strong disk winds traced throughout outbursts in black-hole X-ray binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Tetarenko, B. E.; Lasota, J.-P.; Heinke, C. O.; Dubus, G.; Sivakoff, G. R.

2018-02-01

Recurring outbursts associated with matter flowing onto compact stellar remnants (such as black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs) in close binary systems provide a way of constraining the poorly understood accretion process. The light curves of these outbursts are shaped by the efficiency of angular-momentum (and thus mass) transport in the accretion disks, which has traditionally been encoded in a viscosity parameter, α. Numerical simulations of the magneto-rotational instability that is believed to be the physical mechanism behind this transport yield values of α of roughly 0.1–0.2, consistent with values determined from observations of accreting white dwarfs. Equivalent viscosity parameters have hitherto not been estimated for disks around neutron stars or black holes. Here we report the results of an analysis of archival X-ray light curves of 21 outbursts in black-hole X-ray binaries. By applying a Bayesian approach to a model of accretion, we determine corresponding values of α of around 0.2–1.0. These high values may be interpreted as an indication either of a very high intrinsic rate of angular-momentum transport in the disk, which could be sustained by the magneto-rotational instability only if a large-scale magnetic field threads the disk, or that mass is being lost from the disk through substantial outflows, which strongly shape the outburst in the black-hole X-ray binary. The lack of correlation between our estimates of α and the accretion state of the binaries implies that such outflows can remove a substantial fraction of the disk mass in all accretion states and therefore suggests that the outflows correspond to magnetically driven disk winds rather than thermally driven ones, which require specific radiative conditions.

No tension between assembly models of super massive black hole binaries and pulsar observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Middleton, Hannah; Chen, Siyuan; Del Pozzo, Walter; Sesana, Alberto; Vecchio, Alberto

2018-02-08

Pulsar timing arrays are presently the only means to search for the gravitational wave stochastic background from super massive black hole binary populations, considered to be within the grasp of current or near-future observations. The stringent upper limit from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array has been interpreted as excluding (>90% confidence) the current paradigm of binary assembly through galaxy mergers and hardening via stellar interaction, suggesting evolution is accelerated or stalled. Using Bayesian hierarchical modelling we consider implications of this upper limit for a range of astrophysical scenarios, without invoking stalling, nor more exotic physical processes. All scenarios are fully consistent with the upper limit, but (weak) bounds on population parameters can be inferred. Recent upward revisions of the black hole-galaxy bulge mass relation are disfavoured at 1.6σ against lighter models. Once sensitivity improves by an order of magnitude, a non-detection will disfavour the most optimistic scenarios at 3.9σ.

TIDAL STELLAR DISRUPTIONS BY MASSIVE BLACK HOLE PAIRS. II. DECAYING BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Xian; Liu, F. K.; Sesana, Alberto; Madau, Piero

2011-01-01

Tidal stellar disruptions have traditionally been discussed as a probe of the single, massive black holes (MBHs) that are dormant in the nuclei of galaxies. We have previously used numerical scattering experiments to show that three-body interactions between bound stars in a stellar cusp and a non-evolving 'hard' MBH binary will also produce a burst of tidal disruptions, caused by a combination of the secular 'Kozai effect' and by close resonant encounters with the secondary hole. Here, we derive basic analytical scalings of the stellar disruption rates with the system parameters, assess the relative importance of the Kozai and resonant encounter mechanisms as a function of time, discuss the impact of general relativistic (GR) and extended stellar cusp effects, and develop a hybrid model to self-consistently follow the shrinking of an MBH binary in a stellar background, including slingshot ejections and tidal disruptions. In the case of a fiducial binary with primary hole mass M 1 = 10 7 M sun and mass ratio q = M 2 /M 1 = 1/81, embedded in an isothermal cusp, we derive a stellar disruption rate N-dot * ∼ 0.2 yr -1 lasting ∼3 x 10 5 yr. This rate is three orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding value for a single MBH fed by two-body relaxation, confirming our previous findings. For q 10% of the tidal-disruption events may originate in MBH binaries.

Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

OpenAIRE

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Adhikari, R. X.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barish, B. C.; Berger, B. K.; Billingsley, G.; Blackburn, J. K.; Bork, R.; Brooks, A. F.

2017-01-01

During their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves (GWs) from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs). The combined results from two independent search techniques were used in this study: the first employs a matched-filter algorithm that...

Search for black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherepashchuk, Anatolii M

2003-01-01

Methods and results of searching for stellar mass black holes in binary systems and for supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei of different types are described. As of now (June 2002), a total of 100 black hole candidates are known. All the necessary conditions Einstein's General Relativity imposes on the observational properties of black holes are satisfied for candidate objects available, thus further assuring the existence of black holes in the Universe. Prospects for obtaining sufficient criteria for reliably distinguishing candidate black holes from real black holes are discussed. (reviews of topical problems)

Superradiantly stable non-extremal Reissner-Nordstroem black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Jia-Hui [School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, South China Normal University, Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, Guangzhou (China); Mai, Zhan-Feng [Beijing Normal University, Department of Physics, Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Beijing (China)

2016-06-15

The superradiant stability is investigated for non-extremal Reissner-Nordstroem black holes. We use an algebraic method to demonstrate that all non-extremal Reissner-Nordstroem black holes are superradiantly stable against a charged massive scalar perturbation. This improves the results obtained before for non-extremal Reissner-Nordstroem black holes. (orig.)

Black-hole galactic nuclei: a high-energy perspective

CERN Document Server

Boldt, E; Loewenstein, M

2002-01-01

The gravitational radiation signals to be anticipated from events involving black-hole galactic nuclei depend on the spin of the underlying object. To obtain evidence about the spin of Seyfert AGN black holes, we can rely on future ultra-high resolution spectral/spatial x-ray studies of iron K line fluorescence from the innermost regions of accreting matter. Normal galaxies present more of a challenge. To account for the highest energy cosmic rays, we propose that ultra-relativistic particle acceleration can occur near the event horizons of spun-up supermassive black-holes at the non-active nuclei of giant elliptical galaxies. This conjecture about the black hole spin associated with such nuclei is subject to verification via the characteristic TeV curvature radiation expected to be detected with upcoming gamma-ray observatories.

Orbital resonances around black holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brink, Jeandrew; Geyer, Marisa; Hinderer, Tanja

2015-02-27

We compute the length and time scales associated with resonant orbits around Kerr black holes for all orbital and spin parameters. Resonance-induced effects are potentially observable when the Event Horizon Telescope resolves the inner structure of Sgr A*, when space-based gravitational wave detectors record phase shifts in the waveform during the resonant passage of a compact object spiraling into the black hole, or in the frequencies of quasiperiodic oscillations for accreting black holes. The onset of geodesic chaos for non-Kerr spacetimes should occur at the resonance locations quantified here.

GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Camp, Jordan B.;

GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B P; Abbott, R; Abbott, T D; Abernathy, M R; Acernese, F; Ackley, K; Adams, C; Adams, T; Addesso, P; Adhikari, R X; Adya, V B; Affeldt, C; Agathos, M; Agatsuma, K; Aggarwal, N; Aguiar, O D; Aiello, L; Ain, A; Ajith, P; Allen, B; Allocca, A; Altin, P A; Anderson, S B; Anderson, W G; Arai, K; Araya, M C; Arceneaux, C C; Areeda, J S; Arnaud, N; Arun, K G; Ascenzi, S; Ashton, G; Ast, M; Aston, S M; Astone, P; Aufmuth, P; Aulbert, C; Babak, S; Bacon, P; Bader, M K M; Baker, P T; Baldaccini, F; Ballardin, G; Ballmer, S W; Barayoga, J C; Barclay, S E; Barish, B C; Barker, D; Barone, F; Barr, B; Barsotti, L; Barsuglia, M; Barta, D; Bartlett, J; Bartos, I; Bassiri, R; Basti, A; Batch, J C; Baune, C; Bavigadda, V; Bazzan, M; Bejger, M; Bell, A S; Berger, B K; Bergmann, G; Berry, C P L; Bersanetti, D; Bertolini, A; Betzwieser, J; Bhagwat, S; Bhandare, R; Bilenko, I A; Billingsley, G; Birch, J; Birney, R; Birnholtz, O; Biscans, S; Bisht, A; Bitossi, M; Biwer, C; Bizouard, M A; Blackburn, J K; Blair, C D; Blair, D G; Blair, R M; Bloemen, S; Bock, O; Boer, M; Bogaert, G; Bogan, C; Bohe, A; Bond, C; Bondu, F; Bonnand, R; Boom, B A; Bork, R; Boschi, V; Bose, S; Bouffanais, Y; Bozzi, A; Bradaschia, C; Brady, P R; Braginsky, V B; Branchesi, M; Brau, J E; Briant, T; Brillet, A; Brinkmann, M; Brisson, V; Brockill, P; Broida, J E; Brooks, A F; Brown, D A; Brown, D D; Brown, N M; Brunett, S; Buchanan, C C; Buikema, A; Bulik, T; Bulten, H J; Buonanno, A; Buskulic, D; Buy, C; Byer, R L; Cabero, M; Cadonati, L; Cagnoli, G; Cahillane, C; Calderón Bustillo, J; Callister, T; Calloni, E; Camp, J B; Cannon, K C; Cao, J; Capano, C D; Capocasa, E; Carbognani, F; Caride, S; Casanueva Diaz, J; Casentini, C; Caudill, S; Cavaglià, M; Cavalier, F; Cavalieri, R; Cella, G; Cepeda, C B; Cerboni Baiardi, L; Cerretani, G; Cesarini, E; Chamberlin, S J; Chan, M; Chao, S; Charlton, P; Chassande-Mottin, E; Cheeseboro, B D; Chen, H Y; Chen, Y; Cheng, C; Chincarini, A; Chiummo, A; Cho, H S; Cho, M; Chow, J H; Christensen, N; Chu, Q; Chua, S; Chung, S; Ciani, G; Clara, F; Clark, J A; Cleva, F; Coccia, E; Cohadon, P-F; Colla, A; Collette, C G; Cominsky, L; Constancio, M; Conte, A; Conti, L; Cook, D; Corbitt, T R; Cornish, N; Corsi, A; Cortese, S; Costa, C A; Coughlin, M W; Coughlin, S B; Coulon, J-P; Countryman, S T; Couvares, P; Cowan, E E; Coward, D M; Cowart, M J; Coyne, D C; Coyne, R; Craig, K; Creighton, J D E; Cripe, J; Crowder, S G; Cumming, A; Cunningham, L; Cuoco, E; Dal Canton, T; Danilishin, S L; D'Antonio, S; Danzmann, K; Darman, N S; Dasgupta, A; Da Silva Costa, C F; Dattilo, V; Dave, I; Davier, M; Davies, G S; Daw, E J; Day, R; De, S; DeBra, D; Debreczeni, G; Degallaix, J; De Laurentis, M; Deléglise, S; Del Pozzo, W; Denker, T; Dent, T; Dergachev, V; De Rosa, R; DeRosa, R T; DeSalvo, R; Devine, R C; Dhurandhar, S; Díaz, M C; Di Fiore, L; Di Giovanni, M; Di Girolamo, T; Di Lieto, A; Di Pace, S; Di Palma, I; Di Virgilio, A; Dolique, V; Donovan, F; Dooley, K L; Doravari, S; Douglas, R; Downes, T P; Drago, M; Drever, R W P; Driggers, J C; Ducrot, M; Dwyer, S E; Edo, T B; Edwards, M C; Effler, A; Eggenstein, H-B; Ehrens, P; Eichholz, J; Eikenberry, S S; Engels, W; Essick, R C; Etzel, T; Evans, M; Evans, T M; Everett, R; Factourovich, M; Fafone, V; Fair, H; Fairhurst, S; Fan, X; Fang, Q; Farinon, S; Farr, B; Farr, W M; Favata, M; Fays, M; Fehrmann, H; Fejer, M M; Fenyvesi, E; Ferrante, I; Ferreira, E C; Ferrini, F; Fidecaro, F; Fiori, I; Fiorucci, D; Fisher, R P; Flaminio, R; Fletcher, M; Fong, H; Fournier, J-D; Frasca, S; Frasconi, F; Frei, Z; Freise, A; Frey, R; Frey, V; Fritschel, P; Frolov, V V; Fulda, P; Fyffe, M; Gabbard, H A G; Gair, J R; Gammaitoni, L; Gaonkar, S G; Garufi, F; Gaur, G; Gehrels, N; Gemme, G; Geng, P; Genin, E; Gennai, A; George, J; Gergely, L; Germain, V; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S; Giaime, J A; Giardina, K D; Giazotto, A; Gill, K; Glaefke, A; Goetz, E; Goetz, R; Gondan, L; González, G; Gonzalez Castro, J M; Gopakumar, A; Gordon, N A; Gorodetsky, M L; Gossan, S E; Gosselin, M; Gouaty, R; Grado, A; Graef, C; Graff, P B; Granata, M; Grant, A; Gras, S; Gray, C; Greco, G; Green, A C; Groot, P; Grote, H; Grunewald, S; Guidi, G M; Guo, X; Gupta, A; Gupta, M K; Gushwa, K E; Gustafson, E K; Gustafson, R; Hacker, J J; Hall, B R; Hall, E D; Hamilton, H; Hammond, G; Haney, M; Hanke, M M; Hanks, J; Hanna, C; Hannam, M D; Hanson, J; Hardwick, T; Harms, J; Harry, G M; Harry, I W; Hart, M J; Hartman, M T; Haster, C-J; Haughian, K; Healy, J; Heidmann, A; Heintze, M C; Heitmann, H; Hello, P; Hemming, G; Hendry, M; Heng, I S; Hennig, J; Henry, J; Heptonstall, A W; Heurs, M; Hild, S; Hoak, D; Hofman, D; Holt, K; Holz, D E; Hopkins, P; Hough, J; Houston, E A; Howell, E J; Hu, Y M; Huang, S; Huerta, E A; Huet, D; Hughey, B; Husa, S; Huttner, S H; Huynh-Dinh, T; Indik, N; Ingram, D R; Inta, R; Isa, H N; Isac, J-M; Isi, M; Isogai, T; Iyer, B R; Izumi, K; Jacqmin, T; Jang, H; Jani, K; Jaranowski, P; Jawahar, S; Jian, L; Jiménez-Forteza, F; Johnson, W W; Johnson-McDaniel, N K; Jones, D I; Jones, R; Jonker, R J G; Ju, L; K, Haris; Kalaghatgi, C V; Kalogera, V; Kandhasamy, S; Kang, G; Kanner, J B; Kapadia, S J; Karki, S; Karvinen, K S; Kasprzack, M; Katsavounidis, E; Katzman, W; Kaufer, S; Kaur, T; Kawabe, K; Kéfélian, F; Kehl, M S; Keitel, D; Kelley, D B; Kells, W; Kennedy, R; Key, J S; Khalili, F Y; Khan, I; Khan, S; Khan, Z; Khazanov, E A; Kijbunchoo, N; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J; Kim, K; Kim, N; Kim, W; Kim, Y-M; Kimbrell, S J; King, E J; King, P J; Kissel, J S; Klein, B; Kleybolte, L; Klimenko, S; Koehlenbeck, S M; Koley, S; Kondrashov, V; Kontos, A; Korobko, M; Korth, W Z; Kowalska, I; Kozak, D B; Kringel, V; Krishnan, B; Królak, A; Krueger, C; Kuehn, G; Kumar, P; Kumar, R; Kuo, L; Kutynia, A; Lackey, B D; Landry, M; Lange, J; Lantz, B; Lasky, P D; Laxen, M; Lazzarini, A; Lazzaro, C; Leaci, P; Leavey, S; Lebigot, E O; Lee, C H; Lee, H K; Lee, H M; Lee, K; Lenon, A; Leonardi, M; Leong, J R; Leroy, N; Letendre, N; Levin, Y; Lewis, J B; Li, T G F; Libson, A; Littenberg, T B; Lockerbie, N A; Lombardi, A L; London, L T; Lord, J E; Lorenzini, M; Loriette, V; Lormand, M; Losurdo, G; Lough, J D; Lousto, C O; Lück, H; Lundgren, A P; Lynch, R; Ma, Y; Machenschalk, B; MacInnis, M; Macleod, D M; Magaña-Sandoval, F; Magaña Zertuche, L; Magee, R M; Majorana, E; Maksimovic, I; Malvezzi, V; Man, N; Mandel, I; Mandic, V; Mangano, V; Mansell, G L; Manske, M; Mantovani, M; Marchesoni, F; Marion, F; Márka, S; Márka, Z; Markosyan, A S; Maros, E; Martelli, F; Martellini, L; Martin, I W; Martynov, D V; Marx, J N; Mason, K; Masserot, A; Massinger, T J; Masso-Reid, M; Mastrogiovanni, S; Matichard, F; Matone, L; Mavalvala, N; Mazumder, N; McCarthy, R; McClelland, D E; McCormick, S; McGuire, S C; McIntyre, G; McIver, J; McManus, D J; McRae, T; McWilliams, S T; Meacher, D; Meadors, G D; Meidam, J; Melatos, A; Mendell, G; Mercer, R A; Merilh, E L; Merzougui, M; Meshkov, S; Messenger, C; Messick, C; Metzdorff, R; Meyers, P M; 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2016-06-17

We report the observation of a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The signal, GW151226, was observed by the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC. The signal was initially identified within 70 s by an online matched-filter search targeting binary coalescences. Subsequent off-line analyses recovered GW151226 with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a significance greater than 5σ. The signal persisted in the LIGO frequency band for approximately 1 s, increasing in frequency and amplitude over about 55 cycles from 35 to 450 Hz, and reached a peak gravitational strain of 3.4_{-0.9}^{+0.7}×10^{-22}. The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are 14.2_{-3.7}^{+8.3}M_{⊙} and 7.5_{-2.3}^{+2.3}M_{⊙}, and the final black hole mass is 20.8_{-1.7}^{+6.1}M_{⊙}. We find that at least one of the component black holes has spin greater than 0.2. This source is located at a luminosity distance of 440_{-190}^{+180}  Mpc corresponding to a redshift of 0.09_{-0.04}^{+0.03}. All uncertainties define a 90% credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.

GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence

Science.gov (United States)

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L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, N. D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson, S. P.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Vallisneri, M.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrożny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.; Boyle, M.; Hemberger, D.; Kidder, L. E.; Lovelace, G.; Ossokine, S.; Scheel, M.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; VIRGO Collaboration

2016-06-01

We report the observation of a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The signal, GW151226, was observed by the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC. The signal was initially identified within 70 s by an online matched-filter search targeting binary coalescences. Subsequent off-line analyses recovered GW151226 with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a significance greater than 5 σ . The signal persisted in the LIGO frequency band for approximately 1 s, increasing in frequency and amplitude over about 55 cycles from 35 to 450 Hz, and reached a peak gravitational strain of 3. 4-0.9+0.7×10-22 . The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are 14.2-3.7+8.3 M⊙ and 7. 5-2.3+2.3 M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 20.8-1.7+6.1 M⊙. We find that at least one of the component black holes has spin greater than 0.2. This source is located at a luminosity distance of 44 0-190+180 Mpc corresponding to a redshift of 0.0 9-0.04+0.03. All uncertainties define a 90% credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.

Effects of Black Hole Spin on the Limit-Cycle Behaviour of Accretion ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We present a spatially 1.5-dimensional, time-dependent numerical study of accretion disks around Kerr black holes. Our study focuses on the limit-cycle behavior of thermally unstable accretion disks. We find that maximal luminosity may be a more appropriate probe of black hole spin than the cycle duration and influence ...

Decoding Mode-mixing in Black-hole Merger Ringdown

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Bernard J.; Baker, John G.

2013-01-01

Optimal extraction of information from gravitational-wave observations of binary black-hole coalescences requires detailed knowledge of the waveforms. Current approaches for representing waveform information are based on spin-weighted spherical harmonic decomposition. Higher-order harmonic modes carrying a few percent of the total power output near merger can supply information critical to determining intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the binary. One obstacle to constructing a full multi-mode template of merger waveforms is the apparently complicated behavior of some of these modes; instead of settling down to a simple quasinormal frequency with decaying amplitude, some |m| = modes show periodic bumps characteristic of mode-mixing. We analyze the strongest of these modes the anomalous (3, 2) harmonic mode measured in a set of binary black-hole merger waveform simulations, and show that to leading order, they are due to a mismatch between the spherical harmonic basis used for extraction in 3D numerical relativity simulations, and the spheroidal harmonics adapted to the perturbation theory of Kerr black holes. Other causes of mode-mixing arising from gauge ambiguities and physical properties of the quasinormal ringdown modes are also considered and found to be small for the waveforms studied here.

Universality, maximum radiation, and absorption in high-energy collisions of black holes with spin.

Science.gov (United States)

Sperhake, Ulrich; Berti, Emanuele; Cardoso, Vitor; Pretorius, Frans

2013-07-26

We explore the impact of black hole spins on the dynamics of high-energy black hole collisions. We report results from numerical simulations with γ factors up to 2.49 and dimensionless spin parameter χ=+0.85, +0.6, 0, -0.6, -0.85. We find that the scattering threshold becomes independent of spin at large center-of-mass energies, confirming previous conjectures that structure does not matter in ultrarelativistic collisions. It has further been argued that in this limit all of the kinetic energy of the system may be radiated by fine tuning the impact parameter to threshold. On the contrary, we find that only about 60% of the kinetic energy is radiated for γ=2.49. By monitoring apparent horizons before and after scattering events we show that the "missing energy" is absorbed by the individual black holes in the encounter, and moreover the individual black-hole spins change significantly. We support this conclusion with perturbative calculations. An extrapolation of our results to the limit γ→∞ suggests that about half of the center-of-mass energy of the system can be emitted in gravitational radiation, while the rest must be converted into rest-mass and spin energy.

A Be-type star with a black-hole companion.

Science.gov (United States)

Casares, J; Negueruela, I; Ribó, M; Ribas, I; Paredes, J M; Herrero, A; Simón-Díaz, S

2014-01-16

Stellar-mass black holes have all been discovered through X-ray emission, which arises from the accretion of gas from their binary companions (this gas is either stripped from low-mass stars or supplied as winds from massive ones). Binary evolution models also predict the existence of black holes accreting from the equatorial envelope of rapidly spinning Be-type stars (stars of the Be type are hot blue irregular variables showing characteristic spectral emission lines of hydrogen). Of the approximately 80 Be X-ray binaries known in the Galaxy, however, only pulsating neutron stars have been found as companions. A black hole was formally allowed as a solution for the companion to the Be star MWC 656 (ref. 5; also known as HD 215227), although that conclusion was based on a single radial velocity curve of the Be star, a mistaken spectral classification and rough estimates of the inclination angle. Here we report observations of an accretion disk line mirroring the orbit of MWC 656. This, together with an improved radial velocity curve of the Be star through fitting sharp Fe II profiles from the equatorial disk, and a refined Be classification (to that of a B1.5-B2 III star), indicates that a black hole of 3.8 to 6.9 solar masses orbits MWC 656, the candidate counterpart of the γ-ray source AGL J2241+4454 (refs 5, 6). The black hole is X-ray quiescent and fed by a radiatively inefficient accretion flow giving a luminosity less than 1.6 × 10(-7) times the Eddington luminosity. This implies that Be binaries with black-hole companions are difficult to detect in conventional X-ray surveys.

Report on the search for binary black holes inspiral in S3 LIGO data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cokelaer, Thomas

2006-01-01

We report on the search for gravitational waves emitted by non-spinning binary black hole inspirals in the data taken during the third LIGO science run (S3). We give an overview of the data acquired during S3 and the target waveforms that we are searching for in this analysis. We briefly describe how the data was filtered using a BCV detection template family (using an hexagonal template bank placement in the mass parameter plane). Finally, we report on preliminary estimates of the sensitivity of the three LIGO detectors using software injections of effective one-body waveforms with component masses in the range 3-40 M o-dot and total mass M ≤ 40 M o-dot . We show that during S3, the three LIGO detectors have a detection efficiency of 50% up to several Mpc for L1 and H2, and up to 30 Mpc for H1

Black Hole Accretion in Gamma Ray Bursts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnieszka Janiuk

2017-02-01

Full Text Available We study the structure and evolution of the hyperaccreting disks and outflows in the gamma ray bursts central engines. The torus around a stellar mass black hole is composed of free nucleons, Helium, electron-positron pairs, and is cooled by neutrino emission. Accretion of matter powers the relativistic jets, responsible for the gamma ray prompt emission. The significant number density of neutrons in the disk and outflowing material will cause subsequent formation of heavier nuclei. We study the process of nucleosynthesis and its possible observational consequences. We also apply our scenario to the recent observation of the gravitational wave signal, detected on 14 September 2015 by the two Advanced LIGO detectors, and related to an inspiral and merger of a binary black hole system. A gamma ray burst that could possibly be related with the GW150914 event was observed by the Fermi satellite. It had a duration of about 1 s and appeared about 0.4 s after the gravitational-wave signal. We propose that a collapsing massive star and a black hole in a close binary could lead to the event. The gamma ray burst was powered by a weak neutrino flux produced in the star remnant’s matter. Low spin and kick velocity of the merged black hole are reproduced in our simulations. Coincident gravitational-wave emission originates from the merger of the collapsed core and the companion black hole.

First detections of gravitational waves from binary black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bejger, Michał

2017-01-01

Recent direct detections of gravitational waves from coalescing binary black holes systems herald a new era in the observational astronomy, as well as in experimental verifications of the theories of gravity. I will present the principles of detection of gravitational waves, current state-of-art laser interferometric detectors (Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo), and the most promising astrophysical sources of gravitational waves. (paper)

Topology of black hole binary-single interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Samsing, Johan; Ilan, Teva

2018-05-01

We present a study on how the outcomes of binary-single interactions involving three black holes (BHs) distribute as a function of the initial conditions; a distribution we refer to as the topology. Using a N-body code that includes BH finite sizes and gravitational wave (GW) emission in the equation of motion (EOM), we perform more than a million binary-single interactions to explore the topology of both the Newtonian limit and the limit at which general relativistic (GR) effects start to become important. From these interactions, we are able to describe exactly under which conditions BH collisions and eccentric GW capture mergers form, as well as how GR in general modifies the Newtonian topology. This study is performed on both large- and microtopological scales. We further describe how the inclusion of GW emission in the EOM naturally leads to scenarios where the binary-single system undergoes two successive GW mergers.

Quantum Black Holes As Elementary Particles

OpenAIRE

Ha, Yuan K.

2008-01-01

Are black holes elementary particles? Are they fermions or bosons? We investigate the remarkable possibility that quantum black holes are the smallest and heaviest elementary particles. We are able to construct various fundamental quantum black holes: the spin-0, spin 1/2, spin-1, and the Planck-charge cases, using the results in general relativity. Quantum black holes in the neighborhood of the Galaxy could resolve the paradox posed by the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin limit on the energy of cosmi...

eLISA eccentricity measurements as tracers of binary black hole formation

OpenAIRE

Nishizawa, Atsushi; Berti, Emanuele; Klein, Antoine; Sesana, Alberto

2016-01-01

Up to hundreds of black hole binaries individually resolvable by eLISA will coalesce in the Advanced LIGO/Virgo band within ten years, allowing for multi-band gravitational wave observations. Binaries formed via dynamical interactions in dense star clusters are expected to have eccentricities $e_0\\sim 10^{-3}$-$10^{-1}$ at the frequencies $f_0=10^{-2}$ Hz where eLISA is most sensitive, while binaries formed in the field should have negligible eccentricity in both frequency bands. We estimate ...

ASTROPHYSICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGER GW150914

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Belczynski, C.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C. J.; Berger, B. K.; Bergman, J.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bojtos, P.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Daveloza, H. P.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dereli, H.; Dergachev, V.A.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dojcinoski, G.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fournier, J. -D.; Franco, S; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gatto, A.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Gendre, B.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, Idelmis G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Hofman, D.; Hollitt, S. E.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idrisy, A.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Islas, G.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, C.; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y.M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Kokeyama, K.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B. M.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lueck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Luo, J.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; MacDonald, T.T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magna-Sandoval, F.; Magee, R. M.; Mageswaran, M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R.M.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Premachandra, S. S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schoenbeck, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Serna, G.; Setyawati, Y.; Sevigny, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shah, S.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shao, Z.M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Simakov, D.; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson-Moore, P.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifir, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; Van Bakel, N.; Van Beuzekom, Martin; Van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welborn, T.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

2016-01-01

The discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black hole (BH) systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the universe. Such BH mergers have been predicted in two main types of

The spinning Kerr-black-hole-mirror bomb: A lower bound on the radius of the reflecting mirror

Science.gov (United States)

Hod, Shahar

2016-10-01

The intriguing superradiant amplification phenomenon allows an orbiting scalar field to extract rotational energy from a spinning Kerr black hole. Interestingly, the energy extraction rate can grow exponentially in time if the black-hole-field system is placed inside a reflecting mirror which prevents the field from radiating its energy to infinity. This composed Kerr-black-hole-scalar-field-mirror system, first designed by Press and Teukolsky, has attracted the attention of physicists over the last four decades. Previous numerical studies of this spinning black-hole bomb have revealed the interesting fact that the superradiant instability shuts down if the reflecting mirror is placed too close to the black-hole horizon. In the present study we use analytical techniques to explore the superradiant instability regime of this composed Kerr-black-hole-linearized-scalar-field-mirror system. In particular, it is proved that the lower bound rm/r+ >1/2 (√{ 1 +8M/r- } - 1) provides a necessary condition for the development of the exponentially growing superradiant instabilities in this composed physical system, where rm is the radius of the confining mirror and r± are the horizon radii of the spinning Kerr black hole. We further show that, in the linearized regime, this analytically derived lower bound on the radius of the confining mirror agrees with direct numerical computations of the superradiant instability spectrum which characterizes the spinning black-hole-mirror bomb.

Digging Deeper: Observing Primordial Gravitational Waves below the Binary-Black-Hole-Produced Stochastic Background.

Science.gov (United States)

Regimbau, T; Evans, M; Christensen, N; Katsavounidis, E; Sathyaprakash, B; Vitale, S

2017-04-14

The merger rate of black hole binaries inferred from the detections in the first Advanced LIGO science run implies that a stochastic background produced by a cosmological population of mergers will likely mask the primordial gravitational wave background. Here we demonstrate that the next generation of ground-based detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, will be able to observe binary black hole mergers throughout the Universe with sufficient efficiency that the confusion background can potentially be subtracted to observe the primordial background at the level of Ω_{GW}≃10^{-13} after 5 years of observation.

Constraints on Black Hole Spin in a Sample of Broad Iron Line AGN

Science.gov (United States)

Brenneman, Laura W.; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2008-01-01

We present a uniform X-ray spectral analysis of nine type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have been previously found to harbor relativistically broadened iron emission lines. We show that the need for relativistic effects in the spectrum is robust even when one includes continuum "reflection" from the accretion disk. We then proceed to model these relativistic effects in order to constrain the spin of the supermassive black holes in these AGN. Our principal assumption, supported by recent simulations of geometrically-thin accretion disks, is that no iron line emission (or any associated Xray reflection features) can originate from the disk within the innermost stable circular orbit. Under this assumption, which tends to lead to constraints in the form of lower limits on the spin parameter, we obtain non-trivial spin constraints on five AGN. The spin parameters of these sources range from moderate (a approximates 0.6) to high (a > 0.96). Our results allow, for the first time, an observational constraint on the spin distribution function of local supermassive black holes. Parameterizing this as a power-law in dimensionless spin parameter (f(a) varies as absolute value of (a) exp zeta), we present the probability distribution for zeta implied by our results. Our results suggest 90% and 95% confidence limits of zeta > -0.09 and zeta > -0.3 respectively.

