Papers by Kendall Scarborough
arXiv: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Jul 21, 2021
The launch of space based gravitational wave (GW) detectors (e.g. Laser Interferometry Space Ante... more The launch of space based gravitational wave (GW) detectors (e.g. Laser Interferometry Space Antenna; LISA) and current and upcoming Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) will extend the GW window to low frequencies, opening new investigations into dynamical processes involving massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) and their mergers across cosmic time. MBHBs are expected to be among the primary sources for the upcoming low frequency (10 −4 − 10 −1 Hz) window probed by LISA. It is important to investigate the expected MBH merger rates and associated signals, to determine how potential LISA events are affected by physics included in current models. To study this, we post-process the large population of MBHBs in the Illustris simulation to account for dynamical friction time delays associated with BH infall/inspiral. We show that merger delays associated with binary evolution have the potential to decrease the expected merger rates, with M BH > 10 6 M MBHBs (the lowest mass in Illustris) decreasing from ∼ 3 yr −1 to ∼ 0.1yr −1 , and shifting the merger peak from z ∼ 2 to ∼ 1.25. During this time, we estimate that accretion grows the total merging mass by as much as 7x from the original mass. Importantly, however, dynamical friction associated delays (which shift the mergers toward lower-redshift and higher-masses) lead to a stronger signal/strain for the emitted GWs in the LISA band, increasing mean frequency from 10 −3.1 to 10 −3.4 − 10 −4.0 Hz, and mean strain from 10 −17.2 to 10 −16.3 − 10 −15.3. Finally, we show that after including a merger delay and associated M BH growth, mergers still tend to lie on the typical M BH − M * relation, but with an increased likelihood of an undermassive black hole.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
The launch of space based gravitational wave (GW) detectors (e.g. Laser Interferometry Space Ante... more The launch of space based gravitational wave (GW) detectors (e.g. Laser Interferometry Space Antenna; LISA) and current and upcoming Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) will extend the GW window to low frequencies, opening new investigations into dynamical processes involving massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) and their mergers across cosmic time. MBHBs are expected to be among the primary sources for the upcoming low frequency (10−4 − 10−1 Hz) window probed by LISA. It is important to investigate the expected SMBH merger rates and associated signals, to determine how potential LISA events are affected by physics included in current models. To study this, we post-process the large population of MBHBs in the Illustris simulation to account for dynamical friction time delays associated with BH infall/inspiral. We show that merger delays associated with binary evolution have the potential to decrease the expected merger rates, with MBH > 106M⊙ MBHBs (the lowest mass in Illustris) decreasin...
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Papers by Kendall Scarborough