A case for a binary black hole system revealed via quasi-periodic outflows

Dheeraj R. Pasham; Francesco Tombesi; Petra Suková; Michal Zajaček; Suvendu Rakshit; Eric Coughlin; Peter Kosec; Vladimír Karas; Megan Masterson; Andrew Mummery; Thomas W.S. Holoien; Muryel Guolo; Jason Hinkle; Bart Ripperda; Vojtěch Witzany; Ben Shappee; Erin Kara; Assaf Horesh; Sjoert van Velzen; Itai Sfaradi; David Kaplan; Noam Burger; Tara Murphy; Ronald Remillard; James F. Steiner; Thomas Wevers; Riccardo Arcodia; Johannes Buchner; Andrea Merloni; Adam Malyali; Andy Fabian; Michael Fausnaugh; Tansu Daylan; Diego Altamirano; Anna Payne; Elizabeth C. Ferraraa

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adj8898

A case for a binary black hole system revealed via quasi-periodic outflows

Dheeraj R. Pasham^*, Francesco Tombesi, Petra Suková, Michal Zajaček, Suvendu Rakshit, Eric Coughlin, Peter Kosec, Vladimír Karas, Megan Masterson, Andrew Mummery, Thomas W.S. Holoien, Muryel Guolo, Jason Hinkle, Bart Ripperda, Vojtěch Witzany, Ben Shappee, Erin Kara, Assaf Horesh, Sjoert van Velzen, Itai SfaradiDavid Kaplan, Noam Burger, Tara Murphy, Ronald Remillard, James F. Steiner, Thomas Wevers, Riccardo Arcodia, Johannes Buchner, Andrea Merloni, Adam Malyali, Andy Fabian, Michael Fausnaugh, Tansu Daylan, Diego Altamirano, Anna Payne, Elizabeth C. Ferraraa

^*Corresponding author for this work

Racah Institute of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Binaries containing a compact object orbiting a supermassive black hole are thought to be precursors of gravitational wave events, but their identification has been extremely challenging. Here, we report quasi-periodic variability in x-ray absorption, which we interpret as quasi-periodic outflows (QPOuts) from a previously low-luminosity active galactic nucleus after an outburst, likely caused by a stellar tidal disruption. We rule out several models based on observed properties and instead show using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that QPOuts, separated by roughly 8.3 days, can be explained with an intermediate-mass black hole secondary on a mildly eccentric orbit at a mean distance of about 100 gravitational radii from the primary. Our work suggests that QPOuts could be a new way to identify intermediate/extreme-mass ratio binary candidates.

Original language	English
Article number	eadj8898
Journal	Science advances
Volume	10
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj8898
State	Published - Mar 2024

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© 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

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Pasham, D. R., Tombesi, F., Suková, P., Zajaček, M., Rakshit, S., Coughlin, E., Kosec, P., Karas, V., Masterson, M., Mummery, A., Holoien, T. W. S., Guolo, M., Hinkle, J., Ripperda, B., Witzany, V., Shappee, B., Kara, E., Horesh, A., van Velzen, S., ... Ferraraa, E. C. (2024). A case for a binary black hole system revealed via quasi-periodic outflows. Science advances, 10(13), Article eadj8898. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj8898

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title = "A case for a binary black hole system revealed via quasi-periodic outflows",

abstract = "Binaries containing a compact object orbiting a supermassive black hole are thought to be precursors of gravitational wave events, but their identification has been extremely challenging. Here, we report quasi-periodic variability in x-ray absorption, which we interpret as quasi-periodic outflows (QPOuts) from a previously low-luminosity active galactic nucleus after an outburst, likely caused by a stellar tidal disruption. We rule out several models based on observed properties and instead show using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that QPOuts, separated by roughly 8.3 days, can be explained with an intermediate-mass black hole secondary on a mildly eccentric orbit at a mean distance of about 100 gravitational radii from the primary. Our work suggests that QPOuts could be a new way to identify intermediate/extreme-mass ratio binary candidates.",

