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Gravitational Recoil and Astrophysical Impact

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Gravitational Wave Astrophysics

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ((ASSSP,volume 40))

Abstract

Asymmetric emission of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources leads to a net flux of linear momentum from the source and, by momentum conservation, imparts a gravitational recoil on the emitting source. Numerical relativity simulations have revealed that this effect can lead to astonishingly large kick velocities, so-called superkicks, of several thousand km/s in the inspiral and merger of black-hole binaries. We here discuss the calculation of the recoil in black-hole spacetimes and the astrophysical repercussions of such large kicks, in particular related to the possible displacement or ejection of supermassive black holes from their host galaxies. We also discuss possible mechanisms that would make superkicks less likely to occur in astrophysical binaries and thus explain why most, if not all, galaxies observed in this context appear to harbor a black hole at their center.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We use here the notation of Kesden et al. (2010b) which differs from that of Campanelli et al. (2007a) by the convention that \(q \equiv m_{2}/m_{1} \leq 1\).

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks E. Berti, D. Gerosa, M. Kesden, R. O’Shaughnessy for many fruitful discussions. This work was supported by NSF-XSEDE Grant No. PHY-090003, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG Grant No. 293412 “CBHEO”, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IRSES Grant No.295189 “NRHEP”, STFC GR Roller Grant No. ST/L000636/1, the Cosmos system, part of DiRAC, funded by STFC and BIS under Grant Nos. ST/K00333X/1, ST/H008586/1 and ST/J005673/1, ERC-2010-StG Grant No. DyBHo, and CESGA Grant No. ICTS-2013-249. Computations were performed on the Cambridge Cosmos system, the SDSC Trestles and NICS Kraken clusters, and CESGA’s Finis Terra.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK

    Ulrich Sperhake

  2. California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    Ulrich Sperhake

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, 38677, USA

    Ulrich Sperhake

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  1. Ulrich Sperhake
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Correspondence to Ulrich Sperhake .

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  1. Edifici Nexus, Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (CSIC-IEEC), Barcelona, Spain

    Carlos F. Sopuerta

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Sperhake, U. (2015). Gravitational Recoil and Astrophysical Impact. In: Sopuerta, C. (eds) Gravitational Wave Astrophysics. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 40. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10488-1_16

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