Detecting gravitational waves from precessing binaries of spinning compact objects: Adiabatic limit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buonanno, Alessandra; Chen Yanbei; Vallisneri, Michele

2003-01-01

Black-hole (BH) binaries with single-BH masses m=(5-20)M · , moving on quasicircular orbits, are among the most promising sources for first-generation ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. Until now, the development of data-analysis techniques to detect GWs from these sources has been focused mostly on nonspinning BHs. The data-analysis problem for the spinning case is complicated by the necessity to model the precession-induced modulations of the GW signal, and by the large number of parameters needed to characterize the system, including the initial directions of the spins, and the position and orientation of the binary with respect to the GW detector. In this paper we consider binaries of maximally spinning BHs, and we work in the adiabatic-inspiral regime to build families of modulated detection templates that (i) are functions of very few physical and phenomenological parameters, (ii) model remarkably well the dynamical and precessional effects on the GW signal, with fitting factors on average > or approx. 0.97, (iii) but, however, might require increasing the detection thresholds, offsetting at least partially the gains in the fitting factors. Our detection-template families are quite promising also for the case of neutron-star-black-hole binaries, with fitting factors on average ≅0.93. For these binaries we also suggest (but do not test) a further template family, which would produce essentially exact waveforms written directly in terms of the physical spin parameters

H I OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUPERMASSIVE BINARY BLACK HOLE SYSTEM IN 0402+379

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez, C.; Taylor, G. B.; Pihlstroem, Y. M.; Zavala, R. T.; Peck, A. B.

2009-01-01

We have recently discovered a supermassive binary black hole system with a projected separation between the two black holes of 7.3 pc in the radio galaxy 0402+379 (Rodriguez et al. 2006). This is the most compact supermassive binary black hole pair yet imaged by more than two orders of magnitude. We present Global VLBI observations at 1.3464 GHz of this radio galaxy, taken to improve the quality of the H I data. Two absorption lines are found toward the southern jet of the source, one redshifted by 370 ± 10 km s -1 and the other blueshifted by 700 ± 10 km s -1 with respect to the systemic velocity of the source, which, along with the results obtained for the opacity distribution over the source, suggests the presence of two mass clumps rotating around the central region of the source. We propose a model consisting of a geometrically thick disk, of which we only see a couple of clumps, that reproduces the velocities measured from the H I absorption profiles. These clumps rotate in circular Keplerian orbits around an axis that crosses one of the supermassive black holes of the binary system in 0402+379. We find an upper limit for the inclination angle of the twin jets of the source to the line of sight of θ = 66 deg., which, according to the proposed model, implies a lower limit on the central mass of ∼7 x 10 8 M sun and a lower limit for the scale height of the thick disk of ∼12 pc.

Comparing initial-data sets for binary black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfeiffer, Harald P.; Cook, Gregory B.; Teukolsky, Saul A.

2002-01-01

We compare the results of constructing binary black hole initial data with three different decompositions of the constraint equations of general relativity. For each decomposition we compute the initial data using a superposition of two Kerr-Schild black holes to fix the freely specifiable data. We find that these initial-data sets differ significantly, with the ADM energy varying by as much as 5% of the total mass. We find that all initial-data sets currently used for evolutions might contain unphysical gravitational radiation of the order of several percent of the total mass. This is comparable to the amount of gravitational-wave energy observed during the evolved collision. More astrophysically realistic initial data will require more careful choices of the freely specifiable data and boundary conditions for both the metric and extrinsic curvature. However, we find that the choice of extrinsic curvature affects the resulting data sets more strongly than the choice of conformal metric

A rapidly spinning supermassive black hole at the centre of NGC 1365

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Risaliti, G.; Harrison, F. A.; Madsen, K. K.

2013-01-01

and relativistic effects near the black hole, the line shape being sensitive to its spin. Alternative models in which the distortions result from absorption by intervening structures provide an equally good description of the data, and there has been no general agreement on which is correct. Recent claims...... that the black hole (2 × 10(6) solar masses) at the centre of the galaxy NGC 1365 is rotating at close to its maximum possible speed rest on the assumption of relativistic reflection. Here we report X-ray observations of NGC 1365 that reveal the relativistic disk features through broadened Fe-line emission...... and an associated Compton scattering excess of 10-30 kiloelectronvolts. Using temporal and spectral analyses, we disentangle continuum changes due to time-variable absorption from reflection, which we find arises from a region within 2.5 gravitational radii of the rapidly spinning black hole. Absorption...

Accreting Black Holes

OpenAIRE

Begelman, Mitchell C.

2014-01-01

I outline the theory of accretion onto black holes, and its application to observed phenomena such as X-ray binaries, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts. The dynamics as well as radiative signatures of black hole accretion depend on interactions between the relatively simple black-hole spacetime and complex radiation, plasma and magnetohydrodynamical processes in the surrounding gas. I will show how transient accretion processes could provide clues to these ...

Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Shannon, R M; Ravi, V; Lentati, L T; Lasky, P D; Hobbs, G; Kerr, M; Manchester, R N; Coles, W A; Levin, Y; Bailes, M; Bhat, N D R; Burke-Spolaor, S; Dai, S; Keith, M J; Osłowski, S; Reardon, D J; van Straten, W; Toomey, L; Wang, J-B; Wen, L; Wyithe, J S B; Zhu, X-J

2015-09-25

Gravitational waves are expected to be radiated by supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers. A stochastic superposition of gravitational waves from all such binary systems would modulate the arrival times of pulses from radio pulsars. Using observations of millisecond pulsars obtained with the Parkes radio telescope, we constrained the characteristic amplitude of this background, A(c,yr), to be gravitational waves. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

ULTRAMASSIVE BLACK HOLE COALESCENCE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Fazeel Mahmood; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Berczik, Peter

2015-01-01

Although supermassive black holes (SMBHs) correlate well with their host galaxies, there is an emerging view that outliers exist. Henize 2-10, NGC 4889, and NGC 1277 are examples of SMBHs at least an order of magnitude more massive than their host galaxy suggests. The dynamical effects of such ultramassive central black holes is unclear. Here, we perform direct N-body simulations of mergers of galactic nuclei where one black hole is ultramassive to study the evolution of the remnant and the black hole dynamics in this extreme regime. We find that the merger remnant is axisymmetric near the center, while near the large SMBH influence radius, the galaxy is triaxial. The SMBH separation shrinks rapidly due to dynamical friction, and quickly forms a binary black hole; if we scale our model to the most massive estimate for the NGC 1277 black hole, for example, the timescale for the SMBH separation to shrink from nearly a kiloparsec to less than a parsec is roughly 10 Myr. By the time the SMBHs form a hard binary, gravitational wave emission dominates, and the black holes coalesce in a mere few Myr. Curiously, these extremely massive binaries appear to nearly bypass the three-body scattering evolutionary phase. Our study suggests that in this extreme case, SMBH coalescence is governed by dynamical friction followed nearly directly by gravitational wave emission, resulting in a rapid and efficient SMBH coalescence timescale. We discuss the implications for gravitational wave event rates and hypervelocity star production

Stability issues of black hole in non-local gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Myung, Yun Soo; Park, Young-Jai

2018-04-01

We discuss stability issues of Schwarzschild black hole in non-local gravity. It is shown that the stability analysis of black hole for the unitary and renormalizable non-local gravity with γ2 = - 2γ0 cannot be performed in the Lichnerowicz operator approach. On the other hand, for the unitary and non-renormalizable case with γ2 = 0, the black hole is stable against the metric perturbations. For non-unitary and renormalizable local gravity with γ2 = - 2γ0 = const (fourth-order gravity), the small black holes are unstable against the metric perturbations. This implies that what makes the problem difficult in stability analysis of black hole is the simultaneous requirement of unitarity and renormalizability around the Minkowski spacetime.

Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspirals in LIGO data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, B.; Abbott, R.; Adhikari, R.; Agresti, J.; Anderson, S.B.; Araya, M.; Armandula, H.; Asiri, F.; Barish, B.C.; Barnes, M.; Barton, M.A.; Bhawal, B.; Billingsley, G.; Black, E.; Blackburn, K.; Bork, R.; Brown, D.A.; Busby, D.; Cardenas, L.; Chandler, A.

2006-01-01

We report on a search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspirals in the data from the second science run of the LIGO interferometers. The search focused on binary systems with component masses between 3 and 20M · . Optimally oriented binaries with distances up to 1 Mpc could be detected with efficiency of at least 90%. We found no events that could be identified as gravitational waves in the 385.6 hours of data that we searched

Massive Black-Hole Binary Mergers: Dynamics, Environments & Expected Detections

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Luke Zoltan

2018-05-01

This thesis studies the populations and dynamics of massive black-hole binaries and their mergers, and explores the implications for electromagnetic and gravitational-wave signals that will be detected in the near future. Massive black-holes (MBH) reside in the centers of galaxies, and when galaxies merge, their MBH interact and often pair together. We base our study on the populations of MBH and galaxies from the `Illustris' cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. The bulk of the binary merger dynamics, however, are unresolved in cosmological simulations. We implement a suite of comprehensive physical models for the merger process, like dynamical friction and gravitational wave emission, which are added in post-processing. Contrary to many previous studies, we find that the most massive binaries with near equal-mass companions are the most efficient at coalescing; though the process still typically takes gigayears.From the data produced by these MBH binary populations and their dynamics, we calculate the expected gravitational wave (GW) signals: both the stochastic, GW background of countless unresolved sources, and the GW foreground of individually resolvable binaries which resound above the noise. Ongoing experiments, called pulsar timing arrays, are sensitive to both of these types of signals. We find that, while the current lack of detections is unsurprising, both the background and foreground will plausibly be detected in the next decade. Unlike previous studies which have predicted the foreground to be significantly harder to detect than the background, we find their typical amplitudes are comparable.With traditional electromagnetic observations, there has also been a dearth of confirmed detections of MBH binary systems. We use our binaries, combined with models of emission from accreting MBH systems, to make predictions for the occurrence rate of systems observable using photometric, periodic-variability surveys. These variables should be detectable in

SECULAR EVOLUTION OF COMPACT BINARIES NEAR MASSIVE BLACK HOLES: GRAVITATIONAL WAVE SOURCES AND OTHER EXOTICA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonini, Fabio; Perets, Hagai B.

2012-01-01

The environment near supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei contains a large number of stars and compact objects. A fraction of these are likely to be members of binaries. Here we discuss the binary population of stellar black holes and neutron stars near SMBHs and focus on the secular evolution of such binaries, due to the perturbation by the SMBH. Binaries with highly inclined orbits with respect to their orbit around the SMBH are strongly affected by secular Kozai processes, which periodically change their eccentricities and inclinations (Kozai cycles). During periapsis approach, at the highest eccentricities during the Kozai cycles, gravitational wave (GW) emission becomes highly efficient. Some binaries in this environment can inspiral and coalesce at timescales much shorter than a Hubble time and much shorter than similar binaries that do not reside near an SMBH. The close environment of SMBHs could therefore serve as a catalyst for the inspiral and coalescence of binaries and strongly affect their orbital properties. Such compact binaries would be detectable as GW sources by the next generation of GW detectors (e.g., advanced-LIGO). Our analysis shows that ∼0.5% of such nuclear merging binaries will enter the LIGO observational window while on orbits that are still very eccentric (e ∼> 0.5). The efficient GW analysis for such systems would therefore require the use of eccentric templates. We also find that binaries very close to the SMBH could evolve through a complex dynamical (non-secular) evolution, leading to emission of several GW pulses during only a few years (though these are likely to be rare). Finally, we note that the formation of close stellar binaries, X-ray binaries, and their merger products could be induced by similar secular processes, combined with tidal friction rather than GW emission as in the case of compact object binaries.

Orbit of the OJ287 black hole binary as determined from the General Relativity centenary flare

Science.gov (United States)

Valtonen, Mauri; Gopakumar, Achamveedu; Mikkola, Seppo; Zola, Staszek; Ciprini, Stefano; Matsumoto, Katsura; Sadakane, Kozo; Kidger, Mark; Gazeas, Kosmas; Nilsson, Kari; Berdyugin, Andrei; Piirola, Vilppu; Jermak, Helen; Baliyan, Kiran; Hudec, Rene; Reichart, Daniel

2016-05-01

OJ287 goes through large optical flares twice each 12 years. The times of these flares have been predicted successfully now 5 times using a black hole binary model. In this model a secondary black hole goes around a primary black hole, impacting the accretion disk of the latter twice per orbital period, creating a thermal flare. Together with 6 flares from the historical data base, the set of flare timings determines uniquely the 7 parameters of the model: the two masses, the primary spin, the major axis, eccentricity and the phase of the orbit, plus a time delay parameter that gives the extent of time between accretion disk impacts and the related optical flares. Based on observations by the OJ287-15/16 Collaboration, OJ287 went into the phase of rapid flux rise on November 25, on the centenary of Einstein’s General Relativity, and peaked on December 5. At that time OJ287 was the brightest in over 30 years in optical wavelengths. The flare was of low polarization, and did not extend beyond the optical/UV region of the spectrum. On top of the main flare there were a number of small flares; their excess brightness correlates well with the simultaneous X-ray data. With these properties the main flare qualifies as the marker of the orbit of the secondary going around the primary black hole. Since the orbit solution is strongly over-determined, its parameters are known very accurately, at better than one percent level for the masses and the spin. The next flare is predicted to peak on July 28, 2019.Detailed monitoring of this event should allow us to test, for the first time, the celebrated black hole no-hair theorem for a massive black hole at the 10% level. The present data is consistent with the theorem only at a 30% level. The main difficulty in observing OJ287 from Earth at our predicted epoch is its closeness to the sun. Therefore, it is desirable to monitor OJ287 from a space-based telescope not in the vicinity of Earth. Unfortunately, this unique opportunity

Gravitational Waves from Stellar Black Hole Binaries and the Impact on Nearby Sun-like Stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopes, Ilídio [Centro Multidisciplinar de Astrofísica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Silk, Joseph, E-mail: ilidio.lopes@tecnico.ulisboa.pt, E-mail: silk@astro.ox.ac.uk [Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095 CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 98 bis Boulevard Arago, Paris F-75014 (France)

2017-07-20

We investigate the impact of resonant gravitational waves on quadrupole acoustic modes of Sun-like stars located nearby stellar black hole binary systems (such as GW150914 and GW151226). We find that the stimulation of the low-overtone modes by gravitational radiation can lead to sizeable photometric amplitude variations, much larger than the predictions for amplitudes driven by turbulent convection, which in turn are consistent with the photometric amplitudes observed in most Sun-like stars. For accurate stellar evolution models, using up-to-date stellar physics, we predict photometric amplitude variations of 1–10{sup 3} ppm for a solar mass star located at a distance between 1 au and 10 au from the black hole binary and belonging to the same multi-star system. The observation of such a phenomenon will be within the reach of the Plato mission because the telescope will observe several portions of the Milky Way, many of which are regions of high stellar density with a substantial mixed population of Sun-like stars and black hole binaries.

The Disk Wind in the Rapidly Spinning Stellar-mass Black Hole 4U 1630-472 Observed with NuSTAR

Science.gov (United States)

King, Ashley L.; Walton, Dominic J.; Miller, Jon M.; Barret, Didier; Boggs, Steven E.; Christensen, Finn E.; Craig, William W.; Fabian, Andy C.; Furst, Felix; Hailey, Charles J.;

Evolution of Binary Supermassive Black Holes in Rotating Nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rasskazov, Alexander; Merritt, David [School of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623 (United States)

2017-03-10

The interaction of a binary supermassive black hole with stars in a galactic nucleus can result in changes to all the elements of the binary’s orbit, including the angles that define its orientation. If the nucleus is rotating, the orientation changes can be large, causing large changes in the binary’s orbital eccentricity as well. We present a general treatment of this problem based on the Fokker–Planck equation for f , defined as the probability distribution for the binary’s orbital elements. First- and second-order diffusion coefficients are derived for the orbital elements of the binary using numerical scattering experiments, and analytic approximations are presented for some of these coefficients. Solutions of the Fokker–Planck equation are then derived under various assumptions about the initial rotational state of the nucleus and the binary hardening rate. We find that the evolution of the orbital elements can become qualitatively different when we introduce nuclear rotation: (1) the orientation of the binary’s orbit evolves toward alignment with the plane of rotation of the nucleus and (2) binary orbital eccentricity decreases for aligned binaries and increases for counteraligned ones. We find that the diffusive (random-walk) component of a binary’s evolution is small in nuclei with non-negligible rotation, and we derive the time-evolution equations for the semimajor axis, eccentricity, and inclination in that approximation. The aforementioned effects could influence gravitational wave production as well as the relative orientation of host galaxies and radio jets.

