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NASA NTRS2010

Characterizing Black Hole Mergers

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.

Baker, John↗
NASA NTRS2021

Variety in the Variability of Accreting Supermassive Binary Black Holes

Accreting supermassive binary black holes are key multi-messenger sources for LISA, yet are challenging to simulate realistically as solving the radiation magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations over the full dynamic spatio-temporal range of the problem is computationally infeasible at present. We will provide a brief summary of the the progress made in the field to understand these systems theoretically and what new directions groups are pursuing. We will also report on our collaboration's progress to simulate these systems using general relativistic MHD and dynamic GR. In order to cover a larger temporal range in one set of simulations, we constrain our view to the circumbinary disk region and measure how the binary mass ratio, accretion disk size, and black hole spin have on the structure and variability of the accretion flow. We particularly emphasize how these parameters influence the overdensity feature, which orbits the binary near the edge of the cavity, since it is responsible for most of the electromagnetic emission's variability and variability is a key signature of a system being a binary. Extending to smaller length scales, we will report on simulations following accretion all the down to the event horizons so that we can begin to investigate how black hole spin affects mini-disk dynamics, accretion rate, and jet power. The novel computational methods enabling inclusion of the black holes in the domain, including multi-patch methods, will be described.

Scott C Noble↗
NASA NTRS2002

Event Rate for LISA Gravitational Wave Signals from Black Hole-Massive Black Hole Coalescences

Earlier work under a previous grant had been mainly on investigating the event rate for coalescences of white dwarfs or neutron stars with massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei. Under the new grant, two studies were undertaken. One was an approximate extension of the earlier study to stellar mass black holes as the lighter object, with masses in the range of roughly 3 to 20 M_sun, rather than about 1 M_sun. The other was an improved estimate of the confusion noise due to galactic binaries against which the signals from BH-MDH coalescences would have to be detected. In the earlier work, the mass of the white dwarfs (WDs) and neutron stars (NSs) was assumed to be about the same as that of the unevolved stars in the density cusp around the galactic center MBH. However, with the BH mass being substantially larger, the sinking down of BHs toward the center (mass segregation) became important and was included in the model. A single representative mass of 7 M_sun was used.

Bender, Peter L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Event Rate for LISA Gravitational Wave Signals from Black Hole-Massive Black Hole Coalescences

Earlier work under a previous grant had been mainly on investigating the event rate for coalescences of white dwarfs or neutron stars with massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei. Under the new grant, two studies were undertaken. One was an approximate extension of the earlier study to stellar mass black holes as the lighter object, with masses in the range of roughly 3 to 20 solar mass rather than about 1 solar mass. The other was an improved estimate of the confusion noise due to galactic binaries against which the signals from BH-MBH coalescences would have to be detected. In the earlier work, the mass of the white dwarfs (WDs) and neutron stars (NSs) was assumed to be about the same as that of the evolved stars in the density cusp around the galactic center MBH. However, with the BH mass being substantially larger, the sinking down of pHs toward the center (mass segregation) became important, and was included in the model. A single representative mass of 7 solar mass was used. The other main difference involved what happened after the compact object got scattered in close enough to the MBH to start losing appreciable energy and angular momentum by gravitational radiation. For WDs or NSs, it had been found in most cases that the object would be perturbed considerably by other stars in the cusp before much energy had been lost. Thus the angular momentum would either increase enough so that gravitational radiation would be cut off, or would decrease enough so that the WD or NS would plunge into the MBH in just a few revolutions. The latter event would mean that the signal-to noise ratio would not have time to build up, and the event would not be detectable. The ratio of gradual energy loss events to plunges was found to be roughly one to a few percent, and thus substantially decreased the expected rate of detectable events.

