Gravitational Recoil from Spinning Binary Black Hole Mergers

Herrmann, Frank; Hinder, Ian; Shoemaker, D. M.; Laguna, Pablo; Matzner, Richard A.

doi:10.1086/513603

Cited by 180 publications

(216 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…1. We find that, to first order, the kick is proportional to a/M h , as found in quasicircular orbits [12]. However, as the initial spin of the BHs grows, we found hints of the quadratic spin dependence also obtained in quasi-circular orbits [27].…”

supporting

confidence: 70%

“…Two qualitative features of hyperbolic encounters contribute to these larger kicks. Not only are hyperbolic encounters plunge dominated, but the nature of the plunge is such that it enhances the beaming of radiated linear momentum [23].We use the same computational infrastructure and methodology as in previous studies [10,12,18], namely a BSSN code with moving puncture gauge conditions. The hyperbolic encounters are initiated with Bowen-York initial data [24].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Superkicks in Hyperbolic Encounters of Binary Black Holes

et al. 2009

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Generic inspirals and mergers of binary black holes produce beamed emission of gravitational radiation that can lead to a gravitational recoil or kick of the final black hole. The kick velocity depends on the mass ratio and spins of the binary as well as on the dynamics of the binary configuration. Studies have focused so far on the most astrophysically relevant configuration of quasi-circular inspirals, for which kicks as large as ∼ 3, 300 km s −1 have been found. We present the first study of gravitational recoil in hyperbolic encounters. Contrary to quasi-circular configurations, in which the beamed radiation tends to average during the inspiral, radiation from hyperbolic encounters is plunge dominated, resulting in an enhancement of preferential beaming. As a consequence, it is possible to achieve kick velocities as large as 10, 000 km s −1 .PACS numbers: 04.60. Kz,04.60.Pp,98.80.Qc Numerical relativity estimates of the gravitational recoil or kick inflicted on the final black hole (BH) from generic inspirals and mergers of binary black holes (BBH) have triggered tremendous excitement in astrophysics. This is mainly due to the fact that most galaxies host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at their centers [1, 2]. As galaxies merge, a kick to the final BH from the coalescence of the BHs at the galactic cores could have profound implications in subsequent mergers, affecting the growth of SMBHs via mergers as well as the population of galaxies containing SMBHs. In addition, there have been several suggestions of direct observational signatures of putative BH recoils [3,4,5,6,7,8], with one study [9] presenting evidence for the first candidate of a recoiling SMBH.BH kick velocities depend on the mass ratio and spins of the merging BHs as well as on the initial configuration and subsequent dynamics of the binary. Studies published to date have concerned the most astrophysically relevant configuration, that of quasi-circular inspirals [10,11,12,13]. One remarkable discovery has been kicks of a few thousand km s −1 found in configurations of equal-mass binaries with initially anti-aligned spins in the orbital plane [14,15,16]. For near extremal spins (a/m = 0.925), recoils as large as 3, 300 km s −1 have been computed [17].Motivated by our previous study [18] of the final spin of BHs from scattering mergers of BBHs, we present the first extension of gravitational recoil to hyperbolic encounters. There are crucial differences between hyperbolic and quasi-circular configurations that affect the kick to the final BH. For quasi-circular orbits, the emitted radiation is asymmetrically beamed, and carries linear momentum with it. But it tends to average out during the inspiral [19], producing a modest wobbling and drift of the center of mass of the binary. The final kick arises because as the binary approaches the plunge, the averaging loses its effectiveness, leading to a gradual recoil build-up. Both numerical simulations and postNewtonian studies [19,20] have confirmed the gradual kick accumulation during the inspir...

