Search

We investigate the nature of star formation in gas-rich galaxies at $z > 7$ forming in a markedly overdense region, in the whereabouts of a massive virialized halo already exceeding $10^{12}$ M$_{\odot}$. We find that not only the primary galaxy, but also the lower-mass companion galaxies rapidly develop massive self-gravitating compact gas disks, less than 500~pc in size, which undergo fragmentation by gravitational instability into very massive bound clumps. Star formation proceeds fast in the clumps, which quickly turn into compact star clusters with masses in the range $10^5$-$10^8$ M$_{\odot}$ and typical half-mass radii of a few pc, reaching characteristic densities above $10^5$ M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$. The properties of the clusters in the lowest-mass galaxy bear a striking resemblance to those recently discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in the lensed Cosmic Gems arc system at $z = 10.2$. We argue that, due to their extremely high stellar densities, intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) would form rapidly inside the clusters, which would then swiftly sink and merge on their way to the galactic nucleus, easily growing a $10^7$~M$_{\odot}$ supermassive black hole (SMBH). Due to the high fractional mass contribution of clusters to the stellar mass of the galaxies, in the range $20$-$40\%$, the central SMBH would comprise more than $10\%$ of the mass of its host galaxy, naturally explaining the overmassive SMBHs discovered by JWST at $z > 6$., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, to be submitted to ApJ Letters

The opening of the gravitational wave window has significantly enhanced our capacity to explore the universe's most extreme and dynamic sector. In the mHz frequency range, a diverse range of compact objects, from the most massive black holes at the farthest reaches of the Universe to the lightest white dwarfs in our cosmic backyard, generate a complex and dynamic symphony of gravitational wave signals. Once recorded by gravitational wave detectors, these unique fingerprints have the potential to decipher the birth and growth of cosmic structures over a wide range of scales, from stellar binaries and stellar clusters to galaxies and large-scale structures. The TianQin space-borne gravitational wave mission is scheduled for launch in the 2030s, with an operational lifespan of five years. It will facilitate pivotal insights into the history of our universe. This document presents a concise overview of the detectable sources of TianQin, outlining their characteristics, the challenges they present, and the expected impact of the TianQin observatory on our understanding of them., Comment: TianQin Gravitational Wave Whitepaper, 72 pages, 30 figures

Recent observations with JWST and ALMA have unveiled galaxies with regular discs at significantly higher redshifts than previously expected. This appears to be in contrast with constraints on the stellar populations of the Milky Way, suggesting that the bulk of the Galactic thin disc formed after $z=1$, and raises questions about the history, evolution, and survivability of primordial discs. Here, we use GigaEris, a state-of-the-art $N$-body, hydrodynamical, cosmological ``zoom-in'' simulation with a billion particles within the virial radius, to delve into the formation of the early kinematically cold discs (KCDs), defined by their ratio between the mean rotational velocity and the radial velocity dispersion, of a Milky Way-sized galaxy at redshifts $z\gtrsim 4$. Our analysis reveals a primarily inward migration pattern for disc stars formed at $z \gtrsim 6$, turning into a mix of inward and outward migration at later times. Stars migrating outwards undergo minimal kinematic heating, and might be identified as part of the thin disc forming at much later epochs. We find that approximately 76 per cent of all stars formed in the KCD at $z \sim 7$ become part of a pseudo-bulge by $z = 4.4$. This proportion decreases to below 10 per cent for KCD stars formed at $z \lesssim 5$. The inward migration of stars born in our KCDs at $z \gtrsim 4$ deviates from the expected inside-out formation scenario of thin discs at lower redshifts. Our results suggest a novel ``two-phase'' disc formation process, whereby the early disc transforms primarily into the pseudo-bulge within less than a billion years, whereas the present-day disc forms subsequently from higher-angular momentum material accreted at later times., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, submitted to MNRAS