Bender, Peter L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxy Evolution

Supermassive black holes appear to be generic components of galactic nuclei. The formation and growth of black holes is intimately connected with the evolution of galaxies on a wide range of scales. For instance, mergers between galaxies containing nuclear black holes would produce supermassive binaries which eventually coalesce via the emission of gravitational radiation. The formation and decay of these binaries is expected to produce a number of observable signatures in the stellar distribution. Black holes can also affect the large-scale structure of galaxies by perturbing the orbits of stars that pass through the nucleus. Large-scale N-body simulations are beginning to generate testable predictions about these processes which will allow us to draw inferences about the formation history of supermassive black holes.

Merritt, D.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Electromagnetic Time and Wavelength Domain Predictions for Accreting Binary Black Holes

Accreting massive binary black holes in gaseous environments are keymulti-messenger sources for the LISA mission. We will present some ofthe latest predictions of the observational signatures of accreting binary black holes across the electromagnetic spectrum from the fieldand provide some of our own. In particular, we will provide a briefsummary of the progress made in our group to understand these systemstheoretically using high-performance simulations of generalrelativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and dynamic spacetimes.Simulating these systems realistically is challenging asradiation-coupled MHD must be considered over large dynamic ranges inspace and time. Constraining our view to the circumbinary disk regionfirst, we will show how the evolution duration, accretion disk size,mass ratio, and thermodynamics model affect the structure andvariability of the accretion flow. We particularly emphasize how theseparameters influence the over-density feature, or "lump", which orbitsthe binary near the edge of the cavity, since it is responsible formost of the electromagnetic emission's variability---a key signatureof a system being a binary. Extending to smaller length scales, wewill report on simulations following accretion all the down to theevent horizons so that we may begin to investigate how black hole spinaffects mini-disk dynamics, accretion rate, and jet power. We willalso report on our radiative transfer predictions for how black holespin alters the spectral energy distribution of these systems.Wrapping up, we will itemize the remaining key theoreticaltechnologies and directions needed to be accomplished to betterunderstand these sources, and assess strategies for searching for themin the coming decade.

Scott C Noble↗
NASA NTRS2010

Numerical Relativity Simulations for Black Hole Merger Astrophysics

Massive black hole mergers are perhaps the most energetic astronomical events, establishing their importance as gravitational wave sources for LISA, and also possibly leading to observable influences on their local environments. Advances in numerical relativity over the last five years have fueled the development of a rich physical understanding of general relativity's predictions for these events. Z will overview the understanding of these event emerging from numerical simulation studies. These simulations elucidate the pre-merger dynamics of the black hole binaries, the consequent gravitational waveform signatures ' and the resulting state, including its kick velocity, for the final black hole produced by the merger. Scenarios are now being considered for observing each of these aspects of the merger, involving both gravitational-wave and electromagnetic astronomy.

Baker, John G.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Variety in the Variability of Accreting Supermassive Binary Black Holes

Accreting supermassive binary black holes are key multi-messenger sources for LISA, yet are challenging to simulate realistically as solving the radiation magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations over the full dynamic spatio-temporal range of the problem is computationally infeasible at present. We report on our collaboration's progress simulating these systems using general relativistic MHD simulations and dynamic GR. In order to cover a larger temporal range in one set of simulations, we constrain our view to the circumbinary disk region and measure the effects binary mass ratio, accretion disk size, and black hole spin have on the structure and variability of the accretion flow. We particularly emphasize how these parameters influence the overdensity feature, which orbits the binary near the edge of the cavity, since it is responsible for most of the electromagnetic emission's variability and variability is a key signature of a system being a binary. Extending to smaller length scales, we will report on simulations following accretion all the down to the event horizons so that we can begin to investigate how black hole spin affects mini-disk dynamics, accretion rate, and jet power.

Scott C Noble↗
NASA NTRS1998

Searching for Black Holes

Our UV/VIS work concentrates on black hole X-ray nova. These objects consist of two stars in close orbit, one of which we believe is a black hole - our goal is to SHOW that one is a black hole. In order to reach this goal we carry out observations in the Optical, UV, IR and X-ray bands, and compare the observations to theoretical models. In the past year, our UV/VIS grant has provided partial support (mainly travel funds and page charges) for work we have done on X-ray nova containing black holes and neutron stars. We have been very successful in obtaining telescope time to support our project - we have completed approximately a dozen separate observing runs averaging 3 days each, using the MMT (5M), Lick 3M, KPNO 2.1M, CTIO 4M, CTIO 1.5M, and the SAO/WO 1.2M telescopes. These observations have allowed the identification of one new black hole (Nova Oph 1977), and allowed the mass of another to be measured (GS2000+25). Perhaps our most exciting new result is the evidence we have gathered for the existence of 'event horizons' in black hole X-ray nova.

