Gravitational wave emission from binary supermassive black holes

Abstract

Massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) are unavoidable outcomes of the hierarchical structure formation process, and according to the theory of general relativity are expected to be the loudest gravitational wave (GW) sources in the Universe. In this article I provide a broad overview of MBHBs as GW sources. After reviewing the basics of GW emission from binary systems and of MBHB formation, evolution and dynamics, I describe in some details the connection between binary properties and the emitted gravitational waveform. Direct GW observations will provide an unprecedented wealth of information about the physical nature and the astrophysical properties of these extreme objects, allowing to reconstruct their cosmic history, dynamics and coupling with their dense stellar and gas environment. In this context I describe ongoing and future efforts to make a direct detection with space based interferometry and pulsar timing arrays, highlighting the invaluable scientific payouts of such enterprises.

26 pages, 9 figures, invited article for the focus issue on astrophysical black holes in Classical and Quantum Gravity, guest editors: D. Merritt and L. Rezzolla. Submitted

References in corpus (52)

• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• Revisiting the Scaling Relations of Black Hole Masses and Host Galaxy Properties
• Detector configuration of KAGRA - the Japanese cryogenic gravitational-wave detector
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes by Direct Collapse in Pregalactic Halos
• Use and Abuse of the Fisher Information Matrix in the Assessment of Gravitational-Wave Parameter-Estimation Prospects
• The stochastic gravitational-wave background from massive black hole binary systems: implications for observations with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array Project
• Low-frequency gravitational-wave science with eLISA/NGO
• Measuring Black Hole Spin using X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy
• The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves
• Massive black hole binary mergers within sub-pc scale gas discs
• Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves
• The Population of Viscosity- and Gravitational Wave-Driven Supermassive Black Hole Binaries Among Luminous AGN
• Formation of the first nuclear clusters and massive black holes at high redshift
• Placing limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave background using European Pulsar Timing Array data
• The (black hole mass)-(host spheroid luminosity) relation at high and low masses, the quadratic growth of black holes, and intermediate-mass black hole candidates
• The Epoch of Disk Settling: z~1 to Now
• Effective-one-body waveforms calibrated to numerical relativity simulations: coalescence of non-spinning, equal-mass black holes
• Interaction of massive black hole binaries with their stellar environment: I. Ejection of hypervelocity stars
• Systematic investigation of the expected gravitational wave signal from supermassive black hole binaries in the pulsar timing band
• Limiting eccentricity of sub-parsec massive black hole binaries surrounded by self-gravitating gas discs
• On measuring the gravitational-wave background using Pulsar Timing Arrays
• The imprint of massive black hole formation models on the LISA data stream
• Gravitational wave astronomy of single sources with a pulsar timing array
• Fast coalescence of massive black hole binaries from mergers of galactic nuclei: implications for low-frequency gravitational-wave astrophysics
• Gravitational-wave Limits from Pulsar Timing Constrain Supermassive Black Hole Evolution
• Accurate Effective-One-Body waveforms of inspiralling and coalescing black-hole binaries
• Characterising gravitational wave stochastic background anisotropy with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Massive black hole binaries: dynamical evolution and observational signatures
• Reconstructing the massive black hole cosmic history through gravitational waves
• Measuring the parameters of massive black hole binary systems with Pulsar Timing Array observations of gravitational waves
• Self consistent model for the evolution of eccentric massive black hole binaries in stellar environments: implications for gravitational wave observations
• The Gravitational Universe
• Multimessenger astronomy with pulsar timing and X-ray observations of massive black hole binaries
• On the orientation and magnitude of the black hole spin in galactic nuclei
• Searching For Anisotropic Gravitational-wave Backgrounds Using Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Search for Gravitational Waves from Binary Black Hole Inspiral, Merger and Ringdown in LIGO-Virgo Data from 2009-2010
• Resolving multiple supermassive black hole binaries with pulsar timing arrays
• Growing Massive Black Hole Pairs in Minor Mergers of Disk Galaxies
• Optimal strategies for continuous gravitational wave detection in pulsar timing arrays
• Insights on the astrophysics of supermassive black hole binaries from pulsar timing observations
• Does a 'stochastic' background of gravitational waves exist in the pulsar timing band?
• Long-Term Evolution of Massive Black Hole Binaries. III. Binary Evolution in Collisional Nuclei
• Kinematic Signatures of Bulges Correlate with Bulge Morphologies and Sérsic Index
• Electromagnetic counterparts of supermassive black hole binaries resolved by pulsar timing arrays
• Pulsar Timing Array Analysis for Black Hole Backgrounds
• On the hunt for ultramassive black holes in brightest cluster galaxies
• Resolving multiple supermassive black hole binaries with pulsar timing arrays II: genetic algorithm implementation
• Origin and Implications of high eccentricities in massive black hole binaries at sub-pc scales
• Probing white dwarf interiors with LISA: periastron precession in double white dwarfs
• Analytical meets numerical relativity - status of complete gravitational waveform models for binary black holes
• Detecting massive black hole binaries and unveiling their cosmic history with gravitational wave observations

