Lecture notes on black hole binary astrophysics

Abstract

We describe some key astrophysical processes driving the formation and evolution of black hole binaries of different nature, from stellar-mass to supermassive systems. In the first part, we focus on the mainstream channels proposed for the formation of stellar mass binaries relevant to ground-based gravitational wave detectors, namely the {\it field} and the {\it dynamical} scenarios. For the field scenario, we highlight the relevant steps in the evolution of the binary, including mass transfer, supernovae explosions and kicks, common envelope and gravitational wave emission. For the dynamical scenario, we describe the main physical processes involved in the formation of star clusters and the segregation of black holes in their centres. We then identify the dynamical processes leading to binary formation, including three-body capture, exchanges and hardening. The second part of the notes is devoted to massive black hole formation and evolution, including the physics leading to mass accretion and binary formation. Throughout the notes, we provide several step-by-step pedagogical derivations, that should be particularly suited to undergraduates and PhD students, but also to gravitational wave physicists interested in approaching the subject of gravitational wave sources from an astrophysical perspective.

77 pages, 11 figures. Lecture notes based on the course "Black hole astrophysics" taught by Alberto Sesana in the "School on Gravitational Waves for Cosmology and Astrophysics" at the Centro de Ciencias de Benasque - Pedro Pascual in June 2017

References in corpus (20)

• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
• GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2
• Theory of Star Formation
• GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• GW170608: Observation of a 19-solar-mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes by Direct Collapse in Pregalactic Halos
• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• MOCCA-SURVEY Database I: Coalescing Binary Black Holes Originating From Globular Clusters
• Formation of the first nuclear clusters and massive black holes at high redshift
• Dynamics of stellar black holes in young star clusters with different metallicities - II. Black hole-black hole binaries
• The structure of the nuclear stellar cluster of the Milky Way
• Super-Critical Growth of Massive Black Holes from Stellar-Mass Seeds
• Investigating stellar-mass black hole kicks
• The cosmic merger rate of neutron stars and black holes
• Constraining stellar binary black hole formation scenarios with eLISA eccentricity measurements
• A consistent measure of the merger histories of massive galaxies using close-pair statistics I: Major mergers at $z<3.5$
• Inferences about supernova physics from gravitational-wave measurements: GW151226 spin misalignment as an indicator of strong black-hole natal kicks
• Linking the fate of massive black hole binaries to the active galactic nuclei luminosity function
• The impact of metallicity-dependent mass loss versus dynamical heating on the early evolution of star clusters

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Searching for Eccentricity: Signatures of Dynamical Formation in the First Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalogue of LIGO and Virgo
• Measuring eccentricity of binary black holes in GWTC-1 by using inspiral-only waveform
• The two phases of core formation -- orbital evolution in the centres of ellipticals with supermassive black hole binaries
• Do ultra compact dwarf galaxies form monolithically or as merged star cluster complexes?
• Dynamically Formed Black Hole Binaries: In-Cluster Versus Ejected Mergers
• The (Black Hole Mass)-(Spheroid Stellar Density) Relations: $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$--$\mu$ (and $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$--$\Sigma$) and $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$--$\rho$
• Motion of localized sources in general relativity: gravitational self-force from quasilocal conservation laws
• On the mass-function of GWTC-2 binary black hole systems and their progenitors
• Gravitational Waves from Black Holes in Merging Ultra-Dwarf Galaxies
• The Einstein Toolkit: A Student's Guide
• Advantages of Including Globular Cluster Millisecond Pulsars in Pulsar Timing Arrays