In this work, we address the following question: ``can we use the current cosmological simulations to identify intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) and quantify a putative population of wandering IMBHs?''. We compare wandering-IMBH counts in different simulations with different sub-grid methods and post-processing recipes, the ultimate goal being to aid future wandering-IMBH detection efforts. In particular, we examine simulations in which IMBHs are identified as BH seeds forming at high redshift and those in which they are identified using star clusters as proxies, which implicitly appeals to a stellar dynamical formation channel. In addition, we employ the extremely high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamical ``zoom-in'' simulation GigaEris with the star cluster proxies method to identify IMBHs. We find consistent counts of wandering high-redshift IMBHs across most of the different cosmological simulations employed so far in the literature, despite the different identification approaches, resulting in 5 to 18 wandering IMBHs per Milky Way-sized galaxy at $z \geq 3$. Nevertheless, we argue this is only coincidental, as a significant discrepancy arises when examining the formation sites and the mass ranges of the wandering IMBHs. Furthermore, we cannot determine how many of the IMBHs identified at high redshift in GigaEris will be wandering IMBHs at $z = 0$ as opposed to how many will accrete to the central supermassive BH, promoting its growth. All of this casts doubts on the ability of current cosmological simulations to inform observational searches for wandering IMBHs., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 10 pages & 5 Figures

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is the first scientific endeavour to detect and study gravitational waves from space. LISA will survey the sky for Gravitational Waves in the 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz frequency band which will enable the study of a vast number of objects ranging from Galactic binaries and stellar mass black holes in the Milky Way, to distant massive black-hole mergers and the expansion of the Universe. This definition study report, or Red Book, presents a summary of the very large body of work that has been undertaken on the LISA mission over the LISA definition phase., Comment: 155 pages, with executive summary and table of contents

Thin galactic discs and nuclear stellar discs (NSDs) are fragile structures that can be easily disturbed by merger events. By studying the age of the stellar populations in present-day discs, we can learn about the assembly history of galaxies and place constraints on their past merger events. Following on the steps of our initial work, we explore the fragility of such disc structures in intermediate-mass-ratio dry encounters using the previously constructed $N$-body model of the Fornax galaxy NGC 1381 (FCC 170), which hosts both a thin galactic disc and a NSD. We dismiss major and minor encounters, as the former were previously shown to easily destroy thin-disc structures, whereas the latter take several Hubble times to complete in the specific case of FCC 170. The kinematics and structure of the thin galactic disc are dramatically altered by the mergers, whereas the NSD shows a remarkable resilience, exhibiting only a smooth increase of its size when compared to the model evolved in isolation. Our results suggest that thin galactic discs are better tracers for intermediate-mass-ratio mergers, while NSDs may be more useful for major encounters. Based on our simulations and previous analysis of the stellar populations, we concluded that FCC 170 has not experienced any intermediate-mass-ratio dry encounters for at least $\sim$10 Gyr, as indicated by the age of its thin-disc stellar populations., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures

We present the results of the first fully cosmological hydrodynamical simulations studying the merger-driven model for massive black hole (BH) seed formation via direct collapse. Using the zoom-in technique as well as particle splitting, we achieve a final spatial resolution of $2$ pc. We show that the major merger of two massive galaxies at redshift $z \sim 8$ results in the formation of a nuclear supermassive disk (SMD) of only $4$ pc in radius, owing to a prodigious gas inflow sustained at $100$-$1000$ $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. The core of the merger remnant is metal-rich, well above solar abundance, and the SMD reaches a gaseous mass of $3 \times 10^8$ $M_{\odot}$ in less than a million years after the merger, despite a concurrent prominent nuclear starburst. Dynamical heating as gas falls into the deepest part of the potential well, and heating and stirring by supernova blastwaves, generate a turbulent multi-phase interstellar medium, with a gas velocity dispersion exceeding 100 km s$^{-1}$. As a result, only moderate fragmentation occurs in the inner $10$-$20$ pc despite the temperature falls below $1000$ K. The SMD is Jeans-unstable as well as bar-unstable and will collapse further adiabatically, becoming warm and ionized. We show that the SMD, following inevitable contraction, will become general relativistic unstable and directly form a supermassive BH of mass in the range $10^6$-$10^8$ $M_{\odot}$, essentially skipping the stage of BH seed formation. These results confirm that mergers between the most massive galaxies at $z \sim 8$-$10$ can naturally explain the rapid emergence of bright high-redshift quasars., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ

Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are massive star clusters found in the innermost region of most galaxies. While recent studies suggest that low-mass NSCs in dwarf galaxies form largely out of the merger of globular clusters and NSCs in massive galaxies accumulate mass primarily through central star formation, the formation channel of the Milky Way's NSC is still uncertain. In this work, we use GigaEris, a high resolution N-body, hydrodynamical, cosmological ``zoom-in'' simulation, to investigate a possible formation path of the NSC in the progenitor of a Milky Way-sized galaxy, as well as its relation to the assembly and evolution of the galactic nuclear region. We study the possibility that bound, young, gas-rich, stellar clusters within a radius of 1.5 kpc of the main galaxy's centre at z>4 are the predecessors of the old, metal-poor stellar population of the Milky Way's NSC. We identify 47 systems which satisfy our criteria, with a total stellar mass of $10^{7.5}$ M$_{\odot}$. We demonstrate that both stellar cluster accretion and in-situ star formation will contribute to the formation of the NSC, providing evidence for a hybrid formation scenario for the first time in an N-body, hydrodynamical, cosmological ``zoom-in'' simulation. Additionally, we find that the gas required for in-situ star formation can originate from two pathways: gas-rich stellar clusters and gas influx driven by large-scale non-axisymmetric structures within the galaxy. This is partly supported by the presence of a stellar ring, resulting from gas dynamics, with properties similar to those of the Milky Way's nuclear stellar disc., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by MNRAS

Thin stellar discs on both galactic and nuclear, sub-kpc scales are believed to be fragile structures that would be easily destroyed in major mergers. In turn, this makes the age-dating of their stellar populations a useful diagnostics for the assembly history of galaxies. We aim at carefully exploring the fragility of such stellar discs in intermediate- and low- mass encounters, using high-resolution N-body simulations of galaxy models with structural and kinematic properties tailored to actually observed galaxies. As a first but challenging step, we create a dynamical model of FCC 170, a nearly edge-on galaxy in the Fornax cluster with multiple galactic components and including both a galactic scale and nuclear stellar disc (NSD), using detailed kinematic data from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer and a novel method for constructing distribution function-based self-consistent galaxy models. We then create N-body realisations of this model and demonstrate that it remains in equilibrium and preserves its properties over many Gyr, when evolved with a sufficiently high particle number. However, the NSD is more prone to numerical heating, which gradually increases its thickness by up to 22 per cent in 10 Gyr even in our highest-resolution runs. Nevertheless, these N-body models can serve as realistic representations of actual galaxies in merger simulations., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are accreting supermassive black holes co-evolving with their host galaxies through a complex interplay of feeding and feedback. In this chapter, we first discuss AGN fuelling in galaxies, both in interacting and isolated systems, focusing on the role that instabilities have on the angular momentum budget of the gas. We then review observations and models of feedback through AGN-driven winds from nuclear, sub-pc scales out to galactic and circumgalactic medium scales. We continue with an overview of surveys and statistical properties of the AGN population, before concluding with a discussion on the prospects for the future facilities, focusing in particular on Athena., Comment: Invited Chapter of Section "Active Galactic Nuclei in X- and Gamma-rays" (Section Editors: A. De Rosa and C. Vignali) of the "Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics" (Editors: C. Bambi and A. Santangelo), Springer Nature

