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At least 739 records · Page 41
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Logarithmic corrections to black hole entropy from Kerr/CFT

It has been shown by A. Sen that logarithmic corrections to the black hole area-entropy law are entirely determined macroscopically from the massless particle spectrum. They therefore serve as powerful consistency checks on any proposed enumeration of quantum black hole microstates. Furthermore, Sen’s results include a macroscopic computation of the logarithmic corrections for a five-dimensional near extremal Kerr-Newman black hole. We compute these corrections microscopically using a stringy embedding of the Kerr/CFT correspondence and find perfect agreement.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1997

Spectral and temporal properties of the black hole candidate systems

Observations of Galactic, and extragalactic black hole candidates show that their spectra can be fitted by the thermal Comptonization spectra in the hard state and two components in the soft state. The first component is a black body shape spectrum and the second component is an extended power law with a spectral index of between 1 and 2. The spectral formation of Comptonized spectra in the presence of thermal and bulk motion is considered. In the soft state, when the disk luminosity is high, the emission region temperature is low. In the limit of low plasma temperature, the theoretical spectrum consists of two components: the soft input photons escaping without significant energy change, and a power law that extends to high energies. The spectral index is in the range between 1 and 2, depending on the mass accretion rate. The extended power law is the result of upscattering of soft disk photons in the bulk flow which takes place in the vicinity of the black hole. In the hard state, the disk luminosity is low, the electron temperature of the emission region is high and the thermal Comptonization is the dominant process in the formation of the resulting spectrum.

Titarchuk, Lev↗
DOE OSTI2022

Contracting and Expanding Binary Black Holes in 3D Low-mass AGN Disks: The Importance of Separation

LIGO/Virgo has detected several binary black hole (BBH) merger events that may have originated in the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). These events require individual black hole masses that fall within the pair instability supernova mass gap, and therefore these black holes may have been grown from hierarchical mergers. AGN disks are a prime environment for hierarchical mergers and thus a potential location for the progenitors of BBH gravitational wave events. Understanding how a BBH embedded in an AGN disk interacts with the surrounding environment is thus crucial for determining whether this interaction can lead to its merger. However, there are few high-fidelity simulations of this process, and almost all are two-dimensional. We present the results from 3D, high-resolution, local shearing-box simulations of an embedded BBH interacting with an AGN disk. In these first simulations of their kind, we focus on determining the mass accretion rate and the orbital evolution rate at different BBH separations. We find that circular, equal-mass BBHs with separations greater than 10% of their Hill radius contract while accreting at a super-Eddington rate. At smaller separations, however, our 3D simulations find that BBHs expand their orbits. This result suggests that it may be difficult for an AGN disk to push a BBH to merger, but we discuss several mechanisms, including MHD turbulence and radiative and mechanical feedback, which could alleviate this difficulty.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Numerical and experimental study of Lamb wave propagation in a two-dimensional acoustic black hole

The propagation of laser-generated Lamb waves in a two-dimensional acoustic black-hole structure was studied numerically and experimentally. The geometrical acoustic theory has been applied to calculate the beam trajectories in the region of the acoustic black hole. The finite element method was also used to study the time evolution of propagating waves. An optical system based on the laser-Doppler vibration method was assembled. The effect of the focusing wave and the reduction in wave speed of the acoustic black hole has been validated.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Semiclassical S-matrix for black holes

In this study, we propose a semiclassical method to calculate S-matrix elements for two-stage gravitational transitions involving matter collapse into a black hole and evaporation of the latter. The method consistently incorporates back-reaction of the collapsing and emitted quanta on the metric. We illustrate the method in several toy models describing spherical self-gravitating shells in asymptotically flat and AdS space-times. We find that electrically neutral shells reflect via the above collapse-evaporation process with probability exp(–B), where B is the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the intermediate black hole. This is consistent with interpretation of exp(B) as the number of black hole states. The same expression for the probability is obtained in the case of charged shells if one takes into account instability of the Cauchy horizon of the intermediate Reissner-Nordström black hole. As a result, our semiclassical method opens a new systematic approach to the gravitational S-matrix in the non-perturbative regime.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

