Massive black hole binary inspiral and spin evolution in a cosmological framework

Supermassive black hole inspiral and spin evolution are deeply connected. In the early stages when black holes are brought together by star scattering and accretion, spin orientations can change because of interactions with the environment. Later on, when gravitational waves are driving the mergers, spins change because of relativistic couplings. In this paper we try to follow this complicated evolution in a full cosmological framework, using products of the Illustris simulation suite, a new sub-resolution model, and post-Newtonian integrations.

M. Sayeb, L. Blecha, L. Z. Kelley, D. Gerosa, M. Kesden, J. Thomas.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 501 (2021) 2531-2546. arXiv:2006.06647 [astro-ph.GA].