Relativistic Dynamics and Mass Exchange in Binary Black Hole Mini-disks

Dennis B. Bowen, Manuela Campanelli, Julian H. Krolik, Vassilios Mewes, Scott C. Noble

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the first exploration of gas dynamics in a relativistic binary black hole (BH) system in which an accretion disk (a "mini-disk") orbits each BH. We focus on 2D hydrodynamical studies of comparable-mass, non-spinning systems. Relativistic effects alter the dynamics of gas in this environment in several ways. Because the gravitational potential between the two BHs becomes shallower than in the Newtonian regime, the mini-disks stretch toward the L1 point and the amount of gas passing back and forth between the mini disks increases sharply with decreasing binary separation. This "sloshing" is quasi-periodically modulated at 2 and 2.75 times the binary orbital frequency, corresponding to timescales of hours to days for supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs). In addition, relativistic effects add an m = 1 component to the tidally driven spiral waves in the disks that are purely m = 2 in Newtonian gravity; this component becomes dominant when the separation is ≲100 gravitational radii. Both the sloshing and the spiral waves have the potential to create distinctive radiation features that may uniquely mark SMBBHs in the relativistic regime.

Original languageEnglish
Article number42
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume838
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 20 2017
Externally publishedYes

Funding

J.K. was partially supported by NSF grants AST-1028111 and AST-11516299.

Keywords

  • accretion, accretion disks
  • black hole physics
  • galaxies: nuclei
  • hydrodynamics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Relativistic Dynamics and Mass Exchange in Binary Black Hole Mini-disks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this