Cited by in corpus (40)

• Search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array
• A study of spatial correlations in pulsar timing array data
• Massive black hole binary systems and the NANOGrav 12.5 year results
• Constraining the Solution to the Last Parsec Problem with Pulsar Timing
• Limits on anisotropy in the nanohertz stochastic gravitational-wave background
• A Survey of Disc Thickness and Viscosity in Circumbinary Accretion: Binary Evolution, Variability, and Disc Morphology
• Radio-Selected Binary Active Galactic Nuclei from the Very Large Array Stripe 82 Survey
• Gravitational wave research using pulsar timing arrays
• Appreciating mergers for understanding the non-linear $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{spheroid}}$ and $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{galaxy}}$ relations, updated herein, and the implications for the (reduced) role of AGN feedback
• Accelerated Bayesian model-selection and parameter-estimation in continuous gravitational-wave searches with pulsar-timing arrays
• Deep Chandra Observations of the Compact Starburst Galaxy Henize 2-10: X-rays from the Massive Black Hole
• Pulsars probe the low-frequency gravitational sky: Pulsar Timing Arrays basics and recent results
• Practical approaches to analyzing PTA data: Cosmic strings with six pulsars
• Kinematic signatures of reverberation mapping of close binaries of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei
• A declining major merger fraction with redshift in the local Universe from the largest-yet catalog of major and minor mergers in SDSS
• The quest for the largest depleted galaxy core: supermassive black hole binaries and stalled in-falling satellites
• Gravitational Wave Hotspots: Ranking Potential Locations of Single-Source Gravitational Wave Emission
• Status Report on Global Pulsar-Timing-Array Efforts to Detect Gravitational Waves
• Seeding supermassive black holes with a non-vortical dark-matter subcomponent
• Optical follow-up of the tick-tock massive black hole binary candidate
• Invoking the virial theorem to understand the impact of (dry) mergers on the $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$\sigma$ relation
• Generalized optimal statistic for characterizing multiple correlated signals in pulsar timing arrays
• Using Pulsar Parameter Drifts to Detect Sub-Nanohertz Gravitational Waves
• On Detecting Nearby Nano-Hertz Gravitational Wave Sources via Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Radio Crickets: Chirping Jets from Black Hole Binaries Entering their Gravitational Wave Inspiral
• Orbit classification in an equal-mass non-spinning binary black hole pseudo-Newtonian system
• Stars or gas? Constraining the hardening processes of massive black-hole binaries with LISA
• Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era -- A review
• Gravitational waves from an SMBH binary in M87
• High-energy signatures of binary systems of supermassive black holes
• Separating deterministic and stochastic gravitational wave signals in realistic pulsar timing array datasets
• Non-adiabatic dynamics of eccentric black-hole binaries in post-Newtonian theory
• Tilt-To-Length Coupling in LISA -- Uncertainty and Biases
• Solar System Ephemerides, Pulsar Timing, Gravitational Waves, and Navigation
• Impact of the observation frequency coverage on the significance of a gravitational wave background detection in PTA data
• Detectability of dark matter density distribution via gravitational waves from binary black holes in the Galactic center
• Anisotropy of Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Background and Source Clustering from Supermassive Binary Black Holes Based on Cosmological Simulation
• Description and Application of the Surfing Effect
• Quantum Search for Gravitational Wave of Massive Black Hole Binaries
• Upper limits on microhertz gravitational waves from supermassive black-hole binaries using PSR J1909-3744 data from the second IPTA data release