New geometries for black hole horizons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Armas, Jay [Physique Théorique et Mathématique,Université Libre de Bruxelles and International Solvay Institutes, ULB-Campus Plaine CP231, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium); Blau, Matthias [Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Bern,Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern (Switzerland)

2015-07-10

We construct several classes of worldvolume effective actions for black holes by integrating out spatial sections of the worldvolume geometry of asymptotically flat black branes. This provides a generalisation of the blackfold approach for higher-dimensional black holes and yields a map between different effective theories, which we exploit by obtaining new hydrodynamic and elastic transport coefficients via simple integrations. Using Euclidean minimal surfaces in order to decouple the fluid dynamics on different sections of the worldvolume, we obtain local effective theories for ultraspinning Myers-Perry branes and helicoidal black branes, described in terms of a stress-energy tensor, particle currents and non-trivial boost vectors. We then study in detail and present novel compact and non-compact geometries for black hole horizons in higher-dimensional asymptotically flat space-time. These include doubly-spinning black rings, black helicoids and helicoidal p-branes as well as helicoidal black rings and helicoidal black tori in D≥6.

A Dancing Black Hole

Science.gov (United States)

Shoemaker, Deirdre; Smith, Kenneth; Schnetter, Erik; Fiske, David; Laguna, Pablo; Pullin, Jorge

2002-04-01

Recently, stationary black holes have been successfully simulated for up to times of approximately 600-1000M, where M is the mass of the black hole. Considering that the expected burst of gravitational radiation from a binary black hole merger would last approximately 200-500M, black hole codes are approaching the point where simulations of mergers may be feasible. We will present two types of simulations of single black holes obtained with a code based on the Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura formulation of the Einstein evolution equations. One type of simulations addresses the stability properties of stationary black hole evolutions. The second type of simulations demonstrates the ability of our code to move a black hole through the computational domain. This is accomplished by shifting the stationary black hole solution to a coordinate system in which the location of the black hole is time dependent.

Establishing a relation between the mass and the spin of stellar-mass black holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Indrani; Mukhopadhyay, Banibrata

2013-08-09

Stellar mass black holes (SMBHs), forming by the core collapse of very massive, rapidly rotating stars, are expected to exhibit a high density accretion disk around them developed from the spinning mantle of the collapsing star. A wide class of such disks, due to their high density and temperature, are effective emitters of neutrinos and hence called neutrino cooled disks. Tracking the physics relating the observed (neutrino) luminosity to the mass, spin of black holes (BHs) and the accretion rate (M) of such disks, here we establish a correlation between the spin and mass of SMBHs at their formation stage. Our work shows that spinning BHs are more massive than nonspinning BHs for a given M. However, slowly spinning BHs can turn out to be more massive than spinning BHs if M at their formation stage was higher compared to faster spinning BHs.

A test of the massive binary black hole hypothesis - Arp 102B

Science.gov (United States)

Helpern, J. P.; Filippenko, Alexei V.

1988-01-01

The emission-line spectra of several AGN have broad peaks which are significantly displaced in velocity with respect to the host galaxy. An interpretation of this effect in terms of orbital motion of a binary black hole predicts periods of a few centuries. It is pointed out here that recent measurements of the masses and sizes of many low-luminosity AGN imply orbital periods much shorter than this. In particular, it is found that the elliptical galaxy Arp 102B is the most likely candidate for observation of radial velocity variations; its period is expected to be about 3 yr. The H-alpha line profile of Arp 102B has been measured for 5 yr without detecting any change in velocity, and it is thus found that a rather restrictive observational test of the massive binary black hole hypothesis already exists, albeit for this one object.

Black supernovae and black holes in non-local gravity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bambi, Cosimo [Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University,200433 Shanghai (China); Theoretical Astrophysics, Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen,72076 Tübingen (Germany); Malafarina, Daniele [Department of Physics, Nazarbayev University,010000 Astana (Kazakhstan); Modesto, Leonardo [Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University,200433 Shanghai (China)

2016-04-22

In a previous paper, we studied the interior solution of a collapsing body in a non-local theory of gravity super-renormalizable at the quantum level. We found that the classical singularity is replaced by a bounce, after which the body starts expanding. A black hole, strictly speaking, never forms. The gravitational collapse does not create an event horizon but only an apparent one for a finite time. In this paper, we solve the equations of motion assuming that the exterior solution is static. With such an assumption, we are able to reconstruct the solution in the whole spacetime, namely in both the exterior and interior regions. Now the gravitational collapse creates an event horizon in a finite comoving time, but the central singularity is approached in an infinite time. We argue that these black holes should be unstable, providing a link between the scenarios with and without black holes. Indeed, we find a non catastrophic ghost-instability of the metric in the exterior region. Interestingly, under certain conditions, the lifetime of our black holes exactly scales as the Hawking evaporation time.

Spin One Hawking Radiation from Dirty Black Holes

OpenAIRE

Petarpa Boonserm; Tritos Ngampitipan; Matt Visser

2013-01-01

A “clean” black hole is a black hole in vacuum such as the Schwarzschild black hole. However in real physical systems, there are matter fields around a black hole. Such a black hole is called a “dirty black hole”. In this paper, the effect of matter fields on the black hole and the greybody factor is investigated. The results show that matter fields make a black hole smaller. They can increase the potential energy to a black hole to obstruct Hawking radiation to propagate. This causes the gre...

The eclectic approach to gravitational waves from black hole collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, J.

2001-01-01

I present the first results in a new program intended to make the best use of all available technologies to provide an effective understanding of waves from inspiraling black hole binaries in time for imminent observations. In particular, I address the problem of combining the close-limit approximation describing ringing black holes and full numerical relativity, required for essentially nonlinear interactions. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using general methods for a model problem, the head-on collision of black holes. Our method allows a more direct physical understanding of these collisions indicating clearly when non-linear methods are important. The success of this method supports our expectation that this unified approach will be able to provide astrophysically relevant results for black hole binaries in time to assist gravitational wave observations. (author)

Stochastic Template Bank for Gravitational Wave Searches for Precessing Neutron Star-Black Hole Coalescence Events

Science.gov (United States)

Indik, Nathaniel; Haris, K.; Dal Canton, Tito; Fehrmann, Henning; Krishnan, Badri; Lundgren, Andrew; Nielsen, Alex B.; Pai, Archana

2017-01-01

Gravitational wave searches to date have largely focused on non-precessing systems. Including precession effects greatly increases the number of templates to be searched over. This leads to a corresponding increase in the computational cost and can increase the false alarm rate of a realistic search. On the other hand, there might be astrophysical systems that are entirely missed by non-precessing searches. In this paper we consider the problem of constructing a template bank using stochastic methods for neutron star-black hole binaries allowing for precession, but with the restrictions that the total angular momentum of the binary is pointing toward the detector and that the neutron star spin is negligible relative to that of the black hole. We quantify the number of templates required for the search, and we explicitly construct the template bank. We show that despite the large number of templates, stochastic methods can be adapted to solve the problem. We quantify the parameter space region over which the non-precessing search might miss signals.

Spinning Kerr black holes with stationary massive scalar clouds: the large-coupling regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hod, Shahar [Marine sciences, The Ruppin Academic Center,Ruppin, Emeq Hefer 40250 (Israel); Biotechnology, The Hadassah Academic College,37 Hanevi’im St., Jerusalem 9101001 (Israel)

2017-01-09

We study analytically the Klein-Gordon wave equation for stationary massive scalar fields linearly coupled to spinning Kerr black holes. In particular, using the WKB approximation, we derive a compact formula for the discrete spectrum of scalar field masses which characterize the stationary composed Kerr-black-hole-massive-scalar-field configurations in the large-coupling regime Mμ≫1 (here M and μ are respectively the mass of the central black hole and the proper mass of the scalar field). We confirm our analytically derived formula for the Kerr-scalar-field mass spectrum with numerical data that recently appeared in the literature.

Search for Binary Black Hole Candidates from the VLBI Images of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2016-01-27

Jan 27, 2016 ... We have searched the core-jet pairs in the VLBI scales (< 1 kpc), from several VLBI catalogues, and found out 5 possible Binary Black Hole (BBH) candidates. We present here the search results and analyse the candidates preliminarily. We plan to study with multi-band VLBI observation. We also plan to ...

Orbiting binary black hole evolutions with a multipatch high order finite-difference approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pazos, Enrique; Tiglio, Manuel; Duez, Matthew D.; Kidder, Lawrence E.; Teukolsky, Saul A.

2009-01-01

We present numerical simulations of orbiting black holes for around 12 cycles, using a high order multipatch approach. Unlike some other approaches, the computational speed scales almost perfectly for thousands of processors. Multipatch methods are an alternative to adaptive mesh refinement, with benefits of simplicity and better scaling for improving the resolution in the wave zone. The results presented here pave the way for multipatch evolutions of black hole-neutron star and neutron star-neutron star binaries, where high resolution grids are needed to resolve details of the matter flow.

Search for gravitational waves from primordial black hole binary coalescences in the galactic halo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, B.; Anderson, S.B.; Araya, M.; Armandula, H.; Asiri, F.; Barish, B.C.; Barnes, M.; Barton, M.A.; Bhawal, B.; Billingsley, G.; Black, E.; Blackburn, K.; Bogue, L.; Bork, R.; Brown, D.A.; Busby, D.; Cardenas, L.; Chandler, A.; Chapsky, J.; Charlton, P.

2005-01-01

We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2-1.0M · . The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50 kpc containing nonspinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2-1.0M · , we place an observational upper limit on the rate of primordial black hole coalescence of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence

Chandra Data Reveal Rapidly Whirling Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

A new study using results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provides one of the best pieces of evidence yet that many supermassive black holes are spinning extremely rapidly. The whirling of these giant black holes drives powerful jets that pump huge amounts of energy into their environment and affects galaxy growth. A team of scientists compared leading theories of jets produced by rotating supermassive black holes with Chandra data. A sampling of nine giant galaxies that exhibit large disturbances in their gaseous atmospheres showed that the central black holes in these galaxies must be spinning at near their maximum rates. People Who Read This Also Read... NASA’s Swift Satellite Catches First Supernova in The Act of Exploding Black Holes Have Simple Feeding Habits Jet Power and Black Hole Assortment Revealed in New Chandra Image Erratic Black Hole Regulates Itself "We think these monster black holes are spinning close to the limit set by Einstein's theory of relativity, which means that they can drag material around them at close to the speed of light," said Rodrigo Nemmen, a visiting graduate student at Penn State University, and lead author of a paper on the new results presented at American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas. The research reinforces other, less direct methods previously used which have indicated that some stellar and supermassive black holes are spinning rapidly. According to Einstein's theory, a rapidly spinning black hole makes space itself rotate. This effect, coupled with gas spiraling toward the black hole, can produce a rotating, tightly wound vertical tower of magnetic field that flings a large fraction of the inflowing gas away from the vicinity of the black hole in an energetic, high-speed jet. Computer simulations by other authors have suggested that black holes may acquire their rapid spins when galaxies merge, and through the accretion of gas from their surroundings. "Extremely fast spin might be very common for large

Two-dimensional black holes and non-commutative spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadeghi, J.

2008-01-01

We study the effects of non-commutative spaces on two-dimensional black hole. The event horizon of two-dimensional black hole is obtained in non-commutative space up to second order of perturbative calculations. A lower limit for the non-commutativity parameter is also obtained. The observer in that limit in contrast to commutative case see two horizon

Thermodynamics of Higher Spin Black Holes in AdS3

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Boer, J.; Jottar, J.I.

2014-01-01

We discuss the thermodynamics of recently constructed three-dimensional higher spin black holes in SL(N, R) × SL(N, R) Chern-Simons theory with generalized asymptotically-anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. From a holographic perspective, these bulk theories are dual to two-dimensional CFTs with WN

Stellar-Mass Black Holes and their Progenitors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Miller, J.; Uttley, [No Value; Nandra, [No Value; Barret, [No Value; Matt, [No Value; Paerels, [No Value; Mendez, [No Value; Diaz-Trigo, [No Value; Cappi, [No Value; Kitamoto, [No Value; Nowak, [No Value; Wilms, [No Value; Rothschild, [No Value; Smith, [No Value; Weisskopf, [No Value; Terashima, [No Value; Ueda, [No Value

2009-01-01

If a black hole has a low spin value, it must double its mass to reach a high spin parameter (Volonteri et al. 2005). Although this is easily accomplished through mergers or accretion in the case of supermassive black holes in galactic centers, it is impossible for stellar-mass black holes in X-ray

Gravitational amplitudes in black hole evaporation: the effect of non-commutative geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grezia, Elisabetta Di; Esposito, Giampiero; Miele, Gennaro

2006-01-01

Recent work in the literature has studied the quantum-mechanical decay of a Schwarzschild-like black hole, formed by gravitational collapse, into almost-flat spacetime and weak radiation at a very late time. The relevant quantum amplitudes have been evaluated for bosonic and fermionic fields, showing that no information is lost in collapse to a black hole. On the other hand, recent developments in non-commutative geometry have shown that, in general relativity, the effects of non-commutativity can be taken into account by keeping the standard form of the Einstein tensor on the left-hand side of the field equations and introducing a modified energy-momentum tensor as a source on the right-hand side. The present paper, relying on the recently obtained non-commutativity effect on a static, spherically symmetric metric, considers from a new perspective the quantum amplitudes in black hole evaporation. The general relativity analysis of spin-2 amplitudes is shown to be modified by a multiplicative factor F depending on a constant non-commutativity parameter and on the upper limit R of the radial coordinate. Limiting forms of F are derived which are compatible with the adiabatic approximation here exploited. Approximate formulae for the particle emission rate are also obtained within this framework

Critical emission from a high-spin black hole

Science.gov (United States)

Lupsasca, Alexandru; Porfyriadis, Achilleas P.; Shi, Yichen

2018-03-01

We consider a rapidly spinning black hole surrounded by an equatorial, geometrically thin, slowly accreting disk that is stationary and axisymmetric. We analytically compute the broadening of electromagnetic line emissions from the innermost part of the disk, which resides in the near-horizon region. The result is independent of the disk's surface emissivity and therefore universal. This is an example of critical behavior in astronomy that is potentially observable by current or future telescopes.

GW150914: First results from the search for binary black hole coalescence with Advanced LIGO

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C. J.; Berger, B. K.; Bergman, J.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bohemier, K.; Bojtos, P.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderon Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Clayton, J. H.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Cokelaer, T.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Daveloza, H. P.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dereli, H.; Dergachev, V.A.; DeRosa, R. T.; Rosa, R.; DeSalvo, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Dietz, A.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dojcinoski, G.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fotopoulos, N.; Fournier, J. -D.; Franco, S; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, M.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gatto, A.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Gendre, B.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, A.; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Goggin, L. M.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, Idelmis G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Hofman, D.; Hollitt, S. E.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idrisy, A.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Islas, G.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, G.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Keppel, D. G.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, C.; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y.M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Kokeyama, K.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B. M.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lueck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Luo, J.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; MacDonald, T.T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Magee, R. M.; Mageswaran, M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandel, I.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R.M.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McKechan, D. J. A.; McManus, D. J.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messaritaki, E.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pan, Y.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Premachandra, S. S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Robinson, C.; Rocchi, A.; Rodriguez, A. C.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Santamaria, L.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schoenbeck, A.; Sehreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Serna, G.; Setyawati, Y.; Sevigny, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shah, S.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shao, Z.M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Simakov, D.; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbnich, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; Van Beuzekom, Martin; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Henningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welbom, T.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; West, M.E.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Wiesner, K.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wiseman, A. G.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

2016-01-01

On September 14, 2015, at 09∶50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed the binary black hole merger GW150914. We report the results of a matched-filter search using relativistic models of compact-object binaries that

Simulating the X-ray luminosity of Be X-ray binaries: the case for black holes versus neutron stars

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, R. O.; Ho, W. C. G.; Coe, M. J.; Okazaki, A. T.