Garcia, M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Slow-motion scattering and coalescence of maximally charged black holes

Systems consisting of several maximally charged, nonrotating black holes ('Reissner-Nordstrom' black holes) interacting with one another are studied. An effective action for the system in the slow-motion, fully strong-field regime is presented. An exact calculation of black-hole-black-hole scattering and coalescence in the slow-motion (but strong-field) limit is given.

Ferrell, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Truncation of the Inner Accretion Disk Around a Black Hole at Low Luminosity

Most black hole binaries show large changes in X-ray luminosity caused primarily by variations in mass accretion rate. An important question for understanding black hole accretion and jet production is whether the inner edge of the accretion disk recedes at low accretion rate. Measurements of the location of the inner edge (R(sub in)) can be made using iron emission lines that arise due to fluorescence of iron in the disk, and these indicate that R(sub in) is very close to the black hole at high and moderate luminosities (greater than approximately equal to 1% of the Eddington luminosity, L(sub Edd). Here, we report on X-ray observation of the black hole GX 339-4 in the hard state by Suzaku and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) that extend iron line studies to 0.14% L(sub Edd) and show that R(sub in) increases by a factor of greater than 27 over the value found when GX 339-4 was bright. The exact value of R(sub in) depends on the inclination of the inner disk (i), and we derive 90% confidence limits of R(sub in) greater than 35R(sub g) at i = 0 degrees and R(sub in) greater than 175R(sub g) at i = 30 degrees. This provides direct evidence that the inner portion of the disk is not present at low luminosity, allowing for the possibility that the inner disk is replaced by advection- or magnetically-dominated accretion flows.

Tomsick, John A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Truncation of the Inner Accretion Disk Around a Black Hole at Low Luminosity

Most black hole binaries show large changes in X-ray luminosity caused primarily by variations in mass accretion rate. An important question for understanding black hole accretion and jet production is whether the inner edge of the accretion disk recedes at low accretion rate. Measurements of the location of the inner edge (R(sub in)) can be made using iron emission lines that arise due to fluorescence of iron in the disk, and these indicate that R(sub in) is very close to the black hole at high and moderate luminosities (greater than or equal to 1% of the Eddington luminosity, L(sub Edd). Here, we report on X-ray observations of the black hole GX 339-4 in the hard state by Suzaku and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer that extend iron line studies to 0.14% L(sub Edd) and show that R(sub in) increases by a factor of greater than 27 over the value found when GX 339-4 was bright. The exact value of R(sub in) depends on the inclination of the inner disk (i), and we derive 90% confidence limits of R(sub in) greater than 35 R(sub g) at i = 0 degrees and R(sub in) greater than 175 R(sub g) at i = 30 degrees. This provides direct evidence that the inner portion of the disk is not present at low luminosity, allowing for the possibility that the inner disk is replaced by advection- or magnetically dominated accretion flows.

Tomsick, John A.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Super-Eddington Mechanical Power of an Accreting Black Hole in M83

Mass accretion onto black holes releases energy in the form of radiation and outflows. Although the radiative flux cannot substantially exceed the Eddington limit, at which the outgoing radiation pressure impedes the inflow of matter, it remains unclear whether the kinetic energy flux is bounded by this same limit. Here, we present the detection of a radio-optical structure, powered by outflows from a non-nuclear black hole. Its accretion disk properties indicate that this black hole is less than 100 solar masses. The optical-infrared line emission implies an average kinetic power of 3 × 10(exp 40) erg second(exp -1), higher than the Eddington luminosity of the black hole. These results demonstrate kinetic power exceeding the Eddington limit over a sustained period, which implies greater ability to influence the evolution of the black hole's environment.