The superconformal index and black hole instabilities

The superconformal index of $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with gauge group U(N) has provided powerful insights into the entropy of supersymmetric black holes in AdS 5 × S 5 , including some sub-leading logarithmic and non-perturbative corrections. Recently, the phase space of supersymmetric solutions has been argued to contain configurations other than the asymptotically AdS 5 black hole. Such configurations include the so-called grey galaxies where the black hole at the center is surrounded by a gas of gravitons. By numerically evaluating the superconformal index of $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills at small values of N, we detect systematic deviations from the entropy of black holes with two distinct angular momenta. We find that the giant graviton expansion of the index is a numerically efficient way of evaluating the index that complements the direct character evaluation and allows for explicit access to N ≤ 15 with up to two giant gravitons in the expansion. We find it remarkable that a supersymmetric quantity in field theory, usually thought of as a rigid counting observable, indeed contains information about different phases in the space of supersymmetric solutions on the gravity side.

AdS-CFT correspondence↗
NASA NTRS1997

Line Emission from an Accretion Disk Around a Rotating Black Hole: Toward a Measurement of Frame Dragging

Line emission from an accretion disk and a corotating hot spot about a rotating black hole are considered for possible signatures of the frame-dragging effect. We explicitly compare integrated line profiles from a geometrically thin disk about a Schwarzschild and an extreme Kerr black hole, and show that the line profile differences are small if the inner radius of the disk is near or above the Schwarzschild stable-orbit limit of radius 6GM/sq c. However, if the inner disk radius extends below this limit, as is Possible in the extreme Kerr spacetime, then differences can become significant, especially if the disk emissivity is stronger near the inner regions. We demonstrate that the first three moments of a line profile define a three-dimensional space in which the presence of material at small radii becomes quantitatively evident in broad classes of disk models. In the context of the simple, thin disk paradigm, this moment-mapping scheme suggests formally that the iron line detected by the Advanced Satellite,for Cosmology and Astrophysics mission from MCG --6-30-15 (Tanaka et al.) is approximately 3 times more likely to originate from a disk about a rotating black hole than from a Schwarzschild system. A statistically significant detection of black hole rotation in this way may be achieved after only modest improvements in the quality of data. We also consider light curves and frequency shifts in line emission as a function of time for corotating hot spots in extreme Kerr and Schwarzschild geometries. The frequency-shift profile is a valuable measure of orbital parameters and might possibly be used to detect frame dragging even at radii approaching 6GM/sq c if the inclination angle of the orbital plane is large. The light curve from a hot spot shows differences as well, although these too are pronounced only at large inclination angles.

Bromley, Benjamin C.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Constraints on black hole masses with timescales of variations in blazars

In this paper, we investigated the issue of black hole masses and minimum timescales of jet emission for blazars. We proposed a sophisticated model that sets an upper limit to the central black hole masses M{sub ∙} with the minimum timescales Δt{sub min}{sup ob} of variations observed in blazars. The value of Δt{sub min}{sup ob} presents an upper limit to the size of the blob in the jet. The blob is assumed to be generated in the jet-production region in the vicinity of the black hole, and then the expanding blob travels outward along the jet. We applied the model to 32 blazars, 29 of which were detected in gamma-rays by satellites, and these Δt{sub min}{sup ob} are on the order of hours, with large variability amplitudes. In general, the M{sub ∙} estimated with this method are not inconsistent with those masses reported in the literature. This model is natural for connecting M{sub ∙} with Δt{sub min}{sup ob} for blazars, and seems to be applicable in constraining M{sub ∙} in the central engines of blazars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

AGNs and Their Host Galaxies in the Local Universe: Two Mass-independent Eddington Ratio Distribution Functions Characterize Black Hole Growth

