Signatures of the Many Supermassive Black Hole Mergers in a Cosmologically Forming Massive Early-type Galaxy

Abstract

We model here the merger histories of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) population in the late stages of a cosmological simulation of a ∼ 2 × 1013 M ⊙ galaxy group. The gravitational dynamics around the several tens of SMBHs (M • > 7.5 × 107 M ⊙) hosted by the galaxies in the group is computed at high accuracy using regularized integration with the KETJU code. The 11 SMBHs that form binaries and a hierarchical triplet eventually merge after hardening through dynamical friction, stellar scattering, and gravitational wave (GW) emission. The binaries form at eccentricities of e ∼ 0.3–0.9, with one system evolving to a very high eccentricity of e = 0.998, and merge on timescales of a few tens to several hundred megayears. During the simulation, the merger-induced GW recoil kicks eject one SMBH remnant from the central host galaxy. This temporarily drives the galaxy off the M •–σ ⋆ relation; however, the galaxy returns to the relation due to subsequent galaxy mergers, which bring in new SMBHs. This showcases a possible mechanism contributing to the observed scatter of the M •–σ ⋆ relation. Finally, we show that pulsar timing arrays and LISA would be able to detect parts of the GW signals from the SMBH mergers that occur during the ∼4 Gyr time span simulated with KETJU.