The formation history of globular clusters (GCs) at redshift $z > 4$ remains an unsolved problem. In this work, we use the cosmological, $N$-body hydrodynamical ``zoom-in'' simulation GigaEris to study the properties and formation of proto-GC candidates in the region surrounding the progenitor of a Milky Way-sized galaxy. The simulation employs a modern implementation of smoothed-particle hydrodynamics, including metal-line cooling and metal and thermal diffusion and allows to resolve systems at the scale of star clusters. We define proto-GC candidate systems as gravitationally bound stellar systems with baryonic mass fraction $F_{\rm b} \geq 0.75$ and stellar velocity dispersion $\sigma_{\star} < 20$ km s$^{-1}$. At $z=4.4$ we identify 9 systems which satisfy our criteria, all of which form between 10 kpc to 30 kpc from the centre of the main host. Their baryonic masses are in the range $10^5$- $10^7$ M$_{\odot}$. By the end of the simulation, they still have a relatively low stellar mass ($M_{\star} \sim 10^4$--$10^5$ M$_{\odot}$) and a metallicity ($-1.8 \lesssim {\rm [Fe/H]} \lesssim -0.8$) similar to the blue Galactic GCs. All of the identified systems except one appear to be associated with gas filaments accreting onto the main galaxy in the circum-galactic region, and formed at $z=5-4$. The exception is the oldest object, which appears to be a stripped compact dwarf galaxy that has interacted with the main halo between $z = 5.8$ and $z=5.2$ and has lost its entire dark matter content due to tidal mass loss., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

In preparation for future space-borne gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, should the modelling effort focus on high-precision vacuum templates or on the astrophysical environment of the sources? We perform a systematic comparison of the phase contributions caused by 1) known environmental effects in both gaseous and stellar matter backgrounds, or 2) high-order post-Newtonian {(PN)} terms in the evolution of mHz GW sources {during the inspiral stage of massive binaries}. We use the accuracy of currently available analytical waveform models as a benchmark {value, finding} the following trends: the largest unmodelled phase contributions are likely environmental rather than PN for binaries lighter than $\sim 10^7/(1+z)^2$~M$_{\odot}$, where $z$ is the redshift. Binaries heavier than $\sim 10^8/(1+z)$~M$_{\odot}$ do not require more accurate {inspiral} waveforms due to low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). For high-SNR sources, environmental {phase contributions} are relevant at low redshift, while high-order vacuum templates are required at $z > 4$. Led by these findings, we argue that including environmental effects in waveform models should be prioritised in order to maximize the science yield of future mHz detectors., Comment: Accepted in MNRAS

We study the effect of torques on circular inspirals of intermediate-mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs) embedded in gas discs, wherein both BH masses are in the range $10^2$-$10^5~\rm{M}_\odot$, up to redshift $z = 10$. We focus on how torques impact the detected gravitational wave (GW) waveform in the frequency band of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) when the binary separation is within a few hundred Schwarzschild radii. For a sub-Eddington accretion disc with a viscosity coefficient $\alpha=0.01$, surface density $\Sigma\approx10^5$ g cm$^{-2}$, and Mach number $\mathcal{M}_{\rm a}\approx80$, a gap, or a cavity, opens when the binary is in the LISA band. Depending on the torque's strength, LISA will observe dephasing in the IMBHB's GW signal up to either $z\sim5$ for high mass ratios ($q\approx0.1$) or to $z\sim7$ for $q\approx10^{-3}$. We study the dependence of the measurable dephasing on variations of BH masses, redshift, and accretion rates. Our results suggest that phase shift is detectable even in high-redshift ($z = 10$) binaries, provided that they experience super-Eddington accretion episodes. We investigate if the disc-driven torques can result in an observable `time-dependent' chirp mass with a simplified Fisher formalism, finding that, at the expected signal-to-noise ratio, the gas-induced variation of the chirp mass is too small to be detected. This work shows how perturbations of vacuum waveforms induced by gas should be strong enough to be detected by LISA for the IMBHB in the early inspiral phase. These perturbations encode precious information on the astrophysics of accretion discs and galactic nuclei. High-accuracy waveform models which incorporate these effects will be needed to extract such information., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS

Accretion at sustained or episodic super-Eddington (SE) rates has been proposed as a pathway to grow efficiently light seeds produced by Pop-III stars. We investigate if SE accretion can be sustained onto a black hole (BH) with $M_{\odot} \sim 10^3$~M$_{\odot}$ in the centre of a gas-rich proto-galaxy at $z=15$. We perform high-resolution smoothed-particle hydrodynamical simulations, including two different sub-grid models for SE accretion, one based on the slim disc paradigm, and one inspired by recent radiation-magnetohydrodynamical simulations by Jiang and collaborators. Radiative feedback has the form of a thermal dump to surrounding gas particles, with the radiative efficiency being set according to the different SE accretion models. We find that, in all simulations, star formation, BH feedback, and interactions between clumps and the BH rapidly quench accretion after $\sim$1~Myr, irrespective of the sub-grid model used for accretion. Quenching is stronger in the model based on the simulations of Jiang and collaborators relative to the slim disc model because of its higher radiative efficiency. The SE growth phase is always very brief, lasting a few 0.1~Myr. In the most optimistic case, the BH reaches a mass of $\sim$10$^4$~M$_{\odot}$. We extrapolate the final BH masses from $z=15$ to $z\sim6$, assuming subsequent galaxy mergers will replenish the gas reservoir and trigger new cycles of SE accretion. We find that at most BH seeds would grow to $\sim$10$^6$~M$_{\odot}$, comparable to the mass of massive BHs in spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way, but falling short of the mass of the high-redshift quasars., Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, 3 tables

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be a transformative experiment for gravitational wave astronomy, and, as such, it will offer unique opportunities to address many key astrophysical questions in a completely novel way. The synergy with ground-based and space-born instruments in the electromagnetic domain, by enabling multi-messenger observations, will add further to the discovery potential of LISA. The next decade is crucial to prepare the astrophysical community for LISA's first observations. This review outlines the extensive landscape of astrophysical theory, numerical simulations, and astronomical observations that are instrumental for modeling and interpreting the upcoming LISA datastream. To this aim, the current knowledge in three main source classes for LISA is reviewed; ultracompact stellar-mass binaries, massive black hole binaries, and extreme or intermediate mass ratio inspirals. The relevant astrophysical processes and the established modeling techniques are summarized. Likewise, open issues and gaps in our understanding of these sources are highlighted, along with an indication of how LISA could help making progress in the different areas. New research avenues that LISA itself, or its joint exploitation with upcoming studies in the electromagnetic domain, will enable, are also illustrated. Improvements in modeling and analysis approaches, such as the combination of numerical simulations and modern data science techniques, are discussed. This review is intended to be a starting point for using LISA as a new discovery tool for understanding our Universe.

We analyse the effect of stochastic torque fluctuations on the orbital evolution and the gravitational wave (GW)emission of gas-embedded sources with intermediate and extreme mass ratios. We show that gas-driven fluctuations imprint additional harmonic content in the GWs of the binary system, which we dub dirty waveforms(DWs). We find three interesting observational prospects for DWs, provided that torque fluctuations do indeed persist beyond the resolution limit of current hydrodynamical simulations. Firstly, DWs can produce a significant stochastic GW background, comparable to other GW noise sources. Secondly, the energy flux implied by the additional harmonics can cause a detectable secular phase shift in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) sources, even if the net torque fluctuations vanish when averaged over orbital time-scales. Lastly, the DWs of moderate-redshift nHz supermassive binaries detectable by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) could be detectable in the mHz range, producing a new type of PTA-LISA multiband gravitational source. Our results suggest that searching for DWs and their effects can potentially be a novel way to probe the heaviest of black holes and the physics of the accretion discs surrounding them. We find these results to be a further confirmation of the many exciting prospects of actively searching for environmental effects within the data stream of future GW detectors., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. Comments are welcome!