We use a phenomenological model to show that black hole growth in the local universe (z≲0.1) can be described by two separate, mass-independent Eddington ratio distribution functions (ERDFs). We assume that black holes can be divided into two independent groups: those with radiatively efficient accretion, primarily hosted by optically blue and green galaxies, and those with radiatively inefficient accretion, which are mainly found in red galaxies. With observed galaxy stellar mass functions as input, we show that the observed active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity functions can be reproduced by using mass-independent, broken power-law-shaped ERDFs. We use the observed hard X-ray and 1.4 GHz radio luminosity functions to constrain the ERDF for radiatively efficient and inefficient AGNs, respectively. We also test alternative ERDF shapes and mass-dependent models. Our results are consistent with a mass-independent AGN fraction and AGN hosts being randomly drawn from the galaxy population. We argue that the ERDF is not shaped by galaxy-scale effects, but by how efficiently material can be transported from the inner few parsecs to the accretion disc. Our results are incompatible with the simplest form of mass quenching where massive galaxies host higher accretion rate AGNs. Furthermore, if reaching a certain Eddington ratio is a sufficient condition for maintenance mode, it can occur in all red galaxies, not just the most massive ones.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

GA-NIFS and EIGER: A merging quasar host at z = 7 with an overmassive black hole

The James Webb Space Telescope is revolutionising our ability to understand the host galaxies and local environments of high-z quasars. Here we obtain a comprehensive understanding of the host galaxy of the z = 7.08 quasar J1120+0641 by combining NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy with NIRCam photometry of the host continuum emission. Our emission-line maps reveal that this quasar host is undergoing a merger with a bright companion galaxy. The quasar host and the companion have similar dynamical masses of ∼10 10 M ⊙ , suggesting that this is a major galaxy interaction. Through detailed quasar subtraction and SED fitting using the NIRCam data, we obtained an estimate of the host stellar mass of M ∗ = (3.0 −1.4 +2.5 ) × 10 9 M ⊙ , with M ∗ = (2.7 −0.5 +0.5 ) × 10 9 M ⊙ for the companion galaxy. Using the Hβ Balmer line, we estimated a virial black hole mass of M BH = (1.9 −1.1 +2.9 ) × 109 M ⊙ . Thus, J1120+0641 has an extreme black hole–stellar mass ratio of M BH /M ∗ = 0.63 −0.31 +0.54 , which is ∼3 dex larger than expected by the local scaling relations between black hole and stellar mass. J1120+0641 is powered by an overmassive black hole with the highest reported black hole–stellar mass ratio in a quasar host that is currently undergoing a major merger. These new insights highlight the power of JWST for measuring and understanding these extreme first quasars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Holographic black hole chemistry

Thermodynamic quantities associated with black holes in Anti-de Sitter space obey an interesting identity when the cosmological constant is included as one of the dynamical variables, the generalized Smarr relation. Here, we show that this relation can easily be understood from the point of view of the dual holographic field theory. It amounts to the simple statement that the extensive thermodynamic quantities of a large N gauge theory only depend on the number of colors, N , via an overall factor of N 2 .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Collapsar Black Holes Are Likely Born Slowly Spinning

Collapsing stars constitute the main black hole (BH) formation channel, and are occasionally associated with the launch of relativistic jets that power γ-ray bursts (GRBs). Thus, collapsars offer an opportunity to infer the natal (before spin-up/down by accretion) BH spin directly from observations. We show that once the BH saturates with a large-scale magnetic flux, the jet power is dictated by the BH spin and mass accretion rate. Core-collapse simulations by Halevi et al. and GRB observations favor stellar density profiles that yield an accretion rate of $\dot m\approx 10^{-2} M_{\odot}s^{-1}$, weakly dependent on time. This leaves the spin as the main factor that governs the jet power. By comparing the jet power to characteristic GRB luminosities, we find that the majority of BHs associated with jets are likely born slowly spinning with a dimensionless spin of a ≃ 0.2, or a ≃ 0.5 for wobbling jets, with the main uncertainty originating in the unknown γ-ray radiative efficiency. This result could be applied to the entire core-collapse BH population, unless an anticorrelation between the stellar magnetic field and angular momentum is present. In a companion paper, Jacquemin-Ide et al., we show that regardless of the natal spin, the extraction of BH rotational energy leads to spin-down to a ≲ 0.2, consistent with gravitational-wave observations. We verify our results by performing the first 3D general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of collapsar jets with characteristic GRB energies, powered by slowly spinning BHs. We find that jets of typical GRB power struggle to escape from the star, providing the first numerical indication that many jets fail to generate a GRB.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A normal supermassive black hole in NGC 1277