2018-04-01

There are over 100 Be stars that are known to have neutron star companions but only one such system with a black hole. Previous theoretical work suggests this is not due to their formation but due to differences in X-ray luminosity. It has also been proposed that the truncation of the Be star's circumstellar disc is dependent on the mass of the compact object. Hence, Be star discs in black hole binaries are smaller. Since accretion onto the compact object from the Be star's disc is what powers the X-ray luminosity, a smaller disc in black hole systems leads to a lower luminosity. In this paper, simulations are performed with a range of eccentricities and compact object mass. The disc's size and density are shown to be dependent on both quantities. Mass capture and, in turn, X-ray luminosity are heavily dependent on the size and density of the disc. Be/black hole binaries are expected to be up to ˜10 times fainter than Be/neutron star binaries when both systems have the same eccentricity and can be 100 times fainter when comparing systems with different eccentricity.

Merger rate of primordial black-hole binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Ali-Haïmoud, Yacine; Kovetz, Ely D.; Kamionkowski, Marc

2017-12-01

Primordial black holes (PBHs) have long been a candidate for the elusive dark matter (DM), and remain poorly constrained in the ˜20 - 100 M⊙ mass range. PBH binaries were recently suggested as the possible source of LIGO's first detections. In this paper, we thoroughly revisit existing estimates of the merger rate of PBH binaries. We compute the probability distribution of orbital parameters for PBH binaries formed in the early Universe, accounting for tidal torquing by all other PBHs, as well as standard large-scale adiabatic perturbations. We then check whether the orbital parameters of PBH binaries formed in the early Universe can be significantly affected between formation and merger. Our analytic estimates indicate that the tidal field of halos and interactions with other PBHs, as well as dynamical friction by unbound standard DM particles, do not do significant work on nor torque PBH binaries. We estimate the torque due to baryon accretion to be much weaker than previous calculations, albeit possibly large enough to significantly affect the eccentricity of typical PBH binaries. We also revisit the PBH-binary merger rate resulting from gravitational capture in present-day halos, accounting for Poisson fluctuations. If binaries formed in the early Universe survive to the present time, as suggested by our analytic estimates, they dominate the total PBH merger rate. Moreover, this merger rate would be orders of magnitude larger than LIGO's current upper limits if PBHs make a significant fraction of the dark matter. As a consequence, LIGO would constrain ˜10 - 300 M⊙ PBHs to constitute no more than ˜1 % of the dark matter. To make this conclusion fully robust, though, numerical study of several complex astrophysical processes—such as the formation of the first PBH halos and how they may affect PBH binaries, as well as the accretion of gas onto an extremely eccentric binary—is needed.

LISA detection of massive black hole binaries: imprint of seed populations and extreme recoils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sesana, A; Volonteri, M; Haardt, F

2009-01-01

All the physical processes involved in the formation, merging and accretion history of massive black holes along the hierarchical build-up of cosmic structures are likely to leave an imprint on the gravitational waves detectable by future space-borne missions, such as LISA. We report here the results of recent studies, carried out by means of dedicated simulations of black hole build-up, aiming at understanding the impact on LISA observations of two ingredients that are crucial in every massive black hole formation scenario, namely: (i) the nature and abundance of the first black hole seeds and (ii) the large gravitational recoils following the merger of highly spinning black holes. We predict LISA detection rates spanning two orders of magnitude, in the range 3-300 events per year, depending on the detail of the assumed massive black hole seed model. On the other hand, large recoil velocities do not dramatically compromise the efficiency of LISA observations. The number of detections may drop substantially (by ∼60%), in scenarios characterized by abundant light seeds, but if seeds are already massive and/or relatively rare, the detection rate is basically unaffected.

A template bank to search for gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries: I. Physical models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babak, S; Balasubramanian, R; Churches, D; Cokelaer, T; Sathyaprakash, B S

2006-01-01

Gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries are searched for using the matched filtering technique. As the model waveform depends on a number of parameters, it is necessary to filter the data through a template bank covering the astrophysically interesting region of the parameter space. The choice of templates is defined by the maximum allowed drop in signal-to-noise ratio due to the discreteness of the template bank. In this paper we describe the template-bank algorithm that was used in the analysis of data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and GEO 600 detectors to search for signals from binaries consisting of non-spinning compact objects. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study the efficiency of the bank and show that its performance is satisfactory for the design sensitivity curves of ground-based interferometric gravitational wave detectors GEO 600, initial LIGO, advanced LIGO and Virgo. The bank is efficient in searching for various compact binaries such as binary primordial black holes, binary neutron stars, binary black holes, as well as a mixed binary consisting of a non-spinning black hole and a neutron star

Optical Variability Signatures from Massive Black Hole Binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Kasliwal, Vishal P.; Frank, Koby Alexander; Lidz, Adam

2017-01-01

The hierarchical merging of dark matter halos and their associated galaxies should lead to a population of supermassive black hole binaries (MBHBs). We consider plausible optical variability signatures from MBHBs at sub-parsec separations and search for these using data from the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS). Specifically, we model the impact of relativistic Doppler beaming on the accretion disk emission from the less massive, secondary black hole. We explore whether this Doppler modulation may be separated from other sources of stochastic variability in the accretion flow around the MBHBs, which we describe as a damped random walk (DRW). In the simple case of a circular orbit, relativistic beaming leads to a series of broad peaks — located at multiples of the orbital frequency — in the fluctuation power spectrum. We extend our analysis to the case of elliptical orbits and discuss the effect of beaming on the flux power spectrum and auto-correlation function using simulations. We present a code to model an observed light curve as a stochastic DRW-type time series modulated by relativistic beaming and apply the code to CRTS data.

Phase transition for black holes with scalar hair and topological black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myung, Yun Soo

2008-01-01

We study phase transitions between black holes with scalar hair and topological black holes in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes. As the ground state solutions, we introduce the non-rotating BTZ black hole in three dimensions and topological black hole with hyperbolic horizon in four dimensions. For the temperature matching only, we show that the phase transition between black hole with scalar hair (Martinez-Troncoso-Zanelli black hole) and topological black hole is second-order by using differences between two free energies. However, we do not identify what order of the phase transition between scalar and non-rotating BTZ black holes occurs in three dimensions, although there exists a possible decay of scalar black hole to non-rotating BTZ black hole

Characterizing Black Hole Mergers

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, John; Boggs, William Darian; Kelly, Bernard

2010-01-01

Binary black hole mergers are a promising source of gravitational waves for interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Recent advances in numerical relativity have revealed the predictions of General Relativity for the strong burst of radiation generated in the final moments of binary coalescence. We explore features in the merger radiation which characterize the final moments of merger and ringdown. Interpreting the waveforms in terms of an rotating implicit radiation source allows a unified phenomenological description of the system from inspiral through ringdown. Common features in the waveforms allow quantitative description of the merger signal which may provide insights for observations large-mass black hole binaries.

Chandra reveals a black hole X-ray binary within the ultraluminous supernova remnant MF 16

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, T. P.; Colbert, E. J. M.

2003-06-01

We present evidence, based on Chandra ACIS-S observations of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946, that the extraordinary X-ray luminosity of the MF 16 supernova remnant actually arises in a black hole X-ray binary. This conclusion is drawn from the point-like nature of the X-ray source, its X-ray spectrum closely resembling the spectrum of other ultraluminous X-ray sources thought to be black hole X-ray binary systems, and the detection of rapid hard X-ray variability from the source. We briefly discuss the nature of the hard X-ray variability, and the origin of the extreme radio and optical luminosity of MF 16 in light of this identification.

Supermassive Black Hole Binaries: Multi-Messenger Astrophysics and Long Baselines with the Next-Generation Very Large Array

Science.gov (United States)

Burke-Spolaor, Sarah; Lazio, Joseph; Nyland, Kristina; Blecha, Laura; Bogdanovic, Tamara; Comerford, Julie; Liu, Xin; Taylor, Gregory; Shen, Yue; Maccarone, T. J.; Chomiuk, Laura; Reines, Amy

2018-01-01

Dual ( physical processes that drive both the remnant's dynamics and the inspiral of the black hole pair. A systematic census of the dual supermassive black hole population will also directly constrain the strength and distribution of objects emitting gravitational waves that will be detected by pulsar timing arrays and future space-based laser interferometers. Although the population of dual supermassive black holes in galaxy merger products is central to these topics and others, few have yet been discovered.A suite of radio, visible-infrared, and X-ray telescopes have just begun to reveal the population of kiloparsec-separation dual active nuclei. This poster will present the unique capability of radio observations to explore the dual and binary population of supermassive black hole binaries, and will highlight the observational techniques and discoveries expected for the Next-Generation Very Large Array.Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The NANOGrav project receives support from NSF Physics Frontier Center award number 1430284.

Thermalization with chemical potentials, and higher spin black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mandal, Gautam; Sinha, Ritam; Sorokhaibam, Nilakash

2015-01-01

We study the long time behaviour of local observables following a quantum quench in 1+1 dimensional conformal field theories possessing additional conserved charges besides the energy. We show that the expectation value of an arbitrary string of local observables supported on a finite interval exponentially approaches an equilibrium value. The equilibrium is characterized by a temperature and chemical potentials defined in terms of the quenched state. For an infinite number of commuting conserved charges, the equilibrium ensemble is a generalized Gibbs ensemble (GGE). We compute the thermalization rate in a systematic perturbation in the chemical potentials, using a new technique to sum over an infinite number of Feynman diagrams. The above technique also allows us to compute relaxation times for thermal Green’s functions in the presence of an arbitrary number of chemical potentials. In the context of a higher spin (hs[λ]) holography, the partition function of the final equilibrium GGE is known to agree with that of a higher spin black hole. The thermalization rate from the CFT computed in our paper agrees with the quasinormal frequency of a scalar field in this black hole.

On non-linear magnetic-charged black hole surrounded by quintessence

Science.gov (United States)

Nam, Cao H.

2018-06-01

We derive a non-linear magnetic-charged black hole surrounded by quintessence, which behaves asymptotically like the Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by quintessence but at the short distances like the dS geometry. The horizon properties of this black hole are investigated in detail. The thermodynamics of the black hole is studied in the local and global views. Finally, by calculating the heat capacity and the free energy, we point to that the black hole may undergo a thermal phase transition, between a larger unstable black hole and a smaller stable black hole, at a critical temperature.

Constraining stellar binary black hole formation scenarios with eLISA eccentricity measurements

OpenAIRE

Nishizawa, Atsushi; Sesana, Alberto; Berti, Emanuele; Klein, Antoine

2016-01-01

A space-based interferometer such as eLISA could observe few to few thousands progenitors of black hole binaries (BHBs) similar to those recently detected by Advanced LIGO. Gravitational radiation circularizes the orbit during inspiral, but some BHBs retain a measurable eccentricity at the low frequencies where eLISA is most sensitive. The eccentricity of a BHB carries precious information about its formation channel: BHBs formed in the field, in globular clusters, or close to a massive black...

Accuracy and precision of gravitational-wave models of inspiraling neutron star-black hole binaries with spin: Comparison with matter-free numerical relativity in the low-frequency regime

Science.gov (United States)

Bhagwat, Swetha; Kumar, Prayush; Barkett, Kevin; Afshari, Nousha; Brown, Duncan A.; Lovelace, Geoffrey; Scheel, Mark A.; Szilagyi, Bela; LIGO Collaboration

2016-03-01

Detection of gravitational wave involves extracting extremely weak signal from noisy data and their detection depends crucially on the accuracy of the signal models. The most accurate models of compact binary coalescence are known to come from solving the Einstein's equation numerically without any approximations. However, this is computationally formidable. As a more practical alternative, several analytic or semi analytic approximations are developed to model these waveforms. However, the work of Nitz et al. (2013) demonstrated that there is disagreement between these models. We present a careful follow up study on accuracies of different waveform families for spinning black-hole neutron star binaries, in context of both detection and parameter estimation and find that SEOBNRv2 to be the most faithful model. Post Newtonian models can be used for detection but we find that they could lead to large parameter bias. Supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Awards No. PHY-1404395 and No. AST-1333142.

THE DISK WIND IN THE RAPIDLY SPINNING STELLAR-MASS BLACK HOLE 4U 1630–472 OBSERVED WITH NuSTAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

King, Ashley L.; Miller, Jon M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042 (United States); Walton, Dominic J.; Fürst, Felix; Harrison, Fiona A. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Barret, Didier [Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, Toulouse (France); Boggs, Steven E.; Craig, William W.; Krivonos, Roman; Tomsick, John A. [Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States); Christensen, Finn E. [DTU Space, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327, DK-2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Fabian, Andy C. [Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom); Hailey, Charles J.; Mori, Kaya [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Natalucci, Lorenzo [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, INAF-IAPS, via del Fosso del Cavaliere, I-00133 Roma (Italy); Stern, Daniel [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Mail Stop 169-221, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Zhang, William W., E-mail: ashking@umich.edu [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2014-03-20

We present an analysis of a short NuSTAR observation of the stellar-mass black hole and low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1630–472. Reflection from the inner accretion disk is clearly detected for the first time in this source, owing to the sensitivity of NuSTAR. With fits to the reflection spectrum, we find evidence for a rapidly spinning black hole, a{sub ∗}=0.985{sub −0.014}{sup +0.005} (1σ statistical errors). However, archival data show that the source has relatively low radio luminosity. Recently claimed relationships between jet power and black hole spin would predict either a lower spin or a higher peak radio luminosity. We also report the clear detection of an absorption feature at 7.03 ± 0.03 keV, likely signaling a disk wind. If this line arises in dense, moderately ionized gas (log ξ=3.6{sub −0.3}{sup +0.2}) and is dominated by He-like Fe XXV, the wind has a velocity of v/c=0.043{sub −0.007}{sup +0.002} (12900{sub −2100}{sup +600} km s{sup –1}). If the line is instead associated with a more highly ionized gas (log ξ=6.1{sub −0.6}{sup +0.7}), and is dominated by Fe XXVI, evidence of a blueshift is only marginal, after taking systematic errors into account. Our analysis suggests the ionized wind may be launched within 200-1100 Rg, and may be magnetically driven.

Understanding possible electromagnetic counterparts to loud gravitational wave events: Binary black hole effects on electromagnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palenzuela, Carlos; Lehner, Luis; Yoshida, Shin

2010-01-01

In addition to producing loud gravitational waves, the dynamics of a binary black hole system could induce emission of electromagnetic radiation by affecting the behavior of plasmas and electromagnetic fields in their vicinity. We study how the electromagnetic fields are affected by a pair of orbiting black holes through the merger. In particular, we show how the binary's dynamics induce a variability in possible electromagnetically induced emissions as well as an enhancement of electromagnetic fields during the late-merge and merger epochs. These time dependent features will likely leave their imprint in processes generating detectable emissions and can be exploited in the detection of electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves.

Non-linear Q-clouds around Kerr black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herdeiro, Carlos; Radu, Eugen; Rúnarsson, Helgi

2014-01-01

Q-balls are regular extended ‘objects’ that exist for some non-gravitating, self-interacting, scalar field theories with a global, continuous, internal symmetry, on Minkowski spacetime. Here, analogous objects are also shown to exist around rotating (Kerr) black holes, as non-linear bound states of a test scalar field. We dub such configurations Q-clouds. We focus on a complex massive scalar field with quartic plus hexic self-interactions. Without the self-interactions, linear clouds have been shown to exist, in synchronous rotation with the black hole horizon, along 1-dimensional subspaces – existence lines – of the Kerr 2-dimensional parameter space. They are zero modes of the superradiant instability. Non-linear Q-clouds, on the other hand, are also in synchronous rotation with the black hole horizon; but they exist on a 2-dimensional subspace, delimited by a minimal horizon angular velocity and by an appropriate existence line, wherein the non-linear terms become irrelevant and the Q-cloud reduces to a linear cloud. Thus, Q-clouds provide an example of scalar bound states around Kerr black holes which, generically, are not zero modes of the superradiant instability. We describe some physical properties of Q-clouds, whose backreaction leads to a new family of hairy black holes, continuously connected to the Kerr family

Hawking radiation of spin-1 particles from a three-dimensional rotating hairy black hole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakalli, I.; Ovgun, A., E-mail: ali.ovgun@emu.edu.tr [Eastern Mediterranean University Famagusta, North Cyprus, Department of Physics (Turkey)

2015-09-15

We study the Hawking radiation of spin-1 particles (so-called vector particles) from a three-dimensional rotating black hole with scalar hair using a Hamilton–Jacobi ansatz. Using the Proca equation in the WKB approximation, we obtain the tunneling spectrum of vector particles. We recover the standard Hawking temperature corresponding to the emission of these particles from a rotating black hole with scalar hair.