One of the main targets of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is the detection of extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) and extremely large mass-ratio inspirals (X-MRIs). Their orbits are expected to be highly eccentric and relativistic when entering the LISA band. Under these circumstances, the inspiral time-scale given by Peters' formula loses precision and the shift of the last-stable orbit (LSO) caused by the massive black hole spin could influence the event rates estimate. We re-derive EMRIs and X-MRIs event rates by implementing two different versions of a Kerr loss-cone angle that includes the shift in the LSO, and a corrected version of Peters' time-scale that accounts for eccentricity evolution, 1.5 post-Newtonian hereditary fluxes, and spin-orbit coupling. The main findings of our study are summarized as follows: (1) implementing a Kerr loss-cone changes the event rates by a factor ranging between 0.9 and 1.1; (2) the high-eccentricity limit of Peters' formula offers a reliable inspiral time-scale for EMRIs and X-MRIs, resulting in an event rate estimate that deviates by a factor of about 0.9 to 3 when compared to event rates computed with the corrected version of Peters' time-scale and the usual loss-cone definition. (3) Event rates estimates for systems with a wide range of eccentricities should be revised. Peters' formula overestimates the inspiral rates of highly eccentric systems by a factor of about 8 to 30 compared to the corrected values. Besides, for e$_0 \lesssim$0.8, implementing the corrected version of Peters' formula would be necessary to obtain accurate estimates., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

The science objectives of the LISA mission have been defined under the implicit assumption of a 4 yr continuous data stream. Based on the performance of LISA Pathfinder, it is now expected that LISA will have a duty cycle of $\approx 0.75$, which would reduce the effective span of usable data to 3 yr. This paper reports the results of a study by the LISA Science Group, which was charged with assessing the additional science return of increasing the mission lifetime. We explore various observational scenarios to assess the impact of mission duration on the main science objectives of the mission. We find that the science investigations most affected by mission duration concern the search for seed black holes at cosmic dawn, as well as the study of stellar-origin black holes and of their formation channels via multi-band and multi-messenger observations. We conclude that an extension to 6 yr of mission operations is recommended., Comment: 50 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables. Matches version published in GERG

We present results from \textsc{GigaEris}, a cosmological, $N$-body hydrodynamical "zoom-in" simulation of the formation of a Milky Way-sized galaxy halo with unprecedented resolution, encompassing of order a billion particles within the refined region. The simulation employs a modern implementation of smoothed-particle hydrodynamics, including metal-line cooling and metal and thermal diffusion. We focus on the early assembly of the galaxy, down to redshift $z=4.4$. The simulated galaxy has properties consistent with extrapolations of the main sequence of star-forming galaxies to higher redshifts and levels off to a star formation rate of $\sim$60$\, M_{\odot}$~yr$^{-1}$ at $z=4.4$. A compact, thin rotating stellar disk with properties analogous to those of low-redshift systems arises already at $z \sim 8$. The galaxy rapidly develops a multi-component structure, and the disk, at least at these early stages, does not grow "upside-down" as often reported in the literature. Rather, at any given time, newly born stars contribute to sustain a thin disk. The kinematics reflect the early, ubiquitous presence of a thin disk, as a stellar disk component with $v_\phi/\sigma_R$ larger than unity is already present at $z \sim 9$--10. Our results suggest that high-resolution spectro-photometric observations of very high-redshift galaxies should find thin rotating disks, consistent with the recent discovery of cold rotating gas disks by ALMA. Finally, we present synthetic images for the JWST NIRCam camera, showing how the early disk would be easily detectable already at those early times., Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, accepted to ApJ

