February 08, 1996 - February 08, 2029

  • Date:13SundayDecember 2009

    An electromagnetic signature of BH binaries that enter their GW-induced inspiral

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    Time
    12:30 - 14:00
    Location
    Edna and K.B. Weissman Building of Physical Sciences
    LecturerA. Loeb
    Harvard
    Organizer
    Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics
    Contact
    AbstractShow full text abstract about Mergers of gas-rich galaxies lead to black hole binaries tha...»
    Mergers of gas-rich galaxies lead to black hole binaries that coalesce as a result of dynamical friction on the ambient gas. Once the binary tightens to less then 10^3 Schwarzschild radii, its merger is driven by the emission of gravitational waves (GWs). I will show that this transition occurs generically at orbital periods of ~1-10 years and an orbital velocity V of a few thousand km/s, with a very weak dependence on the supply rate of gas (V proportional to Mdot^{1/8}). Therefore, as binaries enter their GW-dominated inspiral, they inevitably induce large periodic shifts in the broad emission lines of any associated quasar(s). The probability of finding a binary in tighter configurations scales as V^{-8} owing to their much shorter lifetimes. Systematic monitoring of the broad emission lines of quasars on timescales of months to decades can set a lower limit on the expected rate of GW sources for LISA.
    Lecture