http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.07642
We show that a black-hole binary with a massive companion on an orbit with semi-major axis no more than $\sim 10$ times the semi-major axis of the inner binary can undergo Lidov-Kozai cycles which bring the binary within a few times $10^{-4}$ AU at pericenter, causing it to rapidly merge due to gravitational-wave emission. The total predicted rate of these mergers is within the low end of the 90\% credible interval for the total black-hole black-hole merger rate inferred from the current LIGO results. A few percent of these systems will have eccentricity greater than 0.999 when they first enter the frequency band detectable by aLIGO (above 10 Hz).
K. Silsbee and S. Tremaine
Tue, 30 Aug 16
40/78
Comments: N/A