Study group: stellar-mass black-hole binaries in AGN disks

This was a journal club / study group held at the University of Birmingham from October 2020 to March 2021. We studied the formation of LIGO-like binaries promoted by gas accretion in AGNs.

Ok, we’ll study black-hole binary formation in AGN disks, which is a “new” formation channel for GW sources. Here is an ADS Library with these papers

Discussion log

• Before we start… If you need to refresh the physics of accretion disks, Lodato (2008) wrote a short and sweet review.
• Oct 12, 2020 [Davide]. Bellovary+ 2016. Migration Traps in Disks Around Supermassive Black Holes. 1511.00005
• Oct 19, 2020 [Matt M]. Section 7.1 in Armitage 2020, “Astrophysics of Planet Formation”, 2nd Ed.
• Oct 26, 2020 [Daria]. Bartos+ 2017. Rapid and Bright Stellar-mass Binary Black Hole Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei. 1602.03831
• Nov 2, 2020 [Eliot]. Stone+ 2017. Assisted Inspirals of Stellar Mass Black Holes Embedded in AGN Disks: Solving the “Final AU Problem”. 1602.04226
• Nov 9, 2020 [Davide]. McKernan+ 2018. On stellar-mass black hole mergers in AGN disks detectable with LIGO 1702.07818
• Nov 16, 2020 [Matt M] . Leigh+ 2018. On the rate of black hole binary mergers in galactic nuclei due to dynamical hardening. 1711.10494
• Nov 23, 2020 [Daria]. Secunda+ 2019. Orbital Migration of Interacting Stellar Mass Black Holes in Disks around Supermassive Black Holes. 1807.02859
• Nov 30, 2020 [Eliot]. Yang+ 2019. AGN Disks Harden the Mass Distribution of Stellar-mass Binary Black Hole Mergers. 1903.01405
• Dec 7, 2020 [Davide]. Yang+ 2019. Hierarchical Black Hole Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei. 1906.09281
• Dec 14, 2020 [Matt M]. McKernan+ 2020. Monte-Carlo simulations of black hole mergers in AGN disks: Low χeff mergers and predictions for LIGO. 1907.04356
• Feb 1, 2021 [Daria]. McKernan+ 2019. Ram-pressure stripping of a kicked Hill sphere: Prompt electromagnetic emission from the merger of stellar mass black holes in an AGN accretion disk. 1907.03746
• [Discussed in previous group meeting already]. Graham+ 2020. Candidate Electromagnetic Counterpart to the Binary Black Hole Merger Gravitational Wave Event S190521g. 2006.14122
• Feb 8, 2021 [Matt N]. Yi+ 2019. Where to find Electromagnetic Wave Counterparts of stellar-mass binary black hole mergers? 1909.08384
• Feb 15, 2021 [Nicola].Gayathri+ 2020. GW170817A as a Hierarchical Black Hole Merger 1911.11142
• Feb 22, 2021 [Davide]. Tagawa+ 2020. Formation and Evolution of Compact Object Binaries in AGN Disks 1912.08218
• Mar 1, 2021 [Eliot]. McKernan+ 2020. Black hole, neutron star and white dwarf merger rates in AGN disks 2002.00046
• Mar 10, 2021. Department seminar by H. Tagawa: Formation and Evolution of Compact Objects in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Mar 15, 2021 [Daria]. Yang+ 2020. Cosmic Evolution of Stellar-mass Black Hole Merger Rate in Active Galactic Nuclei. 2003.08564
• Mar 22, 2021 [Chris]. Pan and Yang. Formation Rate of Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals in Active Galactic Nucleus. 2101.09146
• Mar 31, 2021 [all]. The season finale: wider group meeting discussion on BHs in AGN disks.

Other papers on the topic

• Tagawa+ 2020. Spin Evolution of Stellar-mass Black Hole Binaries in Active Galactic Nuclei. 2004.11914
• Secunda+ 2020. Orbital Migration of Interacting Stellar Mass Black Holes in Disks around Supermassive Black Holes II. Spins and Incoming Objects. 2004.11936
• Gröbner+ 2020. Binary black hole mergers in AGN accretion discs: gravitational wave rate density estimates. 2005.03571
• Ishibashi+ 2020. Evolution of binary black holes in AGN accretion discs: Disc-binary interaction and gravitational wave emission. 2006.07407
• Yang+ 2020. Black Hole Formation in the Lower Mass Gap through Mergers and Accretion in AGN Disks. 2007.04781
• Tagawa+ 2020. Eccentric Black Hole Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei. 2010.10526
• Tagawa+ 2020. Mass-gap Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei. 22012.00011
• Ishibashi and Gröbner 2020. Evolution of binary black holes in AGN accretion discs: Disc-binary interaction and gravitational wave emission. 2006.07407
• Jermyn+ 2021 Stellar Evolution in the Disks of Active Galactic Nuclei Produces Rapidly Rotating Massive Stars. 2102.13114