Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks
The disk of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is widely regarded as a prominent formation channel of binary black hole (BBH) mergers that can be detected through gravitational waves (GWs). Besides, the presence of dense environmental gas offers the potential for an embedded BBH merger to produce elec...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0dfd |
| _version_ | 1797344871178043392 |
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| author | Ken Chen Zi-Gao Dai |
| author_facet | Ken Chen Zi-Gao Dai |
| author_sort | Ken Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The disk of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is widely regarded as a prominent formation channel of binary black hole (BBH) mergers that can be detected through gravitational waves (GWs). Besides, the presence of dense environmental gas offers the potential for an embedded BBH merger to produce electromagnetic (EM) counterparts. In this paper, we investigate EM emission powered by the kicked remnant of a BBH merger occurring within the AGN disk. The remnant BH will launch a jet via the accretion of a magnetized medium as it traverses the disk. The resulting jet will decelerate and dissipate energy into a lateral cocoon as it propagates. We explore three radiation mechanisms of the jet–cocoon system—jet breakout emission, disk cocoon cooling emission, and jet cocoon cooling emission—and find that the jet cocoon cooling emission is likely to be detected in its own frequency bands. We predict a soft X-ray transient, lasting for O (10 ^3 ) s, to serve as an EM counterpart, of which the time delay O (10) days after the GW trigger contributes to follow-up observations. Consequently, BBH mergers in the AGN disk represent a novel multimessenger source. In the future, enhanced precision in measuring and localizing GWs, coupled with diligent searches for such associated EM signals, will effectively validate or restrict the origin of BBH mergers in the AGN disk. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:09:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-334812d276274ade8d6334c524ef078b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:09:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-334812d276274ade8d6334c524ef078b2024-01-26T13:54:36ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01961220610.3847/1538-4357/ad0dfdElectromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN DisksKen Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8955-0452Zi-Gao Dai1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7835-8585School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People’s Republic of China ; daizg@ustc.edu.cnThe disk of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is widely regarded as a prominent formation channel of binary black hole (BBH) mergers that can be detected through gravitational waves (GWs). Besides, the presence of dense environmental gas offers the potential for an embedded BBH merger to produce electromagnetic (EM) counterparts. In this paper, we investigate EM emission powered by the kicked remnant of a BBH merger occurring within the AGN disk. The remnant BH will launch a jet via the accretion of a magnetized medium as it traverses the disk. The resulting jet will decelerate and dissipate energy into a lateral cocoon as it propagates. We explore three radiation mechanisms of the jet–cocoon system—jet breakout emission, disk cocoon cooling emission, and jet cocoon cooling emission—and find that the jet cocoon cooling emission is likely to be detected in its own frequency bands. We predict a soft X-ray transient, lasting for O (10 ^3 ) s, to serve as an EM counterpart, of which the time delay O (10) days after the GW trigger contributes to follow-up observations. Consequently, BBH mergers in the AGN disk represent a novel multimessenger source. In the future, enhanced precision in measuring and localizing GWs, coupled with diligent searches for such associated EM signals, will effectively validate or restrict the origin of BBH mergers in the AGN disk.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0dfdActive galactic nucleiAccretionBlack holesGravitational wave sourcesJets |
| spellingShingle | Ken Chen Zi-Gao Dai Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks The Astrophysical Journal Active galactic nuclei Accretion Black holes Gravitational wave sources Jets |
| title | Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks |
| title_full | Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks |
| title_fullStr | Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks |
| title_short | Electromagnetic Counterparts Powered by Kicked Remnants of Black Hole Binary Mergers in AGN Disks |
| title_sort | electromagnetic counterparts powered by kicked remnants of black hole binary mergers in agn disks |
| topic | Active galactic nuclei Accretion Black holes Gravitational wave sources Jets |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0dfd |
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