Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics
Recent hydrodynamical simulations have shown that circumbinary gas disks drive the orbits of massive binary black holes (BHs) to become eccentric, even when general relativistic (GR) corrections to the orbit are significant. Here, we study the GR apsidal precession of eccentric equal-mass massive bi...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada612 |
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| author | Stanislav DeLaurentiis Zoltán Haiman John Ryan Westernacher-Schneider Luke Major Krauth Jordy Davelaar Jonathan Zrake Andrew MacFadyen |
| author_facet | Stanislav DeLaurentiis Zoltán Haiman John Ryan Westernacher-Schneider Luke Major Krauth Jordy Davelaar Jonathan Zrake Andrew MacFadyen |
| author_sort | Stanislav DeLaurentiis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent hydrodynamical simulations have shown that circumbinary gas disks drive the orbits of massive binary black holes (BHs) to become eccentric, even when general relativistic (GR) corrections to the orbit are significant. Here, we study the GR apsidal precession of eccentric equal-mass massive binary BHs in circumbinary disks via two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. We perform a suite of simulations comparing precessing and nonprecessing binaries across a range of eccentricities, semimajor axes, and precession rates. We find that the GR precession of the binary's semimajor axis can introduce a dominant modulation in the binary's accretion rate and the corresponding high-energy electromagnetic light curves. We discuss the conditions under which this occurs and its detailed characteristics and mechanism. Finally, we discuss the potential to observe these precession signatures in electromagnetic- and gravitational-wave observations, as well as the precession signal's unique importance as a potential tool to constrain the mass, eccentricity, and semimajor axis of binary merger events. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0e3be7e27ed64c9bbf2a625df3b764a1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-0e3be7e27ed64c9bbf2a625df3b764a12025-02-04T06:42:56ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198015510.3847/1538-4357/ada612Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and HydrodynamicsStanislav DeLaurentiis0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8922-825XZoltán Haiman1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3633-5403John Ryan Westernacher-Schneider2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3047-7200Luke Major Krauth3https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0839-7893Jordy Davelaar4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2685-2434Jonathan Zrake5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1895-6516Andrew MacFadyen6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0106-9013Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge , Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, UK ; sod2112@columbia.edu; Department of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USADepartment of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Physics, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USALeiden Observatory, Leiden University , P. O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The NetherlandsDepartment of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USADepartment of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University , Clemson, SC 29634, USACenter for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Physics Department, New York University , New York, NY 10003, USARecent hydrodynamical simulations have shown that circumbinary gas disks drive the orbits of massive binary black holes (BHs) to become eccentric, even when general relativistic (GR) corrections to the orbit are significant. Here, we study the GR apsidal precession of eccentric equal-mass massive binary BHs in circumbinary disks via two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. We perform a suite of simulations comparing precessing and nonprecessing binaries across a range of eccentricities, semimajor axes, and precession rates. We find that the GR precession of the binary's semimajor axis can introduce a dominant modulation in the binary's accretion rate and the corresponding high-energy electromagnetic light curves. We discuss the conditions under which this occurs and its detailed characteristics and mechanism. Finally, we discuss the potential to observe these precession signatures in electromagnetic- and gravitational-wave observations, as well as the precession signal's unique importance as a potential tool to constrain the mass, eccentricity, and semimajor axis of binary merger events.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada612AccretionBlack holesGeneral relativityGravitational wave astronomyGravitational wave sources |
| spellingShingle | Stanislav DeLaurentiis Zoltán Haiman John Ryan Westernacher-Schneider Luke Major Krauth Jordy Davelaar Jonathan Zrake Andrew MacFadyen Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics The Astrophysical Journal Accretion Black holes General relativity Gravitational wave astronomy Gravitational wave sources |
| title | Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics |
| title_full | Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics |
| title_fullStr | Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics |
| title_short | Relativistic Binary Precession: Impact on Eccentric Massive Binary Black Hole Accretion and Hydrodynamics |
| title_sort | relativistic binary precession impact on eccentric massive binary black hole accretion and hydrodynamics |
| topic | Accretion Black holes General relativity Gravitational wave astronomy Gravitational wave sources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada612 |
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