NONLINEAR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE MEMORY FROM BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Favata, Marc

2009-01-01

Some astrophysical sources of gravitational waves can produce a 'memory effect', which causes a permanent displacement of the test masses in a freely falling gravitational-wave detector. The Christodoulou memory is a particularly interesting nonlinear form of memory that arises from the gravitational-wave stress-energy tensor's contribution to the distant gravitational-wave field. This nonlinear memory contributes a nonoscillatory component to the gravitational-wave signal at leading (Newtonian-quadrupole) order in the waveform amplitude. Previous computations of the memory and its detectability considered only the inspiral phase of binary black hole coalescence. Using an 'effective-one-body' (EOB) approach calibrated to numerical relativity simulations, as well as a simple fully analytic model, the Christodoulou memory is computed for the inspiral, merger, and ringdown. The memory will be very difficult to detect with ground-based interferometers, but is likely to be observable in supermassive black hole mergers with LISA out to redshifts z ∼< 2. Detection of the nonlinear memory could serve as an experimental test of the ability of gravity to 'gravitate'.

The mass of the black hole in the X-ray binary LMC X-1

Science.gov (United States)

Abubekerov, M. K.; Antokhina, E. A.; Gostev, N. Yu.; Cherepashchuk, A. M.; Shimansky, V. V.

2016-12-01

A dynamical estimate of the mass of the black hole in the LMC X-1 binary system is obtained in the framework of a Roche model for the optical star, based on fitting of the He I 4471 Å and He II 4200 Å absorption lines assuming LTE. The mass of the black hole derived from the radial-velocity curve for the He II 4200 Å line is m x = 10.55 M ⊙, close to the value found earlier based on a model with two point bodies [1].

UPPER LIMITS ON THE RATES OF BINARY NEUTRON STAR AND NEUTRON STAR-BLACK HOLE MERGERS FROM ADVANCED LIGO'S FIRST OBSERVING RUN

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, E.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, E.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderon Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Chen, Y; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, E.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, E.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -E; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garunfi, E.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Geng, P.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, R.G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.A.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jian, L.; Jimenez-Forteza, E.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kusunchoo, N.; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Namjun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzar, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Lewis, J. B.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Luck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magana; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, E.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, E.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Deill, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, E.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passahieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Proxhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Purrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, E. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, D.M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rudiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schonbecx, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltevi, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Toxmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.G.; van den Brand, J. E. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heuningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, E.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, D.S.; Wu, G.; Yablong, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

2016-01-01

We report here the non-detection of gravitational waves from the merger of binary-neutron star systems and neutron star-black hole systems during the first observing run of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). In particular, we searched for gravitational-wave

MCMC exploration of supermassive black hole binary inspirals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornish, Neil J; Porter, Edward K

2006-01-01

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will be able to detect the inspiral and merger of super massive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) anywhere in the universe. Standard matched filtering techniques can be used to detect and characterize these systems. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are ideally suited to this and other LISA data analysis problems as they are able to efficiently handle models with large dimensions. Here we compare the posterior parameter distributions derived by an MCMC algorithm with the distributions predicted by the Fisher information matrix. We find excellent agreement for the extrinsic parameters, while the Fisher matrix slightly overestimates errors in the intrinsic parameters

Einstein's Gift: Stellar Mass Black Holes in the LIGO Era

Science.gov (United States)

Cadonati, Laura; Georgia Institute of Technology, LIGO-Virgo Collaboration

2017-01-01

The discovery of gravitational waves from the coalescence of black hole binary systems in LIGO has provided the first evidence for heavy stellar mass black holes. In this talk, I will review the observational evidence for black holes in LIGO data, its astrophysical implications and the plans for the near and long term future of ground based gravitational wave detection of black hole binary coalescences.

Black-hole kicks from numerical-relativity surrogate models

Science.gov (United States)

Gerosa, Davide; Hébert, François; Stein, Leo C.

2018-05-01

Binary black holes radiate linear momentum in gravitational waves as they merge. Recoils imparted to the black-hole remnant can reach thousands of km /s , thus ejecting black holes from their host galaxies. We exploit recent advances in gravitational waveform modeling to quickly and reliably extract recoils imparted to generic, precessing, black-hole binaries. Our procedure uses a numerical-relativity surrogate model to obtain the gravitational waveform given a set of binary parameters; then, from this waveform we directly integrate the gravitational-wave linear momentum flux. This entirely bypasses the need for fitting formulas which are typically used to model black-hole recoils in astrophysical contexts. We provide a thorough exploration of the black-hole kick phenomenology in the parameter space, summarizing and extending previous numerical results on the topic. Our extraction procedure is made publicly available as a module for the Python programming language named surrkick. Kick evaluations take ˜0.1 s on a standard off-the-shelf machine, thus making our code ideal to be ported to large-scale astrophysical studies.

Accuracy of Binary Black Hole Waveform Models for Advanced LIGO

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Prayush; Fong, Heather; Barkett, Kevin; Bhagwat, Swetha; Afshari, Nousha; Chu, Tony; Brown, Duncan; Lovelace, Geoffrey; Pfeiffer, Harald; Scheel, Mark; Szilagyi, Bela; Simulating Extreme Spacetimes (SXS) Team

2016-03-01

Coalescing binaries of compact objects, such as black holes and neutron stars, are the primary targets for gravitational-wave (GW) detection with Advanced LIGO. Accurate modeling of the emitted GWs is required to extract information about the binary source. The most accurate solution to the general relativistic two-body problem is available in numerical relativity (NR), which is however limited in application due to computational cost. Current searches use semi-analytic models that are based in post-Newtonian (PN) theory and calibrated to NR. In this talk, I will present comparisons between contemporary models and high-accuracy numerical simulations performed using the Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC), focusing at the questions: (i) How well do models capture binary's late-inspiral where they lack a-priori accurate information from PN or NR, and (ii) How accurately do they model binaries with parameters outside their range of calibration. These results guide the choice of templates for future GW searches, and motivate future modeling efforts.

Comparison of high-accuracy numerical simulations of black-hole binaries with stationary-phase post-Newtonian template waveforms for initial and advanced LIGO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyle, Michael; Brown, Duncan A; Pekowsky, Larne

2009-01-01

We study the effectiveness of stationary-phase approximated post-Newtonian waveforms currently used by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors to search for the coalescence of binary black holes by comparing them to an accurate waveform obtained from numerical simulation of an equal-mass non-spinning binary black hole inspiral, merger and ringdown. We perform this study for the initial- and advanced-LIGO detectors. We find that overlaps between the templates and signal can be improved by integrating the match filter to higher frequencies than used currently. We propose simple analytic frequency cutoffs for both initial and advanced LIGO, which achieve nearly optimal matches, and can easily be extended to unequal-mass, spinning systems. We also find that templates that include terms in the phase evolution up to 3.5 post-Newtonian (pN) order are nearly always better, and rarely significantly worse, than 2.0 pN templates currently in use. For initial LIGO we recommend a strategy using templates that include a recently introduced pseudo-4.0 pN term in the low-mass (M ≤ 35 M o-dot ) region, and 3.5 pN templates allowing unphysical values of the symmetric reduced mass η above this. This strategy always achieves overlaps within 0.3% of the optimum, for the data used here. For advanced LIGO we recommend a strategy using 3.5 pN templates up to M = 12 M o-dot , 2.0 pN templates up to M = 21 M o-dot , pseudo-4.0 pN templates up to 65 M o-dot , and 3.5 pN templates with unphysical η for higher masses. This strategy always achieves overlaps within 0.7% of the optimum for advanced LIGO.

STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF CIRCUMBINARY DISKS AROUND SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafikov, Roman R.

2013-01-01

We explore properties of circumbinary disks around supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries in centers of galaxies by reformulating standard viscous disk evolution in terms of the viscous angular momentum flux F J . If the binary stops gas inflow and opens a cavity in the disk, then the inner disk evolves toward a constant-F J (rather than a constant M-dot ) state. We compute disk properties in different physical regimes relevant for SMBH binaries, focusing on the gas-assisted evolution of systems starting at separations 10 –4 – 10 –2 pc, and find the following. (1) Mass pileup at the inner disk edge caused by the tidal barrier accelerates binary inspiral. (2) Binaries can be forced to merge even by a disk with a mass below that of the secondary. (3) Torque on the binary is set non-locally, at radii far larger than the binary semi-major axis; its magnitude does not reflect disk properties in the vicinity of the binary. (4) Binary inspiral exhibits hysteresis—it depends on the past evolution of the disk. (5) The Eddington limit can be important for circumbinary disks even if they accrete at sub-Eddington rates, but only at late stages of the inspiral. (6) Gas overflow across the orbit of the secondary can be important for low secondary mass, high- M-dot systems, but mainly during the inspiral phase dominated by the gravitational wave emission. (7) Circumbinary disks emit more power and have harder spectra than constant M-dot disks; their spectra are very sensitive to the amount of overflow across the secondary orbit

Gravitational lensing by spinning black holes in astrophysics, and in the movie Interstellar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James, Oliver; Tunzelmann, Eugénie von; Franklin, Paul; Thorne, Kip S

2015-01-01

Interstellar is the first Hollywood movie to attempt depicting a black hole as it would actually be seen by somebody nearby. For this, our team at Double Negative Visual Effects, in collaboration with physicist Kip Thorne, developed a code called Double Negative Gravitational Renderer (DNGR) to solve the equations for ray-bundle (light-beam) propagation through the curved spacetime of a spinning (Kerr) black hole, and to render IMAX-quality, rapidly changing images. Our ray-bundle techniques were crucial for achieving IMAX-quality smoothness without flickering; and they differ from physicists’ image-generation techniques (which generally rely on individual light rays rather than ray bundles), and also differ from techniques previously used in the film industry’s CGI community. This paper has four purposes: (i) to describe DNGR for physicists and CGI practitioners, who may find interesting and useful some of our unconventional techniques. (ii) To present the equations we use, when the camera is in arbitrary motion at an arbitrary location near a Kerr black hole, for mapping light sources to camera images via elliptical ray bundles. (iii) To describe new insights, from DNGR, into gravitational lensing when the camera is near the spinning black hole, rather than far away as in almost all prior studies; we focus on the shapes, sizes and influence of caustics and critical curves, the creation and annihilation of stellar images, the pattern of multiple images, and the influence of almost-trapped light rays, and we find similar results to the more familiar case of a camera far from the hole. (iv) To describe how the images of the black hole Gargantua and its accretion disk, in the movie Interstellar, were generated with DNGR—including, especially, the influences of (a) colour changes due to doppler and gravitational frequency shifts, (b) intensity changes due to the frequency shifts, (c) simulated camera lens flare, and (d) decisions that the film makers made about

Gravitational lensing by spinning black holes in astrophysics, and in the movie Interstellar

Science.gov (United States)

James, Oliver; von Tunzelmann, Eugénie; Franklin, Paul; Thorne, Kip S.

2015-03-01

Interstellar is the first Hollywood movie to attempt depicting a black hole as it would actually be seen by somebody nearby. For this, our team at Double Negative Visual Effects, in collaboration with physicist Kip Thorne, developed a code called Double Negative Gravitational Renderer (DNGR) to solve the equations for ray-bundle (light-beam) propagation through the curved spacetime of a spinning (Kerr) black hole, and to render IMAX-quality, rapidly changing images. Our ray-bundle techniques were crucial for achieving IMAX-quality smoothness without flickering; and they differ from physicists’ image-generation techniques (which generally rely on individual light rays rather than ray bundles), and also differ from techniques previously used in the film industry’s CGI community. This paper has four purposes: (i) to describe DNGR for physicists and CGI practitioners, who may find interesting and useful some of our unconventional techniques. (ii) To present the equations we use, when the camera is in arbitrary motion at an arbitrary location near a Kerr black hole, for mapping light sources to camera images via elliptical ray bundles. (iii) To describe new insights, from DNGR, into gravitational lensing when the camera is near the spinning black hole, rather than far away as in almost all prior studies; we focus on the shapes, sizes and influence of caustics and critical curves, the creation and annihilation of stellar images, the pattern of multiple images, and the influence of almost-trapped light rays, and we find similar results to the more familiar case of a camera far from the hole. (iv) To describe how the images of the black hole Gargantua and its accretion disk, in the movie Interstellar, were generated with DNGR—including, especially, the influences of (a) colour changes due to doppler and gravitational frequency shifts, (b) intensity changes due to the frequency shifts, (c) simulated camera lens flare, and (d) decisions that the film makers made about

Collision of two rotating Hayward black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gwak, Bogeun [Sejong University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-07-15

We investigate the spin interaction and the gravitational radiation thermally allowed in a head-on collision of two rotating Hayward black holes. The Hayward black hole is a regular black hole in a modified Einstein equation, and hence it can be an appropriate model to describe the extent to which the regularity effect in the near-horizon region affects the interaction and the radiation. If one black hole is assumed to be considerably smaller than the other, the potential of the spin interaction can be analytically obtained and is dependent on the alignment of angular momenta of the black holes. For the collision of massive black holes, the gravitational radiation is numerically obtained as the upper bound by using the laws of thermodynamics. The effect of the Hayward black hole tends to increase the radiation energy, but we can limit the effect by comparing the radiation energy with the gravitational waves GW150914 and GW151226. (orig.)

ON THE MASS RADIATED BY COALESCING BLACK HOLE BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barausse, E.; Morozova, V.; Rezzolla, L.

2012-01-01

We derive an analytic phenomenological expression that predicts the final mass of the black hole (BH) remnant resulting from the merger of a generic binary system of BHs on quasi-circular orbits. Besides recovering the correct test-particle limit for extreme mass-ratio binaries, our formula reproduces well the results of all the numerical-relativity simulations published so far, both when applied at separations of a few gravitational radii and when applied at separations of tens of thousands of gravitational radii. These validations make our formula a useful tool in a variety of contexts ranging from gravitational-wave (GW) physics to cosmology. As representative examples, we first illustrate how it can be used to decrease the phase error of the effective-one-body waveforms during the ringdown phase. Second, we show that, when combined with the recently computed self-force correction to the binding energy of nonspinning BH binaries, it provides an estimate of the energy emitted during the merger and ringdown. Finally, we use it to calculate the energy radiated in GWs by massive BH binaries as a function of redshift, using different models for the seeds of the BH population.

Tidal disruption of stars in a supermassive black hole binary system: the influence of orbital properties on fallback and accretion rates

Science.gov (United States)

Vigneron, Quentin; Lodato, Giuseppe; Guidarelli, Alessio

2018-06-01

The disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole generates a sudden bright flare. Previous studies have focused on the disruption by single black holes, for which the fallback rate decays as ∝ t-5/3. In this paper, we generalize the study to the case of a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB), using both analytical estimates and hydrodynamical simulations, looking for specific observable signatures. The range of binary separation for which it is possible to distinguish between the disruption created by a single or a binary black hole concerns typically separations of the order of a few milliparsecs for a primary of mass ˜106 M⊙. When the fallback rate is affected by the secondary, it undergoes two types interruptions, depending on the initial inclination θ of the orbit of the star relative to the plane of the SMBHB. For θ ≲ 70°, periodic sharp interruptions occur and the time of first interruption depends on the distance of the secondary black hole with the debris. If θ ≳ 70°, a first smooth interruption occurs, but not always followed by a further recovery of the fallback rate. This implies that most of the TDEs around a SMBHB will undergo periodic sharp interruptions of their light curve.

