Impact of gas hardening on the population properties of hierarchical black hole mergers in AGN disks

Abstract

Hierarchical black hole (BH) mergers in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are unique among formation channels of binary black holes (BBHs) because they are likely associated with electromagnetic counterparts and can efficiently lead to the mass growth of BHs. Here, we explore the impact of gas accretion and migration traps on the evolution of BBHs in AGNs. We have developed a new fast semi-analytic model, which allows us to explore the parameter space while capturing the main physical processes involved. We find that effective exchange of energy and angular momentum between the BBH and the surrounding gas (hereafter, gas hardening) during inspiral greatly enhances the efficiency of hierarchical mergers, leading to the formation of intermediate-mass BHs (up to 10.000 solar masses) and triggering spin alignment. Moreover, our models with efficient gas hardening show both an anti-correlation between BBH mass ratio and effective spin, and a correlation between primary BH mass and effective spin. In contrast, if gas hardening is inefficient, the hierarchical merger chain is already truncated after the first two or three generations. We compare the BBH population in AGNs with other dynamical channels as well as isolated binary evolution.

arXiv comment21 pages, 15 figures, submitted to A&A, comments welcome

References in corpus (145)

• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• PARSEC: stellar tracks and isochrones with the PAdova and TRieste Stellar Evolution Code
• TianQin: a space-borne gravitational wave detector
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: matter and galaxy clustering
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the stellar mass content of groups and clusters of galaxies
• GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of $150M_{\odot }$
• Science Case for the Einstein Telescope
• Compact Remnant Mass Function: Dependence on the Explosion Mechanism and Metallicity
• Revisiting the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Radiation Pressure Supported Starburst Disks and AGN Fueling
• The Black Hole Mass Distribution in the Galaxy
• The construction and use of LISA sensitivity curves
• Black hole mergers in the universe
• Binary Black Hole Mergers from Globular Clusters: Masses, Merger Rates, and the Impact of Stellar Evolution
• Rapid and Bright Stellar-mass Binary Black Hole Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Dynamical Friction in a Gaseous Medium
• Direct cosmological simulations of the growth of black holes and galaxies
• Accretion disc viscosity: how big is alpha?
• Gravitational waves from scattering of stellar-mass black holes in galactic nuclei
• Assisted Inspirals of Stellar Mass Black Holes Embedded in AGN Disks: Solving the "Final AU Problem"
• Production of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters
• The M(BH)-Sigma Relation for Supermassive Black Holes
• Supermassive black holes and their feedback effects in the IllustrisTNG simulation
• Selfgravity and QSO disks
• Binary Black Hole Mergers from Globular Clusters: Implications for Advanced LIGO
• Science with the Einstein Telescope: a comparison of different designs
• Candidate Electromagnetic Counterpart to the Binary Black Hole Merger Gravitational Wave Event S190521g
• An Eccentric Circumbinary Accretion Disk and the Detection of Binary Massive Black Holes
• Merging black hole binaries in galactic nuclei: implications for advanced-LIGO detections
• Formation and Evolution of Compact Object Binaries in AGN Disks
• The Effect of Pair-Instability Mass Loss on Black Hole Mergers
• Nuclear Star Clusters
• Mind the gap: The location of the lower edge of the pair instability supernovae black hole mass gap
• Intermediate mass black holes in AGN disks: I. Production & Growth
• MOCCA-SURVEY Database I: Coalescing Binary Black Holes Originating From Globular Clusters
• Very massive stars, pair-instability supernovae and intermediate-mass black holes with the SEVN code
• Black Holes: The Next Generation -- Repeated Mergers in Dense Star Clusters and their Gravitational-Wave Properties
• Are merging black holes born from stellar collapse or previous mergers?
• Alignment of the spins of supermassive black holes prior to coalescence
• Obscuration-dependent evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Aligning spinning black holes and accretion discs
• The Mass Function of Active Black Holes in the Local Universe
• Hierarchical Black Hole Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Massive black hole binaries from runaway collisions: the impact of metallicity
• Merging black hole binaries with the SEVN code
• Merging black holes in young star clusters
• Post-Newtonian Dynamics in Dense Star Clusters: Highly-Eccentric, Highly-Spinning, and Repeated Binary Black Hole Mergers
• Post-Newtonian Dynamics in Dense Star Clusters: Formation, Masses, and Merger Rates of Highly-Eccentric Black Hole Binaries
• Does the Black Hole Merger Rate Evolve with Redshift?
• Dynamics of stellar black holes in young star clusters with different metallicities - II. Black hole-black hole binaries
• Eccentric Black Hole Mergers in Dense Star Clusters: The Role of Binary-Binary Encounters
• Migration Traps in Disks Around Supermassive Black Holes
• Quantifying the Coexistence of Massive Black Holes and Dense Nuclear Star Clusters
• Black hole growth through hierarchical black hole mergers in dense star clusters: implications for gravitational wave detections
• Spectral energy distributions of selfgravitating QSO discs
• Constraints from gravitational wave detections of binary black hole mergers on the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}{\left(\alpha ,\gamma \right)}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ rate
• AGN as Potential Factories for Eccentric Black Hole Mergers
• Hierarchical data-driven approach to fitting numerical relativity data for nonprecessing binary black holes with an application to final spin and radiated energy
• The Pair-Instability Mass Gap for Black Holes
• Compact Binaries in Star Clusters I - Black Hole Binaries Inside Globular Clusters
• Viscous Hydrodynamics Simulations of Circumbinary Accretion Discs: Variability, Quasi-Steady State, and Angular Momentum Transfer
• PARSEC V2.0: Stellar tracks and isochrones of low and intermediate mass stars with rotation
• Black hole mergers from an evolving population of globular clusters
• Intermediate mass black holes in AGN disks II. Model predictions & observational constraints
• Greatly enhanced merger rates of compact-object binaries in non-spherical nuclear star clusters
• On the rate of black hole binary mergers in galactic nuclei due to dynamical hardening
• Mergers of Stellar-Mass Black Holes in Nuclear Star Clusters
• The cosmic merger rate density of compact objects: impact of star formation, metallicity, initial mass function and binary evolution
• A census of metals and baryons in stars in the local Universe
• Orbital migration of low-mass planets in evolutionary radiative models: Avoiding catastrophic infall