The identification of galaxies with {sup o}verly massive{sup }black holes requires two measurements: a black hole mass (Mbh) and a host spheroid mass.Here we provide our measurements for NGC 1277. Our structural decomposition reveals that NGC 1277 is dominated by a {sup c}lassical{sup }spheroid with a Sérsic index n = 5.3, a half-light radius, and a stellar mass of 2.7 x 10{sup 11} M{sub ☉} (using M{sub *}/L{sub V} = 11.65, Martín-Navarro et al.). Our new kinematical maps obtained from laser guide star assisted, adaptive optics on the Keck I Telescope dramatically reaffirm the presence of the inner, nearly edge-on, disk seen in the galaxy image.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2006

Modelling Gravitational Radiation from Binary Black Holes

The final merger and coalescence of binary black holes is a key source of strong gravitational waves for the LISA mission. Observing these systems will allow us to probe the formation of cosmic structure to high redshifts and test general relativity directly in the strong-field, dynamical regime. Recently, major breakthroughs have been made in modeling black hole mergers using numerical relativity. This talk will survey these exciting developments, focusing on the gravitational waveforms and the recoil kicks produced from non-equal mass mergers.

Centrella, Joan↗
DOE OSTI2015

Never judge a black hole by its area

Christodoulou and Rovelli have shown that black holes have large interiors that grow asymptotically linearly in advanced time, and speculated that this may be relevant to the information loss paradox. We show that there is no simple relation between the interior volume of an arbitrary black hole and its horizon area. That is, the volume enclosed is not necessarily a monotonically increasing function of the surface area.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Perturbation of a Schwarzschild Black Hole Due to a Rotating Thin Disk

Will, in 1974, treated the perturbation of a Schwarzschild black hole due to a slowly rotating, light, concentric thin ring by solving the perturbation equations in terms of a multipole expansion of the mass-and-rotation perturbation series. In the Schwarzschild background, his approach can be generalized to perturbation by a thin disk (which is more relevant astrophysically), but, due to rather bad convergence properties, the resulting expansions are not suitable for specific (numerical) computations. However, we show that Green’s functions, represented by Will’s result, can be expressed in closed form (without multipole expansion), which is more useful. In particular, they can be integrated out over the source (a thin disk in our case) to yield good converging series both for the gravitational potential and for the dragging angular velocity. The procedure is demonstrated, in the first perturbation order, on the simplest case of a constant-density disk, including the physical interpretation of the results in terms of a one-component perfect fluid or a two-component dust in a circular orbit about the central black hole. Free parameters are chosen in such a way that the resulting black hole has zero angular momentum but non-zero angular velocity, as it is just carried along by the dragging effect of the disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Signals of primordial black holes at gravitational wave interferometers

Primordial black holes (PBHs) can form as a result of primordial scalar perturbations at small scales. This PBH formation scenario has associated gravitational wave (GW) signatures from second-order GWs induced by the primordial curvature perturbation, and from GWs produced during an early PBH dominated era. We investigate the ability of next generation GW experiments, including BBO, LISA, and CE, to probe this PBH formation scenario in a wide mass range. Measuring the stochastic GW background with GW observatories can constrain the allowed parameter space of PBHs for masses 10 9 – 10 27 g. We also discuss possible GW sources from an unconstrained region where light PBHs (< 10 9 g) temporarily dominate the energy density of the universe before evaporating. Here we show how PBH formation impacts the reach of GW observatories to the primordial power spectrum and provide constraints implied by existing PBH bounds.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Revisiting formation of primordial black holes in a supercooled first-order phase transition

We reexamine production of primordial black holes in a supercooled phase transition. While a mere overdensity associated with a surviving false-vacuum patch does not imply formation of a black hole, it is possible for such a patch to evolve and create a black hole, thanks to the gradient energy stored in the bubble wall. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