The Distribution and Annihilation of Dark Matter Around Black Holes

We use a Monte Carlo code to calculate the geodesic orbits of test particles around Kerr black holes, generating a distribution function of both bound and unbound populations of dark matter particles. From this distribution function, we calculate annihilation rates and observable gamma-ray spectra for a few simple dark matter models. The features of these spectra are sensitive to the black hole spin, observer inclination, and detailed properties of the dark matter annihilation cross section and density profile. Confirming earlier analytic work, we find that for rapidly spinning black holes, the collisional Penrose process can reach efficiencies exceeding $600\%$, leading to a high-energy tail in the annihilation spectrum. The high particle density and large proper volume of the region immediately surrounding the horizon ensures that the observed flux from these extreme events is non-negligible.Comment: accepted to Ap

Electromagnetic Counterparts to Black Hole Mergers

During the final moments of a binary black hole (BH) merger, the gravitational wave (GW) luminosity of the system is greater than the combined electromagnetic output of the entire observable universe. However, the extremely weak coupling between GWs and ordinary matter makes these waves very difficult to detect directly. Fortunately, the inspiraling BH system will interact strongly--on a purely Newtonian level--with any surrounding material in the host galaxy, and this matter can in turn produce unique electromagnetic (EM) signals detectable at Earth. By identifying EM counterparts to GW sources, we will be able to study the host environments of the merging BHs, in turn greatly expanding the scientific yield of a mission like LISA.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Class. Quantum Grav. special issue: proceedings of 8th LISA Symposiu

Astrophysics of Super-massive Black Hole Mergers

We present here an overview of recent work in the subject of astrophysical manifestations of super-massive black hole (SMBH) mergers. This is a field that has been traditionally driven by theoretical work, but in recent years has also generated a great deal of interest and excitement in the observational astronomy community. In particular, the electromagnetic (EM) counterparts to SMBH mergers provide the means to detect and characterize these highly energetic events at cosmological distances, even in the absence of a space-based gravitational-wave observatory. In addition to providing a mechanism for observing SMBH mergers, EM counterparts also give important information about the environments in which these remarkable events take place, thus teaching us about the mechanisms through which galaxies form and evolve symbiotically with their central black holes.Comment: Invited article for the focus issue on astrophysical black holes in Classical and Quantum Gravity, guest editors: D. Merritt and L. Rezzoll

A Hot Spot Model for Black Hole QPOs

In at least two black hole binary systems, the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer has detected high frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HFQPOs) with a 2:3 frequency commensurability. We propose a simple hot spot model to explain the positions, amplitudes, and widths of the HFQPO peaks. Using the exact geodesic equations for the Kerr metric, we calculate the trajectories of massive test particles, which are treated as isotropic, monochromatic emitters in their rest frames. By varying the hot spot parameters, we are able to explain the different features observed in ``Type A'' and ``Type B'' QPOs from XTE J1550-564. In the context of this model, the observed power spectra allow us to infer values for the black hole mass and angular momentum, and also constrain the parameters of the model.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in X-Ray Timing 2003: Rossi and Beyond, ed. P. Kaaret, F. K. Lamb, & J. H. Swank (Melville, NY: American Institute of Physics

Gravitational Waves from Compact Objects Accreting onto Active Galactic Nuclei

We consider a model in which massive stars form in a self-gravitating accretion disk around an active galactic nucleus. These stars may evolve and collapse to form compact objects on a time scale shorter than the accretion time, thus producing an important family of sources for LISA. Assuming the compact object formation/inspiral rate is proportional to the steady-state gas accretion rate, we use the observed extra-galactic X-ray luminosity function to estimate expected event rates and signal strengths. We find that these sources will produce a continuous low-frequency background detectable by LISA if more than >~ 1% of the accreted matter is in the form of compact objects. For compact objects with m >~ 10 Msun, the last stages of the inspiral events should be resolvable above a few mHz, at a rate of ~10-100 per year.Comment: 7 pages, to appear in Proceedings of Sixth International LISA Symposiu