Effects of Wandering on the Coalescence of Black Hole Binaries in Galactic Centers
Open Access
- 20 July 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Astronomical Society in The Astrophysical Journal
- Vol. 592 (1) , 32-41
- https://doi.org/10.1086/375552
Abstract
We examine whether massive binary black holes in spherically symmetric bulges of galaxies can achieve coalescence through the emission of gravitational radiation under the action of stellar dynamical processes alone. In particular, we address the importance of the Brownian motion of a binary's center of mass to its continued interaction with stellar orbits that allows it to keep hardening. We use an analytical model and N-body simulations to calculate the time required to reach the gravitational radiation-dominated stage. We find that a substantial fraction of all massive binaries in galaxies can coalesce within a Hubble time.Keywords
All Related Versions
This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- Standardised units and time scalesPublished by Springer Nature ,2007
- Collisional Dynamics around Binary Black Holes in Galactic CentersThe Astrophysical Journal, 2002
- Dynamics of a Massive Black Hole at the Center of a Dense Stellar SystemThe Astrophysical Journal, 2002
- Brownian Motion in Gravitationally Interacting SystemsPhysical Review Letters, 2002
- Accretion during the Merger of Supermassive Black HolesThe Astrophysical Journal, 2002
- Binary Black Hole Mergers from Planet-like MigrationsThe Astrophysical Journal, 2000
- The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with HST. IV. Central Parameter Relations.The Astronomical Journal, 1997
- The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies With HST. II. Empirical Models and Structural ParametersThe Astronomical Journal, 1996
- Massive black hole binaries in active galactic nucleiNature, 1980
- Effects of Massive Central Black Holes on Dense Stellar SystemsMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1976