• AGN Disks Harden the Mass Distribution of Stellar-mass Binary Black Hole Mergers
• The impact of pair-instability mass loss on the binary black hole mass distribution
• Formation of GW190521 from stellar evolution: the impact of the hydrogen-rich envelope, dredge-up and ${}^{12}$C($\alpha$, $\gamma$)${}^{16}$O rate on the pair-instability black hole mass gap
• Hierarchical black hole mergers in young, globular and nuclear star clusters: the effect of metallicity, spin and cluster properties
• Stellar-mass black holes in young massive and open stellar clusters and their role in gravitational-wave generation II
• Monte-Carlo simulations of black hole mergers in AGN disks: Low ${\chi }_{\mathrm{eff}}$ mergers and predictions for LIGO
• On the evolution of eccentric and inclined protoplanets embedded in protoplanetary disks
• Impact of the Rotation and Compactness of Progenitors on the Mass of Black Holes
• Populating the upper black hole mass gap through stellar collisions in young star clusters
• Dynamical formation signatures of black hole binaries in the first detected mergers by LIGO
• Mass-gap Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Binary black holes in young star clusters: the impact of metallicity
• Stellar Evolution in AGN Disks
• Formation Rate of Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Spin Evolution of Stellar-mass Black Hole Binaries in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Black hole genealogy: Identifying hierarchical mergers with gravitational waves
• Maximum Black Hole mass across Cosmic Time
• The impact of electron-capture supernovae on merging double neutron stars
• The cosmic merger rate density evolution of compact binaries formed in young star clusters and in isolated binaries
• Repeated mergers and ejection of black holes within nuclear star clusters
• Updated Mass Scaling Relations for Nuclear Star Clusters and a Comparison to Supermassive Black Holes
• Compact object mergers: exploring uncertainties from stellar and binary evolution with SEVN
• Gravitational wave sources from inspiralling globular clusters in the Galactic Centre and similar environments
• Stellar-mass black holes in young massive and open stellar clusters IV: updated stellar-evolutionary and black hole spin models and comparisons with the LIGO-Virgo O1/O2 merger-event data
• Population synthesis of black hole binary mergers from star clusters
• The most ordinary formation of the most unusual double black hole merger
• Is GW190521 the merger of black holes from the first stellar generations?
• On the GBM event seen 0.4 sec after GW 150914
• Black Hole Coagulation: Modeling Hierarchical Mergers in Black Hole Populations
• Mixing by overshooting and rotation in intermediate mass stars
• The impact of stellar rotation on the black hole mass-gap from pair-instability supernovae
• Tidal Torques on Misaligned Disks in Binary Systems
• Orbital Migration of Interacting Stellar Mass Black Holes in Disks around Supermassive Black Holes II. Spins and Incoming Objects
• Population III Binary Black Holes: Effects of Convective Overshooting on Formation of GW190521
• Black Hole Binary Formation in AGN Discs: From Isolation to Merger
• Gravitational-Wave Emission from Binary Black Holes Formed in Open Clusters
• Revealing Hidden Substructures in the $M_{BH}$-$\sigma$ Diagram, and Refining the Bend in the $L$-$\sigma$ Relation
• Binary Black Hole Merger Rates in AGN Disks versus Nuclear Star Clusters: Loud beats Quiet
• Coalescing black hole binaries from globular clusters: mass distributions and comparison to gravitational wave data from GWTC-3
• The Stellar Merger Scenario for Black Holes in the Pair-instability Gap
• Hydrodynamical Simulations of Black-Hole Binary Formation in AGN Disks
• Birth, life, and death of black hole binaries around supermassive black holes: dynamical evolution of gravitational wave sources
• Merger rate density of binary black holes formed in open clusters
• Black hole mergers of AGN origin in LIGO/Virgo's O1-O3a observing periods
• Gas dynamical friction as a binary formation mechanism in AGN discs
• Formation of black holes in the pair-instability mass gap: evolution of a post-collision star
• The Deaths of Very Massive Stars
• Observable signature of merging stellar-mass black holes in active galactic nuclei
• Implications of the search for optical counterparts during the second part of the Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's third observing run: lessons learned for future follow-up observations
• The first measurement of the quasar lifetime distribution
• Can stellar-mass black hole growth disrupt disks of active galactic nuclei? The role of mechanical feedback
• LIGO--Virgo correlations between mass ratio and effective inspiral spin: testing the active galactic nuclei channel
• The Effect of Thermal Torques on AGN Disc Migration Traps and Gravitational Wave Populations
• Very Massive Stars and Pair-Instability Supernovae: Mass-loss Framework for low Metallicity
• "Super-Kilonovae" from Massive Collapsars as Signatures of Black-Hole Birth in the Pair-instability Mass Gap
• Measuring the properties of active galactic nuclei disks with gravitational waves
• Symmetry Breaking in Dynamical Encounters in the Disks of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Black-hole mergers in disklike environments could explain the observed $q$-${\chi }_{\mathrm{eff}}$ correlation
• Evolution of binary black holes in AGN accretion discs: Disc-binary interaction and gravitational wave emission
• Dynamics of binary black holes in young star clusters: the impact of cluster mass and long-term evolution
• Growing Black Holes through Successive Mergers in Galactic Nuclei: I. Methods and First Results
• GW190521 formation via three-body encounters in young massive star clusters
• Formation of black holes in the pair-instability mass gap: Hydrodynamical simulations of a head-on massive star collision
• The hydrodynamic evolution of binary black holes embedded within the vertically stratified disks of active galactic nuclei
• The most luminous AGN do not produce the majority of the detected stellar-mass black hole binary mergers in the local Universe
• Avoiding a Cluster Catastrophe: Retention Efficiency and the Binary Black Hole Mass Spectrum
• Binary black hole mergers from young massive clusters in the pair-instability supernova mass gap
• Chaotic Gas Accretion by Black Holes Embedded in AGN Discs as Cause of Low-spin Signatures in Gravitational Wave Events
• Invoking the virial theorem to understand the impact of (dry) mergers on the $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$\sigma$ relation
• Euclid detectability of pair instability supernovae in binary population synthesis models consistent with merging binary black holes
• Formation of Merging Stellar-Mass Black Hole Binaries by Gravitational Wave Emission in Active Galactic Nucleus Disks
• Intermediate mass black holes' effect on compact object binaries
• Hypercritical accretion during common envelopes in triples leading to binary black holes in the pair-instability-supernova mass gap
• Metal-enriched Pair-instability supernovae: Effects of rotation