author = "Pasham, {Dheeraj R.} and Francesco Tombesi and Petra Sukov{\'a} and Michal Zaja{\v c}ek and Suvendu Rakshit and Eric Coughlin and Peter Kosec and Vladim{\'i}r Karas and Megan Masterson and Andrew Mummery and Holoien, {Thomas W.S.} and Muryel Guolo and Jason Hinkle and Bart Ripperda and Vojt{\v e}ch Witzany and Ben Shappee and Erin Kara and Assaf Horesh and {van Velzen}, Sjoert and Itai Sfaradi and David Kaplan and Noam Burger and Tara Murphy and Ronald Remillard and Steiner, {James F.} and Thomas Wevers and Riccardo Arcodia and Johannes Buchner and Andrea Merloni and Adam Malyali and Andy Fabian and Michael Fausnaugh and Tansu Daylan and Diego Altamirano and Anna Payne and Ferraraa, {Elizabeth C.}",

year = "2024",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.adj8898",

language = "אנגלית",

volume = "10",

journal = "Science advances",

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Pasham, DR, Tombesi, F, Suková, P, Zajaček, M, Rakshit, S, Coughlin, E, Kosec, P, Karas, V, Masterson, M, Mummery, A, Holoien, TWS, Guolo, M, Hinkle, J, Ripperda, B, Witzany, V, Shappee, B, Kara, E, Horesh, A, van Velzen, S, Sfaradi, I, Kaplan, D, Burger, N, Murphy, T, Remillard, R, Steiner, JF, Wevers, T, Arcodia, R, Buchner, J, Merloni, A, Malyali, A, Fabian, A, Fausnaugh, M, Daylan, T, Altamirano, D, Payne, A & Ferraraa, EC 2024, 'A case for a binary black hole system revealed via quasi-periodic outflows', Science advances, vol. 10, no. 13, eadj8898. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj8898

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AU - Pasham, Dheeraj R.

AU - Tombesi, Francesco

AU - Suková, Petra

AU - Zajaček, Michal

AU - Rakshit, Suvendu

AU - Coughlin, Eric

AU - Kosec, Peter

AU - Karas, Vladimír

AU - Masterson, Megan

AU - Mummery, Andrew

AU - Holoien, Thomas W.S.

AU - Guolo, Muryel

AU - Hinkle, Jason

AU - Ripperda, Bart

AU - Witzany, Vojtěch

AU - Shappee, Ben

AU - Kara, Erin

AU - Horesh, Assaf

AU - van Velzen, Sjoert

AU - Sfaradi, Itai

AU - Kaplan, David

AU - Burger, Noam

AU - Murphy, Tara

AU - Remillard, Ronald

AU - Steiner, James F.

AU - Wevers, Thomas

AU - Arcodia, Riccardo

AU - Buchner, Johannes

AU - Merloni, Andrea

AU - Malyali, Adam

AU - Fabian, Andy

AU - Fausnaugh, Michael

AU - Daylan, Tansu

AU - Altamirano, Diego

AU - Payne, Anna

AU - Ferraraa, Elizabeth C.

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - Binaries containing a compact object orbiting a supermassive black hole are thought to be precursors of gravitational wave events, but their identification has been extremely challenging. Here, we report quasi-periodic variability in x-ray absorption, which we interpret as quasi-periodic outflows (QPOuts) from a previously low-luminosity active galactic nucleus after an outburst, likely caused by a stellar tidal disruption. We rule out several models based on observed properties and instead show using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that QPOuts, separated by roughly 8.3 days, can be explained with an intermediate-mass black hole secondary on a mildly eccentric orbit at a mean distance of about 100 gravitational radii from the primary. Our work suggests that QPOuts could be a new way to identify intermediate/extreme-mass ratio binary candidates.

AB - Binaries containing a compact object orbiting a supermassive black hole are thought to be precursors of gravitational wave events, but their identification has been extremely challenging. Here, we report quasi-periodic variability in x-ray absorption, which we interpret as quasi-periodic outflows (QPOuts) from a previously low-luminosity active galactic nucleus after an outburst, likely caused by a stellar tidal disruption. We rule out several models based on observed properties and instead show using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that QPOuts, separated by roughly 8.3 days, can be explained with an intermediate-mass black hole secondary on a mildly eccentric orbit at a mean distance of about 100 gravitational radii from the primary. Our work suggests that QPOuts could be a new way to identify intermediate/extreme-mass ratio binary candidates.

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VL - 10

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A case for a binary black hole system revealed via quasi-periodic outflows

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