uper-Eddington Mechanical Power↗
NASA NTRS2009

Merging Black Holes

The final merger of two black holes is expected to be the strongest gravitational wave source for ground-based interferometers such as LIGO, VIRGO, and GEO600, as well as the space-based LISA. Observing these sources with gravitational wave detectors requires that we know the radiation waveforms they emit. And, when the black holes merge in the presence of gas and magnetic fields, various types of electromagnetic signals may also be produced. Since these mergers take place in regions of extreme gravity, we need to solve Einstein's equations of general relativity on a computer. 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 simulations that are revealing the dynamics and waveforms of binary black hole mergers, and their applications in gravitational wave detection, testing general relativity, and astrophysics.

Centrella, John↗
NASA NTRS2006

Modeling Gravitational Radiation Waveforms from Black Hole Mergers

Gravitational radiation from merging binary black hole systems is anticipated as a key source for gravitational wave observations. Ground-based instruments, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) may observe mergers of stellar-scale black holes, while the space-based Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) observatory will be sensitive to mergers of massive galactic-center black holes over a broad range of mass scales. These cataclysmic events may emit an enormous amount of energy in a brief time. Gravitational waves from comparable mass mergers carry away a few percent of the system's mass-energy in just a few wave cycles, with peak gravitational wave luminosities on the order of 10^23 L_Sun. Optimal analysis and interpretation of merger observation data will depend on developing a detailed understanding, based on general relativistic modeling, of the radiation waveforms. We discuss recent progress in modeling radiation from equal mass mergers using numerical simulations of Einstein's gravitational field equations, known as numerical relativity. Our simulations utilize Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) to allow high-resolution near the black holes while simultaneously keeping the outer boundary of the computational domain far from the black holes, and making it possible to read out gravitational radiation waveforms in the weak-field wave zone. We discuss the results from simulations beginning with the black holes orbiting near the system's innermost stable orbit, comparing the recent simulations with earlier "Lazarus" waveform estimates based on an approximate hybrid numerical/perturbative technique.

Baker, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1983

High energy spectrum of spherically accreting black holes

Spherically accreting black holes may sustain strong collisionless shocks, downstream of which the fluid approximation is not valid. The proton-electron Coulomb exchange provides for the downstream matter diffusion into the hole. Energy conversion efficiencies upward of 10-30 percent are obtained, with most of the luminosity in hard X-rays and gamma-rays. The whole spectrum and its application for radio-quiet QSO's and galactic X- and gamma-ray sources are discussed.

Meszaros, P.↗
NASA NTRS2019

A New Class of Flares from Accreting Supermassive Black Holes

Accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can exhibit variable emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and over a broad range of timescales. The variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the ultraviolet and optical is usually at the few tens of per cent level over timescales of hours to weeks1. Recently, rare, more dramatic changes to the emission from accreting SMBHs have been observed, including tidal disruption events2,3,4,5, ‘changing look’ AGNs6,7,8,9 and other extreme variability objects10,11. The physics behind the ‘re-ignition’, enhancement and ‘shut-down’ of accretion onto SMBHs is not entirely understood. Here we present a rapid increase in ultraviolet–optical emission in the centre of a nearby galaxy, marking the onset of sudden increased accretion onto a SMBH. The optical spectrum of this flare, dubbed AT 2017bgt, exhibits a mix of emission features. Some are typical of luminous, unobscured AGNs, but others are likely driven by Bowen fluorescence—robustly linked here with high-velocity gas in the vicinity of the accreting SMBH. The spectral features and increased ultraviolet flux show little evolution over a period of at least 14 months. This disfavours the tidal disruption of a star as their origin, and instead suggests a longer-term event of intensified accretion. Together with two other recently reported events with similar properties, we define a new class of SMBH-related flares. This has important implications for the classification of different types of enhanced accretion onto SMBHs.

Benny Trakhtenbrot↗