Journal article
Hierarchical black hole mergers in active galactic nuclei
- Abstract:
- The origins of the stellar-mass black hole mergers discovered by LIGO/Virgo are still unknown. Here we show that if migration traps develop in the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and promote the mergers of their captive black holes, the majority of black holes within disks will undergo hierarchical mergers—with one of the black holes being the remnant of a previous merger. 40% of AGN-assisted mergers detected by LIGO/Virgo will include a black hole with mass ≳ 50 M⊙, the mass limit from stellar core collapse. Hierarchical mergers at traps in AGNs will exhibit black hole spins (anti)aligned with the binary’s orbital axis, a distinct property from other hierarchical channels. Our results suggest, although not definitively (with odds ratio of ∼1), that LIGO’s heaviest merger so far, GW170729, could have originated from this channel.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, 620.2KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1103/physrevlett.123.181101
Authors
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society
- Journal:
- Physical Review Letters More from this journal
- Volume:
- 123
- Issue:
- 18
- Article number:
- 181101
- Publication date:
- 2019-11-01
- Acceptance date:
- 2019-09-30
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1079-7114
- ISSN:
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0031-9007
- Pmid:
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31763897
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1128036
- Local pid:
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pubs:1128036
- Deposit date:
-
2020-08-24
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- American Physical Society
- Copyright date:
- 2019
- Rights statement:
- © 2019 American Physical Society
- Notes:
- This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from the American Physical Society at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.181101
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