Eccentric Binaries in Retrograde Disks

Abstract

Modern numerical hydrodynamics tools have recently enabled detailed examinations of binaries accreting from prograde circumbinary disks. These have re-framed the current understanding of binary-disk interactions and disk driven orbital evolution. We present the first full-domain grid-based hydrodynamics simulations of equal-mass, eccentric binaries accreting from retrograde circumbinary disks. We study binary eccentricities that span $e=0.0$ to $e=0.8$ continuously, and explore the influence of retrograde accretion on the binary orbital response, disk morphology, and observational properties. We find that, at all eccentricities, retrograde accretion shrinks the binary semi-major axis and pumps its eccentricity leading to the previously identified possibility of highly eccentric mergers. Contrary to past studies and models, we observe gravitational forces to dominate the binary's orbital evolution as opposed to the physical accretion of mass and momentum. Retrograde accretion variability also differs strongly from prograde solutions. Preeminently, binaries with $e>0.55$ reveal a unique two-period, double-peaked accretion signature that has not previously been identified. We additionally find evidence for the emergence of retrograde Lindblad resonances at large eccentricities in accordance with predictions from linear theory. Our results suggest that some astrophysical binaries for which retrograde accretion is possible will experience factors-of-a-few times faster orbital decay than in prograde disks and will have their eccentricities pumped beyond the limits found from prograde solutions. Such effects could lead to rapid inward migration for some young stellar binaries, the detection of highly-eccentric LISA mergers, and the tentatively observed turnover at the low-frequency end of the gravitational wave background.

arXiv comment17 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (55)

• The NANOGrav 15-year Data Set: Evidence for a Gravitational-Wave Background
• Search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array
• Searching for the nano-Hertz stochastic gravitational wave background with the Chinese Pulsar Timing Array Data Release I
• Planet-disk interaction and orbital evolution
• Massive black hole binary mergers within sub-pc scale gas discs
• An Eccentric Circumbinary Accretion Disk and the Detection of Binary Massive Black Holes
• Kepler-47: A Transiting Circumbinary Multi-Planet System
• Binary Black Hole Accretion From a Circumbinary Disk: Gas Dynamics Inside the Central Cavity
• Chaotic star formation and the alignment of stellar rotation with disc and planetary orbital axes
• Long Term Evolution of Massive Black Hole Binaries
• B-Mode contamination by synchrotron emission from 3-years WMAP data
• Three Dimensional MHD Simulation of Circumbinary Accretion Disks: Disk Structures and Angular Momentum Transport
• Accretion into the Central Cavity of a Circumbinary Disk
• Hydrodynamics of circumbinary accretion: Angular momentum transfer and binary orbital evolution
• Viscous Hydrodynamics Simulations of Circumbinary Accretion Discs: Variability, Quasi-Steady State, and Angular Momentum Transfer
• Black hole mergers: can gas discs solve the `final parsec' problem?
• Binary Black Hole Accretion Flows in Merged Galactic Nuclei
• Hydrodynamic Torques in Circumbinary Accretion Disks
• On the orbital evolution of supermassive black hole binaries with circumbinary accretion discs
• The late inspiral of supermassive black hole binaries with circumbinary gas discs in the LISA band
• Gas-driven inspiral of binaries in thin accretion disks
• Observational Signatures of Binary Supermassive Black Holes
• Binary Black Hole Accretion During Inspiral and Merger
• Retrograde Accretion and Merging Supermassive Black Holes
• Orbital Evolution of Equal-mass Eccentric Binaries due to a Gas Disk: Eccentric Inspirals and Circular Outspirals
• Three Dimensional MHD Simulation of Circumbinary Accretion Disks -2. Net Accretion Rate
• The second data release from the European Pulsar Timing Array: IV. Implications for massive black holes, dark matter and the early Universe
• Equilibrium eccentricity of accreting binaries
• Pulsed Accretion onto Eccentric and Circular Binaries
• Feeding SMBHs through supersonic turbulence and ballistic accretion
• Massive Black Hole binaries in gas-rich galaxy mergers; multiple regimes of orbital decay and interplay with gas inflows
• Orbital Evolution of Binaries in Circumbinary Disks
• Gas flow and accretion via spiral streamers and circumstellar disks in a young binary protostar
• Precession and accretion in circumbinary discs: The case of HD 104237
• Minidisks in Binary Black Hole Accretion
• The final parsec problem: aligning a binary with an external accretion disc
• A Survey of Disc Thickness and Viscosity in Circumbinary Accretion: Binary Evolution, Variability, and Disc Morphology
• Identifying Decaying Supermassive Black Hole Binaries from their Variable Electromagnetic Emission
• Observable Consequences of Merger-Driven Gaps and Holes in Black Hole Accretion Disks
• Preferential Accretion and Circumbinary Disk Precession in Eccentric Binary Systems
• Migration of massive black hole binaries in self--gravitating accretion discs: Retrograde versus prograde
• Mini-disk accretion onto spinning black hole binaries: quasi-periodicities and outflows
• Resolving massive black hole binaries evolution via adaptive particle-splitting
• Resonances in retrograde circumbinary discs
• The competing effect of gas and stars in massive black hole binaries evolution
• Circumbinary and circumstellar discs around the eccentric binary IRAS 04158+2805 -- a testbed for binary-disc interaction
• How Binaries Accrete: Hydrodynamic Simulations with Passive Tracer Particles
• Inner Boundary Condition in Quasi-Lagrangian Simulations of Accretion Disks
• Circumbinary disc self-gravity governing supermassive black hole binary mergers
• Binary orbital evolution driven by a circumbinary disc
• On the Role of Gas Cooling in the Dynamics of Circumbinary Disks
• Evolution of a Binary Black Hole with a Retrograde Circumbinary Accretion Disk
• On the frequencies of circumbinary discs in protostellar systems
• Retrograde binaries of massive black holes in circum-binary accretion discs
• QSO Lifetimes

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Long-term Evolution of Binary Orbits Induced by Circumbinary Disks
• Measuring eccentricity and gas-induced perturbation from gravitational waves of LISA massive black hole binaries
• Disk induced binary precession: Implications for dynamics and multi-messenger observations of black hole binaries
• RABBITS -- I. The crucial role of nuclear star formation in driving the coalescence of supermassive black hole binaries
• Dynamics and spin alignment in massive, gravito-turbulent circumbinary discs around supermassive black hole binaries
• BH-BH mergers with & without EM counterpart: A model for stable tertiary mass transfer in hierarchical triple systems
• Radiation Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of sub-Eddington Circumbinary Disk around an Equal-mass Massive Black Hole Binary
• In the grip of the disk: dragging the companion through an AGN
• Accretion mediated spin-eccentricity correlations in LISA massive black hole binaries
• Insights from Analytical Theory of Eccentric Circumbinary Disks
• Rapid sinking and efficient mergers of supermassive black holes in compact high-redshift galaxies