Black hole dynamics in Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory

Science.gov (United States)

Hirschmann, Eric W.; Lehner, Luis; Liebling, Steven L.; Palenzuela, Carlos

2018-03-01

We consider the properties and dynamics of black holes within a family of alternative theories of gravity, namely Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory. We analyze the dynamical evolution of individual black holes as well as the merger of binary black hole systems. We do this for a wide range of parameter values for the family of Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theories, investigating, in the process, the stability of these black holes. We examine radiative degrees of freedom, explore the impact of the scalar field on the dynamics of merger, and compare with other scalar-tensor theories. We argue that the dilaton can largely be discounted in understanding merging binary systems and that the end states essentially interpolate between charged and uncharged, rotating black holes. For the relatively small charge values considered here, we conclude that these black hole systems will be difficult to distinguish from their analogs within General Relativity.

A Search for Black Holes and Neutron Stars in the Kepler Field

Science.gov (United States)

Orosz, Jerome; Short, Donald; Welsh, William; Windmiller, Gur; Dabney, David

2018-01-01

Black holes and neutron stars represent the final evolutionary stages of the most massive stars. In addition to their use as probes into the evolution of massive stars, black holes and neutron stars are ideal laboratories to test General Relativity in the strong field limit. The number of neutron stars and black holes in the Milky Way is not precisely known, but there are an estimated one billion neutron stars in the galaxy based on the observed numbers of radio pulsars. The number of black holes is about 100 million, based on the behavior of the Initial Mass Function at high stellar masses.All of the known steller-mass black holes (and a fair number of neutron stars) are in ``X-ray binaries'' that were discovered because of their luminous X-ray emission. The requirement to be in an X-ray-emitting binary places a strong observational bias on the discovery of stellar-mass black holes. Thus the 21 known black hole binaries represent only the very uppermost tip of the population iceberg.We have conducted an optical survey using Kepler data designed to uncover black holes and neutron stars in both ``quiescent'' X-ray binaries and ``pre-contact'' X-ray binaries. We discuss how the search was conducted, including how potentially interesting light curves were classified and the how variability types were identified. Although we did not find any convincing candidate neutron star or black hole systems, we did find a few noteworthy binary systems, including two binaries that contain low-mass stars with unusually low albedos.

A precise measurement of the magnetic field in the corona of the black hole binary V404 Cygni.

Science.gov (United States)

Dallilar, Yigit; Eikenberry, Stephen S; Garner, Alan; Stelter, Richard D; Gottlieb, Amy; Gandhi, Poshak; Casella, Piergiorgio; Dhillon, Vik S; Marsh, Tom R; Littlefair, Stuart P; Hardy, Liam; Fender, Rob; Mooley, Kunal; Walton, Dominic J; Fuerst, Felix; Bachetti, Matteo; Castro-Tirado, A J; Charcos, Miguel; Edwards, Michelle L; Lasso-Cabrera, Nestor M; Marin-Franch, Antonio; Raines, S Nicholas; Ackley, Kendall; Bennett, John G; Cenarro, A Javier; Chinn, Brian; Donoso, H Veronica; Frommeyer, Raymond; Hanna, Kevin; Herlevich, Michael D; Julian, Jeff; Miller, Paola; Mullin, Scott; Murphey, Charles H; Packham, Chris; Varosi, Frank; Vega, Claudia; Warner, Craig; Ramaprakash, A N; Burse, Mahesh; Punnadi, Sujit; Chordia, Pravin; Gerarts, Andreas; de Paz Martín, Héctor; Calero, María Martín; Scarpa, Riccardo; Acosta, Sergio Fernandez; Hernández Sánchez, William Miguel; Siegel, Benjamin; Pérez, Francisco Francisco; Viera Martín, Himar D; Rodríguez Losada, José A; Nuñez, Agustín; Tejero, Álvaro; Martín González, Carlos E; Rodríguez, César Cabrera; Molgó, Jordi; Rodriguez, J Esteban; Cáceres, J Israel Fernández; Rodríguez García, Luis A; Lopez, Manuel Huertas; Dominguez, Raul; Gaggstatter, Tim; Lavers, Antonio Cabrera; Geier, Stefan; Pessev, Peter; Sarajedini, Ata

2017-12-08

Observations of binary stars containing an accreting black hole or neutron star often show x-ray emission extending to high energies (>10 kilo--electron volts), which is ascribed to an accretion disk corona of energetic particles akin to those seen in the solar corona. Despite their ubiquity, the physical conditions in accretion disk coronae remain poorly constrained. Using simultaneous infrared, optical, x-ray, and radio observations of the Galactic black hole system V404 Cygni, showing a rapid synchrotron cooling event in its 2015 outburst, we present a precise 461 ± 12 gauss magnetic field measurement in the corona. This measurement is substantially lower than previous estimates for such systems, providing constraints on physical models of accretion physics in black hole and neutron star binary systems. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Waveform model for an eccentric binary black hole based on the effective-one-body-numerical-relativity formalism

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Zhoujian; Han, Wen-Biao

2017-08-01

Binary black hole systems are among the most important sources for gravitational wave detection. They are also good objects for theoretical research for general relativity. A gravitational waveform template is important to data analysis. An effective-one-body-numerical-relativity (EOBNR) model has played an essential role in the LIGO data analysis. For future space-based gravitational wave detection, many binary systems will admit a somewhat orbit eccentricity. At the same time, the eccentric binary is also an interesting topic for theoretical study in general relativity. In this paper, we construct the first eccentric binary waveform model based on an effective-one-body-numerical-relativity framework. Our basic assumption in the model construction is that the involved eccentricity is small. We have compared our eccentric EOBNR model to the circular one used in the LIGO data analysis. We have also tested our eccentric EOBNR model against another recently proposed eccentric binary waveform model; against numerical relativity simulation results; and against perturbation approximation results for extreme mass ratio binary systems. Compared to numerical relativity simulations with an eccentricity as large as about 0.2, the overlap factor for our eccentric EOBNR model is better than 0.98 for all tested cases, including spinless binary and spinning binary, equal mass binary, and unequal mass binary. Hopefully, our eccentric model can be the starting point to develop a faithful template for future space-based gravitational wave detectors.

GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B P; Abbott, R; Abbott, T D; Acernese, F; Ackley, K; Adams, C; Adams, T; Addesso, P; Adhikari, R X; Adya, V B; Affeldt, C; Afrough, M; Agarwal, B; Agathos, M; Agatsuma, K; Aggarwal, N; Aguiar, O D; Aiello, L; Ain, A; Ajith, P; Allen, B; Allen, G; Allocca, A; Altin, P A; Amato, A; Ananyeva, A; Anderson, S B; Anderson, W G; Antier, S; Appert, S; Arai, K; Araya, M C; Areeda, J S; Arnaud, N; Arun, K G; Ascenzi, S; Ashton, G; Ast, M; Aston, S M; Astone, P; Aufmuth, P; Aulbert, C; AultONeal, K; Avila-Alvarez, A; Babak, S; Bacon, P; Bader, M K M; Bae, S; Baker, P T; Baldaccini, F; Ballardin, G; Ballmer, S W; Banagiri, S; Barayoga, J C; Barclay, S E; Barish, B C; Barker, D; Barone, F; Barr, B; Barsotti, L; Barsuglia, M; Barta, D; Bartlett, J; Bartos, I; Bassiri, R; Basti, A; Batch, J C; Baune, C; Bawaj, M; Bazzan, M; Bécsy, B; Beer, C; Bejger, M; Belahcene, I; Bell, A S; Berger, B K; Bergmann, G; Berry, C P L; Bersanetti, D; Bertolini, A; Betzwieser, J; Bhagwat, S; Bhandare, R; Bilenko, I A; Billingsley, G; Billman, C R; Birch, J; Birney, R; Birnholtz, O; Biscans, S; Bisht, A; Bitossi, M; Biwer, C; Bizouard, M A; Blackburn, J K; Blackman, J; Blair, C D; Blair, D G; Blair, R M; Bloemen, S; Bock, O; Bode, N; Boer, M; Bogaert, G; Bohe, A; Bondu, F; Bonnand, R; Boom, B A; Bork, R; Boschi, V; Bose, S; Bouffanais, Y; Bozzi, A; Bradaschia, C; Brady, P R; Braginsky, V B; Branchesi, M; Brau, J E; Briant, T; Brillet, A; Brinkmann, M; Brisson, V; Brockill, P; Broida, J E; Brooks, A F; Brown, D A; Brown, D D; Brown, N M; Brunett, S; Buchanan, C C; Buikema, A; Bulik, T; Bulten, H J; Buonanno, A; Buskulic, D; Buy, C; Byer, R L; Cabero, M; Cadonati, L; Cagnoli, G; Cahillane, C; Calderón Bustillo, J; Callister, T A; Calloni, E; Camp, J B; Canepa, M; Canizares, P; Cannon, K C; Cao, H; Cao, J; Capano, C D; Capocasa, E; Carbognani, F; Caride, S; Carney, M F; Casanueva Diaz, J; Casentini, C; Caudill, S; Cavaglià, M; Cavalier, F; Cavalieri, R; Cella, G; Cepeda, C B; Cerboni Baiardi, L; Cerretani, G; Cesarini, E; Chamberlin, S J; Chan, M; Chao, S; Charlton, P; Chassande-Mottin, E; Chatterjee, D; Chatziioannou, K; Cheeseboro, B D; Chen, H Y; Chen, Y; Cheng, H-P; Chincarini, A; Chiummo, A; Chmiel, T; Cho, H S; Cho, M; Chow, J H; Christensen, N; Chu, Q; Chua, A J K; Chua, S; Chung, A K W; Chung, S; Ciani, G; Ciolfi, R; Cirelli, C E; Cirone, A; Clara, F; Clark, J A; Cleva, F; Cocchieri, C; Coccia, E; Cohadon, P-F; Colla, A; Collette, C G; Cominsky, L R; Constancio, M; Conti, L; Cooper, S J; Corban, P; Corbitt, T R; Corley, K R; Cornish, N; Corsi, A; Cortese, S; Costa, C A; Coughlin, M W; Coughlin, S B; Coulon, J-P; Countryman, S T; Couvares, P; Covas, P B; Cowan, E E; Coward, D M; Cowart, M J; Coyne, D C; Coyne, R; Creighton, J D E; Creighton, T D; Cripe, J; Crowder, S G; Cullen, T J; Cumming, A; Cunningham, L; Cuoco, E; Dal Canton, T; Danilishin, S L; D'Antonio, S; Danzmann, K; Dasgupta, A; Da Silva Costa, C F; Dattilo, V; Dave, I; Davier, M; Davis, D; Daw, E J; Day, B; De, S; DeBra, D; Deelman, E; Degallaix, J; De Laurentis, M; Deléglise, S; Del Pozzo, W; Denker, T; Dent, T; Dergachev, V; De Rosa, R; DeRosa, R T; DeSalvo, R; Devenson, J; Devine, R C; Dhurandhar, S; Díaz, M C; Di Fiore, L; Di Giovanni, M; Di Girolamo, T; Di Lieto, A; Di Pace, S; Di Palma, I; Di Renzo, F; Doctor, Z; Dolique, V; Donovan, F; Dooley, K L; Doravari, S; Dorrington, I; Douglas, R; Dovale Álvarez, M; Downes, T P; Drago, M; Drever, R W P; Driggers, J C; Du, Z; Ducrot, M; Duncan, J; Dwyer, S E; Edo, T B; Edwards, M C; Effler, A; Eggenstein, H-B; Ehrens, P; Eichholz, J; Eikenberry, S S; Eisenstein, R A; Essick, R C; Etienne, Z B; Etzel, T; Evans, M; Evans, T M; Factourovich, M; Fafone, V; Fair, H; Fairhurst, S; Fan, X; Farinon, S; Farr, B; Farr, W M; Fauchon-Jones, E J; Favata, M; Fays, M; Fehrmann, H; Feicht, J; Fejer, M M; Fernandez-Galiana, A; Ferrante, I; Ferreira, E C; Ferrini, F; Fidecaro, F; Fiori, I; Fiorucci, D; Fisher, R P; Flaminio, R; Fletcher, M; Fong, H; Forsyth, P W F; Forsyth, S S; Fournier, J-D; Frasca, S; Frasconi, F; Frei, Z; Freise, A; Frey, R; Frey, V; Fries, E M; Fritschel, P; Frolov, V V; Fulda, P; Fyffe, M; Gabbard, H; Gabel, M; Gadre, B U; Gaebel, S M; Gair, J R; Gammaitoni, L; Ganija, M R; Gaonkar, S G; Garufi, F; Gaudio, S; Gaur, G; Gayathri, V; Gehrels, N; Gemme, G; Genin, E; Gennai, A; George, D; George, J; Gergely, L; Germain, V; Ghonge, S; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S; Giaime, J A; Giardina, K D; Giazotto, A; Gill, K; Glover, L; Goetz, E; Goetz, R; Gomes, S; González, G; Gonzalez Castro, J M; Gopakumar, A; Gorodetsky, M L; Gossan, S E; Gosselin, M; Gouaty, R; Grado, A; Graef, C; Granata, M; Grant, A; Gras, S; Gray, C; Greco, G; Green, A C; Groot, P; Grote, H; Grunewald, S; Gruning, P; Guidi, G M; Guo, X; Gupta, A; Gupta, M K; Gushwa, K E; Gustafson, E K; Gustafson, R; Hall, B R; Hall, E D; Hammond, G; Haney, M; Hanke, M M; Hanks, J; Hanna, C; Hannam, M D; Hannuksela, O A; Hanson, J; Hardwick, T; Harms, J; Harry, G M; Harry, I W; Hart, M J; Haster, C-J; Haughian, K; Healy, J; Heidmann, A; Heintze, M C; Heitmann, H; Hello, P; Hemming, G; Hendry, M; Heng, I S; Hennig, J; Henry, J; Heptonstall, A W; Heurs, M; Hild, S; Hoak, D; Hofman, D; Holt, K; Holz, D E; Hopkins, P; Horst, C; Hough, J; Houston, E A; Howell, E J; Hu, Y M; Huerta, E A; Huet, D; Hughey, B; Husa, S; Huttner, S H; Huynh-Dinh, T; Indik, N; Ingram, D R; Inta, R; Intini, G; Isa, H N; Isac, J-M; Isi, M; Iyer, B R; Izumi, K; Jacqmin, T; Jani, K; Jaranowski, P; Jawahar, S; Jiménez-Forteza, F; Johnson, W W; Johnson-McDaniel, N K; Jones, D I; Jones, R; Jonker, R J G; Ju, L; Junker, J; Kalaghatgi, C V; Kalogera, V; Kandhasamy, S; Kang, G; Kanner, J B; Karki, S; Karvinen, K S; Kasprzack, M; Katolik, M; Katsavounidis, E; Katzman, W; Kaufer, S; Kawabe, K; Kéfélian, F; Keitel, D; Kemball, A J; Kennedy, R; Kent, C; Key, J S; Khalili, F Y; Khan, I; Khan, S; Khan, Z; Khazanov, E A; Kijbunchoo, N; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J C; Kim, W; Kim, W S; Kim, Y-M; Kimbrell, S J; King, E J; King, P J; Kirchhoff, R; Kissel, J S; Kleybolte, L; Klimenko, S; Koch, P; Koehlenbeck, S M; Koley, S; Kondrashov, V; Kontos, A; Korobko, M; Korth, W Z; Kowalska, I; Kozak, D B; Krämer, C; Kringel, V; Krishnan, B; Królak, A; Kuehn, G; Kumar, P; Kumar, R; Kumar, S; Kuo, L; Kutynia, A; Kwang, S; Lackey, B D; Lai, K H; Landry, M; Lang, R N; Lange, J; Lantz, B; Lanza, R K; Lartaux-Vollard, A; Lasky, P D; Laxen, M; Lazzarini, A; Lazzaro, C; Leaci, P; Leavey, S; Lee, C H; Lee, H K; Lee, H M; Lee, H W; Lee, K; Lehmann, J; Lenon, A; Leonardi, M; Leroy, N; Letendre, N; Levin, Y; Li, T G F; Libson, A; Littenberg, T B; Liu, J; Lo, R K L; Lockerbie, N A; London, L T; Lord, J E; Lorenzini, M; Loriette, V; Lormand, M; Losurdo, G; Lough, J D; Lovelace, G; Lück, H; Lumaca, D; Lundgren, A P; Lynch, R; Ma, Y; Macfoy, S; Machenschalk, B; MacInnis, M; Macleod, D M; Magaña Hernandez, I; Magaña-Sandoval, F; Magaña Zertuche, L; Magee, R M; Majorana, E; Maksimovic, I; Man, N; Mandic, V; Mangano, V; Mansell, G L; Manske, M; Mantovani, M; Marchesoni, F; Marion, F; Márka, S; Márka, Z; Markakis, C; Markosyan, A S; Maros, E; Martelli, F; Martellini, L; Martin, I W; Martynov, D V; Marx, J N; Mason, K; Masserot, A; Massinger, T J; Masso-Reid, M; Mastrogiovanni, S; Matas, A; Matichard, F; Matone, L; Mavalvala, N; Mayani, R; Mazumder, N; McCarthy, R; McClelland, D E; McCormick, S; McCuller, L; McGuire, S C; McIntyre, G; McIver, J; McManus, D J; McRae, T; McWilliams, S T; Meacher, D; Meadors, G D; Meidam, J; Mejuto-Villa, E; Melatos, A; Mendell, G; Mercer, R A; Merilh, E L; Merzougui, M; Meshkov, S; Messenger, C; Messick, C; Metzdorff, R; Meyers, P M; Mezzani, F; Miao, H; Michel, C; Middleton, H; Mikhailov, E E; Milano, L; Miller, A L; Miller, A; Miller, B B; Miller, J; Millhouse, M; Minazzoli, O; Minenkov, Y; Ming, J; Mishra, C; Mitra, S; Mitrofanov, V P; Mitselmakher, G; Mittleman, R; Moggi, A; Mohan, M; Mohapatra, S R P; Montani, M; Moore, B C; Moore, C J; Moraru, D; Moreno, G; Morriss, S R; Mours, B; Mow-Lowry, C M; Mueller, G; Muir, A W; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D; Mukherjee, S; Mukund, N; Mullavey, A; Munch, J; Muniz, E A M; Murray, P G; Napier, K; Nardecchia, I; Naticchioni, L; Nayak, R K; Nelemans, G; Nelson, T J N; Neri, M; Nery, M; Neunzert, A; Newport, J M; Newton, G; Ng, K K Y; Nguyen, T T; Nichols, D; Nielsen, A B; Nissanke, S; Nitz, A; Noack, A; Nocera, F; Nolting, D; Normandin, M E N; Nuttall, L K; Oberling, J; Ochsner, E; Oelker, E; Ogin, G H; Oh, J J; Oh, S H; Ohme, F; Oliver, M; Oppermann, P; Oram, Richard J; O'Reilly, B; Ormiston, R; Ortega, L F; O'Shaughnessy, R; Ottaway, D J; Overmier, H; Owen, B J; Pace, A E; Page, J; Page, M A; Pai, A; Pai, S A; Palamos, J R; Palashov, O; Palomba, C; Pal-Singh, A; Pan, H; Pang, B; Pang, P T H; Pankow, C; Pannarale, F; Pant, B C; Paoletti, F; Paoli, A; Papa, M A; Paris, H R; Parker, W; Pascucci, D; Pasqualetti, A; Passaquieti, R; Passuello, D; Patricelli, B; Pearlstone, B L; Pedraza, M; Pedurand, R; Pekowsky, L; Pele, A; Penn, S; Perez, C J; 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Sturani, R; Stuver, A L; Summerscales, T Z; Sun, L; Sunil, S; Sutton, P J; Swinkels, B L; Szczepańczyk, M J; Tacca, M; Talukder, D; Tanner, D B; Tápai, M; Taracchini, A; Taylor, J A; Taylor, R; Theeg, T; Thomas, E G; Thomas, M; Thomas, P; Thorne, K A; Thorne, K S; Thrane, E; Tiwari, S; Tiwari, V; Tokmakov, K V; Toland, K; Tonelli, M; Tornasi, Z; Torrie, C I; Töyrä, D; Travasso, F; Traylor, G; Trifirò, D; Trinastic, J; Tringali, M C; Trozzo, L; Tsang, K W; Tse, M; Tso, R; Tuyenbayev, D; Ueno, K; Ugolini, D; Unnikrishnan, C S; Urban, A L; Usman, S A; Vahi, K; Vahlbruch, H; Vajente, G; Valdes, G; Vallisneri, M; van Bakel, N; van Beuzekom, M; van den Brand, J F J; Van Den Broeck, C; Vander-Hyde, D C; van der Schaaf, L; van Heijningen, J V; van Veggel, A A; Vardaro, M; Varma, V; Vass, S; Vasúth, M; Vecchio, A; Vedovato, G; Veitch, J; Veitch, P J; Venkateswara, K; Venugopalan, G; Verkindt, D; Vetrano, F; Viceré, A; Viets, A D; Vinciguerra, S; Vine, D J; Vinet, J-Y; Vitale, S; Vo, T; Vocca, H; Vorvick, C; Voss, D V; Vousden, W D; Vyatchanin, S P; Wade, A R; Wade, L E; Wade, M; Wald, R M; Walet, R; Walker, M; Wallace, L; Walsh, S; Wang, G; Wang, H; Wang, J Z; Wang, M; Wang, Y-F; Wang, Y; Ward, R L; Warner, J; Was, M; Watchi, J; Weaver, B; Wei, L-W; Weinert, M; Weinstein, A J; Weiss, R; Wen, L; Wessel, E K; Weßels, P; Westphal, T; Wette, K; Whelan, J T; Whiting, B F; Whittle, C; Williams, D; Williams, R D; Williamson, A R; Willis, J L; Willke, B; Wimmer, M H; Winkler, W; Wipf, C C; Wittel, H; Woan, G; Woehler, J; Wofford, J; Wong, K W K; Worden, J; Wright, J L; Wu, D S; Wu, G; Yam, W; Yamamoto, H; Yancey, C C; Yap, M J; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M; Zadrożny, A; Zanolin, M; Zelenova, T; Zendri, J-P; Zevin, M; Zhang, L; Zhang, M; Zhang, T; Zhang, Y-H; Zhao, C; Zhou, M; Zhou, Z; Zhu, X J; Zimmerman, A; Zucker, M E; Zweizig, J

