New method predicts which black holes escape their galaxies

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-method-black-holes-galaxies.html

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Shoot a rifle, and the recoil might knock you backward. Merge two black holes in a binary system, and the loss of momentum gives a similar recoil—a "kick"—to the merged black hole.

"For some binaries, the kick can reach up to 5000 kilometers a second, which is larger than the escape velocity of most galaxies," said Vijay Varma, an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology and an incoming inaugural Klarman Fellow at Cornell University's College of Arts & Sciences.

Varma and his fellow researchers have developed a new method using gravitational wave measurements to predict when a final black hole will remain in its host galaxy and when it will be ejected. Such measurements could provide a crucial missing piece of the puzzle behind the origin of heavy black holes, said Varma, as well as offer insights into galaxy evolution and tests of general relativity. He is lead author of "Extracting the Gravitational Recoil from Black Hole Merger Signals," published March 13 in Physical Review Letters and co-authored with Maximiliano Isi and Sylvia Biscoveanu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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the paper:
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.101104

ABSTRACT
Gravitational waves carry energy, angular momentum, and linear momentum. In generic binary black hole mergers, the loss of linear momentum imparts a recoil velocity, or a “kick,” to the remnant black hole. We exploit recent advances in gravitational waveform and remnant black hole modeling to extract information about the kick from the gravitational wave signal. Kick measurements such as these are astrophysically valuable, enabling independent constraints on the rate of second-generation merger. Further, we show that kicks must be factored into future ringdown tests of general relativity with third-generation gravitational wave detectors to avoid systematic biases. We find that, although little information can be gained about the kick for existing gravitational wave events, interesting measurements will soon become possible as detectors improve. We show that, once LIGO and Virgo reach their design sensitivities, we will reliably extract the kick velocity for generically precessing binaries—including the so-called superkicks, reaching up to 5000km/s.

 

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Part of the physics and scientific data, resulting from the discovery of gravitational waves. Should be interesting years ahead.

 

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Interesting.
I wonder if the James Web Telescope can be employed to observe a black hole responding as predicted.
Just a note to use the opportunity to thank you yet again for hunting news and bringing it back for the hungry minds.
I don't bother going to science daily these days as I expect if there is something interesting you will find it and present it.
A thankless job..that is why I thank you.
Alex

 

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