A super massive black hole binary in 3C66B: future observational perspectives

Abstract

Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) may exist in the centers of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) and are expected to be fairly common in the Universe as a consequence of merging processes between galaxies. The existence of SMBHBs can be probed by looking for double nuclei in galaxy centers or, more easily, detecting periodic behavior in the observed radio light curves. In a recent paper, Sudou et al. \cite{sudou2003} announced the first direct observation of an SMBHB. Using VLBI observations they found that the unresolved radio core of the radio galaxy 3C66B shows a well defined elliptical motion with a period of $1.05\pm 0.03$ yrs, implying the presence of a couple of massive black holes in the center of the galaxy. In the present paper we study the astrophysical implications of the existence of such an SMBHB in 3C66B. In particular we focus on the information that can be obtained from detecting a signal periodicity either in the $X$-ray and/or $\gamma$-ray light curves as a consequence of the motion of the black holes. These observations could be used to extract further information on the physical parameters of the SMBHB and partially solve the system parameter degeneracy. The detection of the gravitational wave spectrum emitted by such system may be used to completely determine the physical parameters of the binary system.

8 pages, 8 figures, in Press on Astronomy & Astrophysics

References in corpus (6)

• Evolution of massive binary black holes
• Constraining the properties of the proposed supermassive black hole system in 3c66b: Limits from pulsar timing
• Untangling the merger history of massive black holes with LISA
• Orbital Motion in the Radio Galaxy 3C 66B: Evidence for a Supermassive Black Hole Binary
• Astrophysical implications of binary black holes in BL Lacertae objects
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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Prospects for Future Binary Black Hole GW Studies in Light of PTA Measurements
• A Very Close Binary Black Hole in a Giant Elliptical Galaxy 3C 66B and its Black Hole Merger
• Principles of Gravitational-Wave Detection with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• The MURALES survey. I. A dual AGN in the radio galaxy 3C459?
• Detection of eccentric close-binary supermassive black holes with incomplete interferometric data
• Constraining the parameters of binary systems through time-dependent light deflection
• Milliarcsecond astrometric oscillations in active galactic nuclei as a precursor of multi-messenger gravitational wave events
• Description and Application of the Surfing Effect