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confidence: 99%

Superkicks in Hyperbolic Encounters of Binary Black Holes

et al. 2009

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“…From fits to Herrmann et al (2007) v ⊥ consistent with equation (2), with . However, our simy ≈ 88Њ ulation shows strong precession of the spin near merger, where a large fraction of the recoil velocity is built up; hence, it is difficult to accurately determine the spin parameters and V a to be used in equation (2).…”

mentioning

confidence: 68%

Large Merger Recoils and Spin Flips from Generic Black Hole Binaries

Campanelli

Lousto

Zlochower

et al. 2007

ApJ

502

645

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We report the first results from the evolution of generic black hole binaries, i.e., binaries containing unequalmass black holes with misaligned spins. Our configuration, which has a mass ratio of , consists of an initially 2 : 1 nonspinning hole orbiting a larger, rapidly spinning hole (specific spin ), with the spin direction a/m p 0.885 oriented Ϫ45Њ with respect to the orbital plane. We track the inspiral and merger for ∼2 orbits and find that the remnant receives a substantial kick of 454 km s Ϫ1 , more than twice as large as the maximum kick from nonspinning binaries. The remnant spin direction is flipped by 103Њ with respect to the initial spin direction of the larger hole. We performed a second run with antialigned spins, lying in the orbital plane that produces a kick a/m p ‫5.0ע‬ of ∼1830 km s Ϫ1 off the orbital plane. This value scales to nearly 4000 km s Ϫ1 for maximally spinning holes. Such a large recoil velocity opens up the possibility that a merged binary can be ejected even from the nucleus of a massive host galaxy.

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“…If the IMBH is rapidly spinning, recent numerical relativity results suggest that the kick can be a lot higher (Baker et al 2007;Campanelli et al 2007aCampanelli et al , 2007bGonzalez et al 2007a;Herrmann et al 2007b;Koppitz et al 2007). Baker et al (2007) and Campanelli et al (2007a) provide a fit to numerical relativity results that gives the kick as a function of the various orbital parameters.…”

Section: Number Density Of Globulars With a Suitable Imbhmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rates and Characteristics of Intermediate Mass Ratio Inspirals Detectable by Advanced LIGO

Mandel

Brown

Gair

et al. 2008

ApJ

126

179

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Gravitational waves (GWs) from the inspiral of a neutron star ( NS) or stellar-mass black hole ( BH ) into an intermediate-mass black hole ( IMBH ) with mass M $ 50 350 M may be detectable by the planned advanced generation of ground-based GW interferometers. Such intermediate mass ratio inspirals (IMRIs) are most likely to be found in globular clusters. We analyze four possible IMRI formation mechanisms: (1) hardening of an NS-IMBH or BH-IMBH binary via three-body interactions, (2) hardening via Kozai resonance in a hierarchical triple system, (3) direct capture, and (4) inspiral of a CO from a tidally captured main-sequence star; we also discuss tidal effects when the inspiraling object is an NS. For each mechanism we predict the typical eccentricities of the resulting IMRIs. We find that IMRIs will have largely circularized by the time they enter the sensitivity band of ground-based detectors. Hardening of a binary via three-body interactions, which is likely to be the dominant mechanism for IMRI formation, yields eccentricities under 10 À4 when the GW frequency reaches 10 Hz. Even among IMRIs formed via direct captures, which can have the highest eccentricities, around 90% will circularize to eccentricities under 0.1 before the GW frequency reaches 10 Hz. We estimate the rate of IMRI coalescences in globular clusters and the sensitivity of a network of three Advanced LIGO detectors to the resulting GWs. We show that this detector network may see up to tens of IMRIs per year, although rates of one to a few per year may be more plausible. We also estimate the loss in signal-to-noise ratio that will result from using circular IMRI templates for data analysis and find that, for the eccentricities we expect, this loss is negligible.

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Gravitational Recoil from Spinning Binary Black Hole Mergers

Cited by 180 publications

References 56 publications

Superkicks in Hyperbolic Encounters of Binary Black Holes

Superkicks in Hyperbolic Encounters of Binary Black Holes

Large Merger Recoils and Spin Flips from Generic Black Hole Binaries

Rates and Characteristics of Intermediate Mass Ratio Inspirals Detectable by Advanced LIGO

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