Detecting Offset Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract

Gravitational wave (GW) and gravitational slingshot recoil kicks, which are natural products of SMBH evolution in merging galaxies, can produce active galactic "nuclei" that are offset from the centers of their host galaxies. Detections of offset AGN would provide key constraints on SMBH binary mass and spin evolution and on GW event rates. Although numerous offset AGN candidates have been identified, none have been definitively confirmed. Multi-wavelength observations with next-generation telescopes, including systematic large-area surveys, will provide unprecedented opportunities to identify and confirm candidate offset AGN from sub-parsec to kiloparsec scales. We highlight ways in which these observations will open a new avenue for multi-messenger studies in the dawn of low-frequency (~ nHz - mHz) GW astronomy.

arXiv commentScience White Paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1810.06609

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• Astrometric Jitter as a Detection Diagnostic for Recoiling and Slingshot Supermassive Black Hole Candidates
• Recoiling supermassive black holes in analytical and numerical galaxy potential