Cited by in corpus (24)

• GW231123: a Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190-265 $M_{\odot }$
• The Science of the Einstein Telescope
• Gravitational Wave Astronomy With TianQin
• Evidence for the evolution of black hole mass function with redshift
• Hierarchical binary black hole mergers in globular clusters: mass function and evolution with redshift
• Unequal-mass, highly-spinning binary black hole mergers in the stable mass transfer formation channel
• GW200208_222617 as an eccentric black-hole binary merger: properties and astrophysical implications
• Resolving Black Hole Family Issues Among the Massive Ancestors of Very High-Spin Gravitational-Wave Events Like GW231123
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• Binary black hole mergers from Population III star clusters
• On the Formation of GW231123 in Population III Star Clusters
• Gravitational-wave Observations Suggest Most Black Hole Mergers Form in Triples
• What Determines the Maximum Mass of AGN-assisted Black Hole Mergers?
• Hydrodynamic simulations of black hole evolution in AGN discs I: orbital alignment of highly inclined satellites
• McFACTS II: Mass Ratio--Effective Spin Relationship of Black Hole Mergers in the AGN Channel
• The steep redshift evolution of the hierarchical binary black hole merger rate may cause the $z$-${\chi }_{\mathrm{eff}}$ correlation
• The fate of rotating massive stars across cosmic times
• Signatures of a subpopulation of hierarchical mergers in the GWTC-4 gravitational-wave dataset
• The origin channels of hierarchical binary black hole mergers in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA O1, O2, and O3 runs
• Distinguishing the Origin of Eccentric Black Hole Mergers with Gravitational-wave Spin Measurements
• Hydrodynamic simulations of black hole evolution in AGN discs II: inclination damping for partially embedded satellites
• Black Hole Merger Rates in AGN: contribution from gas-captured binaries
• Binary black holes in magnetized AGN disks
• The role of migration traps in the formation of binary black holes in AGN disks