Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Warped accretion discs, black-hole spins, and LISA
Davide Gerosa, Giovanni Rosotti,Riccardo Barbieri
LISA will measure gravitational waves from the inspiral and merger of supermassive black-hole binaries. If hosted in gas-rich galaxies, supermassive black-hole binaries are expected to go through a prominent phase of gas-driven migration. This will not only promote the merger, but also leave a deep imprint on the black-hole spins. While black-hole frame dragging bends the surrounding discs into warped configurations, the discs react aligning the spins. We present a novel treatment of warped accretion discs in supermassive black-hole binaries, fully capturing the effect of warp and viscosity non-linearities on the spin-alignment process. Detection of black-hole binary spin precession with LISA provides a truly unique opportunity to constrain the dynamics of gaseous discs. Warped accretion discs are the latest addition to the rich science case of the LISA space mission.
Warped accretion discs, black-hole spins, and LISA
Davide Gerosa, Giovanni Rosotti,Riccardo Barbieri
LISA will measure gravitational waves from the inspiral and merger of supermassive black-hole binaries. If hosted in gas-rich galaxies, supermassive black-hole binaries are expected to go through a prominent phase of gas-driven migration. This will not only promote the merger, but also leave a deep imprint on the black-hole spins. While black-hole frame dragging bends the surrounding discs into warped configurations, the discs react aligning the spins. We present a novel treatment of warped accretion discs in supermassive black-hole binaries, fully capturing the effect of warp and viscosity non-linearities on the spin-alignment process. Detection of black-hole binary spin precession with LISA provides a truly unique opportunity to constrain the dynamics of gaseous discs. Warped accretion discs are the latest addition to the rich science case of the LISA space mission.
