Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,203 studies31 sourcesUpdated 18 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

Orbital Migration of Interacting Stellar Mass Black Holes in Disks around Supermassive Black Holes. III. Mass Distribution of Hierarchical Mergers

  • Katherine L. Gonglewski1
  • Amy Secunda2
  • Mordecai-Mark Mac Low3
  • K. E. Saavik Ford3,4,5
  • Barry McKernan3,4,5
  • Fabian R. N. Schneider6,7
7 affiliations
  1. 1University of Arizona
  2. 2Flatiron Institute
  3. 3Department of Astrophysics
  4. 4CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
  5. 5Physics Program
  6. 6Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies
  7. 7Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks are a promising location for the formation of binary black holes (BBHs) that will merge on relatively short timescales and be detected by LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA (LVK). To compare the mass function (MF) of black holes (BHs) undergoing hierarchical mergers in AGN disks to the inferred MFs from LVK observations, we perform 360 simulations with an N -body code augmented to include an analytic model for migration torques and other gas forces. We focus on the region surrounding migration traps in AGN disks where migration torques cancel out and BHs converge. We find that regardless of changes in the initial MF and BBH merger criteria, frequent mergers deplete the number of BHs with masses ≲10 M ⊙ and fill the upper mass gap with a roughly uniform distribution from 40–100 M ⊙ , with a slight overabundance around ≈70 M ⊙ from resonant orbiters. We also find an average merger rate of ∼6 Gpc ⁻³ yr ⁻¹ for migration-trap-aided BBH mergers in our AGN disk model. ∼40%of these mergers have uneven mass ratios and 16% have a primary mass ∈[50−100] M ⊙ . Therefore, AGN disks could easily be the source of BBH mergers observed by LVK that are difficult to produce through traditional stellar evolution channels. Our simulations also form a separate higher-mass intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) population >200 M ⊙ after ∼2 Myr. Future gravitational wave detectors can use observations of this IMBH population to constrain models of AGN accretion disks.

Related

  1. High-redshift supermassive black hole population from core-collapse in self-interacting dark matter halos
    Sambo Sarkar, Ujjal Kumar Dey
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textCosmologyGalaxiesarXiv
  2. Electromagnetic Emission and Orbital Evolution of Eccentric Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Retrograde Disks
    David ONeill, Mark J. Avara, Christopher Tiede +3
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textCosmologyHigh-energy astrophysicsarXiv
  3. Hierarchical Inference of the Supermassive Black Hole Binary Merger Rates from Joint Searches using Pulsar Timing Arrays
    Sharon Mary Tomson, Rutger van Haasteren, Boris Goncharov
    arXivPreprintCC0Full textHigh-energy astrophysicsInstrumentation & methodsarXiv
  4. The origin and distribution of diffuse HI in the close interacting MHONGOOSE galaxy systems
    D. Kleiner, W. J. G. de Blok, J. Healy +6
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
  5. A self-consistent orbital architecture for GG Tau A. I. Simultaneous orbital fitting of the hierarchical triple
    A. Lacquement, H. Beust, G. Duchêne +4
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textGalaxiesPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{gonglewski2026orbital,
  title = {{Orbital Migration of Interacting Stellar Mass Black Holes in Disks around Supermassive Black Holes. III. Mass Distribution of Hierarchical Mergers}},
  author = {Katherine L. Gonglewski and Amy Secunda and Mordecai-Mark Mac Low and K. E. Saavik Ford and Barry McKernan and Fabian R. N. Schneider},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eaf},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eaf},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Orbital Migration of Interacting Stellar Mass Black Holes in Disks around Supermassive Black Holes. III. Mass Distribution of Hierarchical Mergers
AU  - Katherine L. Gonglewski
AU  - Amy Secunda
AU  - Mordecai-Mark Mac Low
AU  - K. E. Saavik Ford
AU  - Barry McKernan
AU  - Fabian R. N. Schneider
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/28
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eaf
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eaf
AB  - Active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks are a promising location for the formation of binary black holes (BBHs) that will merge on relatively short timescales and be detected by LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA (LVK). To compare the mass function (MF) of black holes (BHs) undergoing hierarchical mergers in AGN disks to the inferred MFs from LVK observations, we perform 360 simulations with an N -body code augmented to include an analytic model for migration torques and other gas forces. We focus on the region surrounding migration traps in AGN disks where migration torques cancel out and BHs converge. We find that regardless of changes in the initial MF and BBH merger criteria, frequent mergers deplete the number of BHs with masses ≲10 M ⊙ and fill the upper mass gap with a roughly uniform distribution from 40–100 M ⊙ , with a slight overabundance around ≈70 M ⊙ from resonant orbiters. We also find an average merger rate of ∼6 Gpc ⁻³ yr ⁻¹ for migration-trap-aided BBH mergers in our AGN disk model. ∼40%of these mergers have uneven mass ratios and 16% have a primary mass ∈[50−100] M ⊙ . Therefore, AGN disks could easily be the source of BBH mergers observed by LVK that are difficult to produce through traditional stellar evolution channels. Our simulations also form a separate higher-mass intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) population >200 M ⊙ after ∼2 Myr. Future gravitational wave detectors can use observations of this IMBH population to constrain models of AGN accretion disks.
SN  - 1538-4357
SN  - 0004-637X
ER  -