Authenticating the Presence of a Relativistic Massive Black Hole Binary in OJ 287 Using its General Relativity Centenary Flare: Improved Orbital Parameters

Abstract

Results from regular monitoring of relativistic compact binaries like PSR 1913+16 are consistent with the dominant (quadrupole) order emission of gravitational waves (GWs). We show that observations associated with the binary black hole central engine of blazar OJ 287 demand the inclusion of gravitational radiation reaction effects beyond the quadrupolar order. It turns out that even the effects of certain hereditary contributions to GW emission are required to predict impact flare timings of OJ 287. We develop an approach that incorporates this effect into the binary black hole model for OJ~287. This allows us to demonstrate an excellent agreement between the observed impact flare timings and those predicted from ten orbital cycles of the binary black hole central engine model. The deduced rate of orbital period decay is nine orders of magnitude higher than the observed rate in PSR 1913+16, demonstrating again the relativistic nature of OJ 287's central engine. Finally, we argue that precise timing of the predicted 2019 impact flare should allow a test of the celebrated black hole "no-hair theorem" at the 10% level.

24 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

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• MOMO IV: The complete Swift X-ray and UV/optical light curve and characteristic variability of the blazar OJ 287 during the last two decades
• Refining the 2022 OJ 287 impact flare arrival epoch
• Multi-wavelength Analysis and Modeling of OJ 287 During 2017-2020
• A Multi-wavelength View of OJ 287 Activity in 2015-2017: Implications of Spectral Changes on Central-engine Models and MeV-GeV Emission Mechanism
• Long Term Multi-band Near Infra-Red Variability of the Blazar OJ 287 during 2007--2021
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• Extending the frequency reach of pulsar timing array based gravitational wave search without high cadence observations
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• Quasi-simultaneous Optical Flux and Polarization Variability of the Binary Super Massive Black Hole Blazar OJ 287 from 2015 to 2023: Detection of an Anticorrelation in Flux and Polarization Variability
• The variability of blazars throughout the electromagnetic spectrum
• Spectral States of OJ 287 blazar from Multi-wavelength Observations with $AstroSat$
• A hadronic emission model for black hole-disc impacts in the blazar OJ 287
• MOMO V. Effelsberg, Swift and Fermi study of the blazar and supermassive binary black hole candidate OJ 287 in a period of high activity
• Revisiting the 2PN pericentre precession in view of possible future measurements of it
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• Stringent constraints on the light boson model with supermassive black hole spin measurements
• Blazar OJ 287 After First VHE Activity: Tracking the Re-emergence of the HBL like Component in 2020
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• Orbit Tomography of Binary Supermassive Black Holes with Very Long Baseline Interferometry
• On the need of an ultramassive black hole in OJ 287
• Dark Matter Constraints from the Eccentric Supermassive Black Hole Binary OJ 287
• Clues on the nature of the quasi-periodic optical outbursts of the blazar OJ 287
• Revealing a ribbon-like jet in OJ 287 with RadioAstron
• Unveiling the Bent Jet Structure and Polarization of OJ 287 at 1.7 GHz with Space VLBI
• Observational Implications of OJ 287's Predicted 2022 Disk Impact in the Black Hole Binary Model
• A comprehensive study of 2019-2020 flare of OJ 287 using AstroSat, Swift, and NuSTAR
• Host galaxy magnitude of OJ 287 from its colours at minimum light
• Probing AGN jet precession with LISA
• A relativistic orbit model for temporal properties of AGN
• Decade-long periodicity study of 2FHL blazars with historical optical data
• Spin contribution to the perihelion precession in binary systems like OJ287: higher order corrections
• Detection of eccentric close-binary supermassive black holes with incomplete interferometric data
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• Probing Boson Clouds with Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
• Unveiling the Cosmic Dance of Repeated Nuclear Transient ASASSN-14ko: Insights from Multiwavelength Observations
• Exploration of the origin of 2020 X-ray outburst in OJ 287
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• The Unique Blazar OJ 287 and its Massive Binary Black Hole Central Engine
• Accretion of self-interacting dark matter onto supermassive black holes