Post-merger Jets from Supermassive Black Hole Coalescences as Electromagnetic Counterparts of Gravitational Wave Emission

Chengchao Yuan, Kohta Murase, B. Theodore Zhang, Shigeo S. Kimura, Péter Mészáros

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

As a powerful source of gravitational waves (GW), a supermassive black hole (SMBH) merger may be accompanied by a relativistic jet that leads to detectable electromagnetic (EM) emission. We model the propagation of post-merger jets inside a pre-merger wind bubble formed by disk winds, and calculate multiwavelength EM spectra from the forward shock region. We show that the nonthermal EM signals from SMBH mergers are detectable up to the detection horizon of future GW facilities such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Calculations based on our model predict slowly fading transients with time delays from days to months after the coalescence, leading to implications for EM follow-up observations after the GW detection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL15
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume911
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 10 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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