2007/10/31 by Manuela Campanelli, Carlos O. Lousto, C. O. Loustó +1 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Binary black hole #Binary number #Black hole (networking) #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Gravitational wave #Intermediate-mass black hole #Merge (version control) #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Rotating black hole #Spin-flip #Stellar black hole #astro-ph #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.101501
published as Phys.Rev.D77:101501,2008 · 4 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2008/04/09 · openalex publication_date 2008/05/05 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the first fully relativistic long-term numerical evolutions of three equal-mass black holes in a system consisting of a third black hole in a close orbit about a black-hole binary. These close-three-black-hole systems have very different merger dynamics from black-hole binaries; displaying complex trajectories, a redistribution of energy that can impart substantial kicks to one of the holes, distinctive waveforms, and suppression of the emitted gravitational radiation. In one configuration the binary is quickly disrupted and the individual holes follow complicated trajectories and merge with the third hole in rapid succession, while in another, the binary completes a half-orbit before the initial merger of one of the members with the third black hole, and the resulting two-black-hole system forms a highly elliptical, well separated binary that shows no significant inspiral for (at least) the first t\ensuremath∼1000M of evolution.