In this paper, we systematically explore the impact of a galactic bar on the inspiral time-scale of a massive object (MO) within a Milky Way-like galaxy. We integrate the orbit of MOs in a multi-component galaxy model via a semi-analytical approach that accounts for dynamical friction generalized to rotationally supported backgrounds. We compare the MO evolution in a galaxy featuring a Milky Way-like rotating bar to the evolution within an analogous axisymmetric galaxy without the bar. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the bar presence may significantly affect the inspiral, sometimes making it shorter by a factor of a few, sometimes hindering it for a Hubble time. The erratic behaviour is mainly impacted by the relative phase at which the MO encounters the stronger bar-induced resonances. In particular, the effect of the bar is more prominent for initially in-plane, prograde MOs, especially those crossing the bar co-rotation radius or outer Lindblad resonance. In the barred galaxy, we find the sinking of the most massive MOs (>~10^7.5 Msun) approaching the galaxy from large separations (>~8 kpc) to be most efficiently hampered. Neglecting the effect of global torques associated with the non-symmetric mass distribution is thus not advisable even within an idealized, smooth galaxy model; we further note that spiral patterns are unlikely to affect the inspiral due to their transient and fluctuating nature. We speculate that the sinking efficiency of massive black holes involved in minor galaxy mergers may be hampered in barred galaxies, making them less likely to host a gravitational wave signal accessible to low-frequency detectors., Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. MNRAS, accepted

Peters' formula is an analytical estimate of the time-scale of gravitational wave (GW)-induced coalescence of binary systems. It is used in countless applications, where the convenience of a simple formula outweighs the need for precision. However, many promising sources of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), such as supermassive black hole binaries and extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), are expected to enter the LISA band with highly eccentric ($e \gtrsim$ 0.9) and highly relativistic orbits. These are exactly the two limits in which Peters' estimate performs the worst. In this work, we expand upon previous results and give simple analytical fits to quantify how the inspiral time-scale is affected by the relative 1.5 post-Newtonian (PN) hereditary fluxes and spin-orbit couplings. We discuss several cases that demand a more accurate GW time-scale. We show how this can have a major influence on quantities that are relevant for LISA event-rate estimates, such as the EMRI critical semi-major axis. We further discuss two types of environmental perturbations that can play a role in the inspiral phase: the gravitational interaction with a third massive body and the energy loss due to dynamical friction and torques from a surrounding gas medium ubiquitous in galactic nuclei. With the aid of PN corrections to the time-scale in vacuum, we find simple analytical expressions for the regions of phase space in which environmental perturbations are of comparable strength to the effects of any particular PN order, being able to qualitatively reproduce the results of much more sophisticated analyses., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Comments welcome!

The simultaneous advancement of high resolution integral field unit spectroscopy and robust full-spectral fitting codes now make it possible to examine spatially-resolved kinematic, chemical composition, and star-formation history from nearby galaxies. We take new MUSE data from the Snapshot Optical Spectroscopic Imaging of Mergers and Pairs for Legacy Exploration (SOSIMPLE) survey to examine NGC 7135. With counter-rotation of gas, disrupted kinematics and asymmetric chemical distribution, NGC 7135 is consistent with an ongoing merger. Though well hidden by the current merger, we are able to distinguish stars originating from an older merger, occurring 6-10 Gyr ago. We further find a gradient in ex-situ material with galactocentric radius, with the accreted fraction rising from 0% in the galaxy centre, to ~7% within 0.6 effective radii., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are massive black holes (BHs) caught in the act of accreting gas at the centre of their host galaxies. Part of the accreting mass is converted to energy and released into the surrounding medium, in a process loosely referred to as AGN feedback. Most numerical simulations include AGN feedback as a sub-grid model, wherein energy or momentum (or both) is coupled to the nearby gas. In this work, we implement a new momentum-driven model in the hydrodynamics code GIZMO, in which accretion from large scales is mediated by a sub-grid accretion disc model, and gas particles are stochastically kicked over a bi-conical region, to mimic observed kinetic winds. The feedback cone's axis can be set either parallel to the angular momentum of the gas surrounding the BH or to the BH spin direction, which is self-consistently evolved within the accretion-disc model. Using a circumnuclear disc (CND) as a test bed, we find that (i) the conical shape of the outflow is always visible and is weakly dependent on the launching orientation and aperture, resulting in comparable mass inflows and outflows; (ii) the cone's orientation is also similar amongst our tests, and it is not always the same as the initial value, due to the interaction with the CND playing a crucial role in shaping the outflow; and (iii) the velocity of the outflow, instead, differs and strongly depends on the interplay with the CND., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Updated with published version, minimal changes

