Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes Binary

Solution
A. Dynamical Friction

A1. The deection angle is dened from: tan = py

px
, assuming that  1. One can nd
py = Fy dt, and according to Newton's gravity law
R

GM m
Fy = cos3
b2
Changing the variable dt = bd
v cos2
we have
Z /2
GM 2GM m
py = cos d = .
bv /2 bv
Here we assume that the body moves along the stright line, due to  1, see Fig 1. So
= ppy = 2GM
bv 2
= 2bb1 .

A2. During the transit of a massive body, star's energy remains constant: p2x + p2y = const.
Hence
(p px )2 + p2y = p2 .
We know that py  p, so the momentum change along the x-axis:
p2y 2 2G2 M 2 m
px = = p= .
2p 2 b2 v 3

A3. To calculate net force we might integrate over stars with dierent impact parameters. The
number of stars' transits during the time t equals N = 2bvn db t, so force, decelerating
the object along the x-axis,
Z Z bmax
1 nm db
(1) FDF = px dN = 4G 2
M2 2 = 4G2 M 2 2 log
t v bmin b v
The above formulas are true only for b > b1 , so the lower integration limit is bmin = b1 , and the
upper limit is determined by the galaxy size bmax = R. So we have

(2) FDF = 4G2 M 2 log
v2
where = R/b1 .

A4. We calculate: b1 = GM
v2
= 11 pc, log = 7.6.

B. Gravitational slingshot

B1. From the second Newton's law

mv 2 GM m
= ,
2 4a2
1
2
q
and we have for the orbital velocity vbin = GM
4a
. The system energy is
M v 2 GM 2 GM 2
E=E kin +U =2 = .
2 2a 4a

B2. From angular momentum conservation law

b = rm v0 ,
express v0 . Write down the energy conservation law
2 v 2 GM2
= 0
2 2 rm
q
and derive b = rm 1 + 2GM
2 rm
2
.

B3. To estimate the time between collisions let us use an analogy with the gas. As known from
the molecular kinetic theory, given that molecules have radii r, thermal velocities v , and the
molecular concentration is n, time t between collisions of one molecule with the others can be
estimated from the relation r2 vtn = 1. In our problem bmax stands in place of the molecule
radius, therefore for estimation it can be written t = b2max
1
n
.
Estimate the maximal impact parameter bmax , corresponding to the star collision with the
binary system. The star should reach the distance of a to the binary system to collide. When
the star is at large distances from the SBH binary, it interacts with it as with a point
q object
of mass M2 = 2M . From the results of B.2, assuming rm = a, we obtain bmax = a 1 + 4GM 2 a
.

Taking into account that  GM a
, simplify: bmax = 2 GM a, so we have
m
t = .
GM a

B4. During the one act of gravitational slingshot, star energy increases at average by Estar =
2
mvbin
.
2
2
m2
So after the one collision the energy of the binary system decreases by the same magnitude.
Taking into account that  vbin , we derive E = m2 vbin
2
.

Average binary system energy loss rate equals . In respect to ,

2 2
GM 2
dE
dt
= E
t
= G 4
M dE
dt
= 4a2
orbit radius variation rate can be estimated as
da Ga2
(3) = .
dt

B5. Obtained equation can be easily integrated

da G
(4) 2
= dt.
a
To reduce the radius twice it takes time TSS = Ga

1
= 0.0048 Gy.
 3

C. Emission of gravitational waves

1. Using previous results (B) one can obtain:

GM 2 GM 2 da
 
dE d
(5) = = ;
dt dt 4a 4a2 dt
This leads to the dierential equation:
GM 2 da 1024 G 6 M 2 a4
(6) = ,
4a2 dt 5 c5
r
GM
where angular velocity is known from part B: = .
4a3
The desirable result is:
da G3 M 3
(7) = 5 3
dt ca

2. Solving the equation one can obtain:

da G3 M 3 a4 256 G3 M 3
(8) a3 = 5 2 TGW ;
dt c 4 5 c5
The nal result for time:
5 a42 c5
(9) TGW = .
1024 G3 M 3
3. Solving the previous equation:
s
1024 tH G3 M 3
(10)
4
aH = 0.098 pc.
5 c5

D. Full evolution

D1. The Rgalaxy is spherically symmetric, so mass enclosed within a sphere of radius r equals
m(r) = 0 4x2 (x) dx = Gr . Thus the free fall acceleration of the body equals in the
r 2

gravitational eld of stars is g(r) = Gm(r) = r . Therefore the body velocity is determined
2
r2
by relation vr = g = r , which means v = =const.
2 2

D2. The energy of SBH in this gravitational eld is

M 2
E= +U
2
and dU = g(r)M = Ma . So dE .
2 dU dU da M 2 da
da dt
= dt
= da dt
= a dt
Using the result of A2 we have
dE 2 2 (r) GM 2 log
= FDf v = 4G M log = ,
dt v a2
and the answer is
da GM log
(11) =
dt a
4

D3. To estimate one can assume that SBHs form a binary when the mass of stars inside the
sphere of radius a equals to M :
2a
m(a) = = M,
G
so a1 = GM
2
= 11 pc.

D4. Integrating the equation (11) we have

a20 a21 GM log
= T1
2
and using that a1  a0 we have
a20
T1 = = 0.12 Gy.
2GM ln
D5. Total energy losses are caused by gravitational slingshot and gravitational waves emission,
so
dE G2 M 2 64G4 M 5
(12) =
dt 4 5c5 a5
Energy losses due to GW dominates when G M i.e. a < a2 where
2 2 1 4M 5
4
< 64G
5c5 a5
256 G2 M 3
a52 = .
5 c5 1
Numerical answers are 1 = 6 103 MS /pc3 and a2 = 0.026 pc.

D6. For rough approximation it can be considered that at the slingshot stage losses are due to
slingshot only, so T2 is calculated analogiously to B5:

T2 = = 0.27 Gy
Ga2
And at the GW emission stage losses are due to GW only, so T3 is calculated directly from to
C2:
a42 c5
T3 = 3 3
= = 0.067 Gy
16G M 16Ga2
D7. Total time of SBH binary evolution from the moment of galaxies merging to SBH merging
equals
Tevol = T1 + T2 + TGW = 0.12 + 0.27 + 0.07 Gy = 0.46 Gy