2017-06-02

We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10∶11:58.6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are 31.2_{-6.0}^{+8.4}M_{⊙} and 19.4_{-5.9}^{+5.3}M_{⊙} (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, a mass-weighted combination of the spin components perpendicular to the orbital plane, χ_{eff}=-0.12_{-0.30}^{+0.21}. This result implies that spin configurations with both component spins positively aligned with the orbital angular momentum are disfavored. The source luminosity distance is 880_{-390}^{+450}  Mpc corresponding to a redshift of z=0.18_{-0.07}^{+0.08}. We constrain the magnitude of modifications to the gravitational-wave dispersion relation and perform null tests of general relativity. Assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum like massive particles, we bound the graviton mass to m_{g}≤7.7×10^{-23}  eV/c^{2}. In all cases, we find that GW170104 is consistent with general relativity.

On the Calculation of the Fe K-alpha Line Emissivity of Black Hole Accretion Disks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krawczynski, H.; Beheshtipour, B., E-mail: krawcz@wustl.edu [Physics Department and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Drive, CB 1105, St. Louis, MO 63130 (United States)

2017-11-01

Observations of the fluorescent Fe K α emission line from the inner accretion flows of stellar mass black holes in X-ray binaries and supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei have become an important tool to study the magnitude and inclination of the black hole spin, and the structure of the accretion flow close to the event horizon of the black hole. Modeling spectral, timing, and soon also X-ray polarimetric observations of the Fe K α emission requires the calculation of the specific intensity in the rest frame of the emitting plasma. We revisit the derivation of the equation used for calculating the illumination of the accretion disk by the corona. We present an alternative derivation leading to a simpler equation, and discuss the relation to previously published results.

Shadow casted by a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Mingzhi; Chen, Songbai; Jing, Jiliang, E-mail: wmz9085@126.com, E-mail: csb3752@hunnu.edu.cn, E-mail: jljing@hunnu.edu.cn [Institute of Physics and Department of Physics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081 (China)

2017-10-01

We have investigated the shadow of a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole with an extra deformation parameter. The spacetime structure arising from the deformed parameter affects sharply the black hole shadow. With the increase of the deformation parameter, the size of the shadow of black hole increase and its shape becomes more rounded for arbitrary rotation parameter. The D-shape shadow of black hole emerges only in the case a <2√3/3\\, M with the proper deformation parameter. Especially, the black hole shadow possesses a cusp shape with small eye lashes in the cases with a >M, and the shadow becomes less cuspidal with the increase of the deformation parameter. Our result show that the presence of the deformation parameter yields a series of significant patterns for the shadow casted by a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole.

Production of high stellar-mass primordial black holes in trapped inflation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, Shu-Lin; Lee, Wolung [Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University,Taipei 11677, Taiwan (China); Ng, Kin-Wang [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica,Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China); Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica,Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China)

2017-02-01

Trapped inflation has been proposed to provide a successful inflation with a steep potential. We discuss the formation of primordial black holes in the trapped inflationary scenario. We show that primordial black holes are naturally produced during inflation with a steep trapping potential. In particular, we have given a recipe for an inflaton potential with which particle production can induce large non-Gaussian curvature perturbation that leads to the formation of high stellar-mass primordial black holes. These primordial black holes could be dark matter observed by the LIGO detectors through a binary black-hole merger. At the end, we have given an attempt to realize the required inflaton potential in the axion monodromy inflation, and discussed the gravitational waves sourced by the particle production.

The phase structure of higher-dimensional black rings and black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emparan, Roberto; Harmark, Troels; Niarchos, Vasilis; Obers, Niels A.; RodrIguez, Maria J.

2007-01-01

We construct an approximate solution for an asymptotically flat, neutral, thin rotating black ring in any dimension D ≥ 5 by matching the near-horizon solution for a bent boosted black string, to a linearized gravity solution away from the horizon. The rotating black ring solution has a regular horizon of topology S 1 x S D-3 and incorporates the balancing condition of the ring as a zero-tension condition. For D = 5 our method reproduces the thin ring limit of the exact black ring solution. For D ≥ 6 we show that the black ring has a higher entropy than the Myers-Perry black hole in the ultra-spinning regime. By exploiting the correspondence between ultra-spinning black holes and black membranes on a two-torus, we take steps towards qualitatively completing the phase diagram of rotating blackfolds with a single angular momentum. We are led to propose a connection between MP black holes and black rings, and between MP black holes and black Saturns, through merger transitions involving two kinds of 'pinched' black holes. More generally, the analogy suggests an infinite number of pinched black holes of spherical topology leading to a complicated pattern of connections and mergers between phases

Scattering of particles by deformed non-rotating black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei, Guancheng; Bambi, Cosimo

2015-01-01

We study the excitation of axial quasi-normal modes of deformed non-rotating black holes by test particles and we compare the associated gravitational wave signal with that expected in general relativity from a Schwarzschild black hole. Deviations from standard predictions are quantified by an effective deformation parameter, which takes into account deviations from both the Schwarzschild metric and the Einstein equations. We show that, at least in the case of non-rotating black holes, it is possible to test the metric around the compact object, in the sense that the measurement of the gravitational wave spectrum can constrain possible deviations from the Schwarzschild solution. (orig.)

Directly comparing GW150914 with numerical solutions of Einstein's equations for binary black hole coalescence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dasgupta, A.; Costa, C. F. Da Silva; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Geng, P.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, Idelmis G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.A.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jian, L.; Jimenez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Namjun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Lewis, J. B.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lueck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magana; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Puerrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, D.M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Ruediger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schoenbeck, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thorne, K. S.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; Van Beuzekom, Martin; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, D.S.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.; Boyle, M.; Campanelli, M.; Chu, I.W.T.; Clark, M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Fong, H.; Healy, J.; Hemberger, D.; Hinder, I.; Husa, S.; Kalaghati, C.; Khan., S.; Kidder, L. E.; Kinsey, M.; Laguna, P.; London, L. T.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Ossokine, S.; Pannarale, F.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Scheel, M.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; Vinuales, A. Vano; Zlochower, Y.

2016-01-01

We compare GW150914 directly to simulations of coalescing binary black holes in full general relativity, including several performed specifically to reproduce this event. Our calculations go beyond existing semianalytic models, because for all simulations—including sources with two independent,

A magnetic model for low/hard state of black hole binaries

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Yong-Chun; Wang, Ding-Xiong; Huang, Chang-Yin; Cao, Xiao-Feng

2016-03-01

A magnetic model for the low/hard state (LHS) of two black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs), H1743-322 and GX 339-4, is proposed based on transport of the magnetic field from a companion into an accretion disk around a black hole (BH). This model consists of a truncated thin disk with an inner advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The spectral profiles of the sources are fitted in agreement with the data observed at four different dates corresponding to the rising phase of the LHS. In addition, the association of the LHS with a quasi-steady jet is modeled based on transport of magnetic field, where the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) and Blandford-Payne (BP) processes are invoked to drive the jets from BH and inner ADAF. It turns out that the steep radio/X-ray correlations observed in H1743-322 and GX 339-4 can be interpreted based on our model.

Generic features of Einstein-Aether black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamaki, Takashi; Miyamoto, Umpei

2008-01-01

We reconsider spherically symmetric black hole solutions in Einstein-Aether theory with the condition that this theory has identical parametrized post-Newtonian parameters as those for general relativity, which is the main difference from the previous research. In contrast with previous study, we allow superluminal propagation of a spin-0 Aether-gravity wave mode. As a result, we obtain black holes having a spin-0 'horizon' inside an event horizon. We allow a singularity at a spin-0 horizon since it is concealed by the event horizon. If we allow such a configuration, the kinetic term of the Aether field can be large enough for black holes to be significantly different from Schwarzschild black holes with respect to Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass, innermost stable circular orbit, Hawking temperature, and so on. We also discuss whether or not the above features can be seen in more generic vector-tensor theories

In what sense a neutron star-black hole binary is the holy grail for testing gravity?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagchi, Manjari; Torres, Diego F.

2014-01-01

Pulsars in binary systems have been very successful to test the validity of general relativity in the strong field regime [1-4]. So far, such binaries include neutron star-white dwarf (NS-WD) and neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS) systems. It is commonly believed that a neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) binary will be much superior for this purpose. But in what sense is this true? Does it apply to all possible deviations?

Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Afrough, M.; Agarwal, B.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Allen, B.; Allen, G; Allocca, A.; Almoubayyed, H.; Altin, P. A.; Amato, A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Antier, S.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; AultONeal, K.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Bae, S.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Banagiri, S.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bawaj, M.; Bazzan, M.; Becsy, B.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, D J; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bode, N.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderon; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Canepa, M.; Canizares, P.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Carney, M. F.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Baiardi, L. Cerboni; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chatterjee, D.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, H. -P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S. S. Y.; Chung, A. K. W.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Ciolfi, R.; Cirelli, C. E.; Cirone, A.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L. R.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corban, P.; Corbitt, T. R.; Corley, K. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, Laura; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Costa, C. F. Da Silva; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Deelman, E; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M. Di; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Renzo, F.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Alvarez, M. Dovale; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Duncan, J.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z. B.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fong, H.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gabel, M.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Ganija, M. R.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaudio, S.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, D.J.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glover, L.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gomes, A.S.P.; Gonzalez, Idelmis G.; Castro, J. M. Gonzalez; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hannuksela, O. A.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. 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P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Hernandez, I. Magana; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magana; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mayani, R.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Mejuto-Villa, E.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. 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E.; Zweizig, J.

2017-01-01

During their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves

Merging Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Centrella, Joan

2012-01-01

The final merger of two black holes is expected to be the strongest source of gravitational waves for both ground-based detectors such as LIGO and VIRGO, as well as future. space-based detectors. Since the merger takes place in the regime of strong dynamical gravity, computing the resulting gravitational waveforms requires solving the full Einstein equations of general relativity on a computer. For many years, numerical codes designed to simulate black hole mergers were plagued by a host of instabilities. However, recent breakthroughs have conquered these instabilities and opened up this field dramatically. This talk will focus on.the resulting 'gold rush' of new results that is revealing the dynamics and waveforms of binary black hole mergers, and their applications in gravitational wave detection, testing general relativity, and astrophysics