Massive black holes (BHs) inhabiting galactic nuclei can be described by two parameters only, i.e. mass and spin, that change through cosmic time in response to accretion and merger events. While most numerical simulations accurately track the BH mass, spin evolution is rarely taken into account. In this work, we implement and validate a self-consistent sub-grid model for the evolution of the BH mass and spin via gas accretion in the hydrodynamics code GIZMO. The model assumes that accretion from resolved scales does not occur instantaneously, but is mediated by a sub-grid geometrically thin $\alpha$-disc. After validating our model semi-analytically, we test it in an idealized environment consisting of a circumnuclear disc, where gas accretion onto the accretion disc is consistently determined by GIZMO. In the absence of any accretion-related feedback, the spin evolution closely traces that observed in the semi-analytical models and depends on the free parameters of our implementation, such as the initial BH spin, angular momentum of the accretion disc, and the radius at which the gas inflow circularises. In GIZMO, we also couple our model with the biconical-outflow model presented in a companion paper, wherein the feedback axis is always aligned with the BH spin. In this last case, the evolution of the central BH differs significantly from the previous cases, since the feedback process modifies the gas dynamics and its inflow rates from resolved scales. Such an interaction cannot be modeled by simple semi-analytical models and should be treated using full N-body hydrodynamical simulations., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Updated with published version, minimal changes

Obtaining a better understanding of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) is crucial, as their properties could shed light on the origin and growth of their supermassive counterparts. Massive star-forming clumps, which are present in a large fraction of massive galaxies at $z \sim$ 1-3, are amongst the venues wherein IMBHs could reside. We perform a series of Fokker-Planck simulations to explore the occurrence of tidal disruption (TD) and gravitational wave (GW) events about an IMBH in a massive star-forming clump, modelling the latter so that its mass ($10^8 \,{\rm M}_{\odot}$) and effective radius ($100$ pc) are consistent with the properties of both observed and simulated clumps. We find that the TD and GW event rates are in the ranges $10^{-6}$-$10^{-5}$ and $10^{-8}$-$10^{-7}$ yr$^{-1}$, respectively, depending on the assumptions for the initial inner density profile of the system ($\rho \propto r^{-2}$ or $\propto r^{-1}$) and the initial mass of the central IMBH ($10^5$ or $10^3\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$). By integrating the GW event rate over $z$ = 1-3, we expect that the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will be able to detect $\sim$2 GW events per yr coming from these massive clumps; the intrinsic rate of TD events from these systems amounts instead to a few $10^3$ per yr, a fraction of which will be observable by, e.g. the Square Kilometre Array and the Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics. In conclusion, our results support the idea that the forthcoming GW and electromagnetic facilities may have the unprecedented opportunity of unveiling the lurking population of IMBHs., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, added references

The orbital decay of a perturber within a larger system plays a key role in the dynamics of many astrophysical systems -- from nuclear star clusters or globular clusters in galaxies, to massive black holes in galactic nuclei, to dwarf galaxy satellites within the dark matter halos of more massive galaxies. For many decades, there have been various attempts to determine the underlying physics and time-scales of the drag mechanism, ranging from the local dynamical friction approach to descriptions based on the back-reaction of global modes induced in the background system. We present ultra-high-resolution $N$-body simulations of massive satellites orbiting a Milky Way-like galaxy (with $> 10^8$ particles), that appear to capture both the local "wake" and the global "mode" induced in the primary halo. We address directly the mechanism of orbital decay from the combined action of local and global perturbations and specifically analyze where the bulk of the torque originates., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, accepted by ApJ

The forthcoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will probe the population of coalescing massive black hole (MBH) binaries up to the onset of structure formation. Here we simulate the galactic-scale pairing of $\sim10^6 M_\odot$ MBHs in a typical, non-clumpy main-sequence galaxy embedded in a cosmological environment at $z = 7-6$. In order to increase our statistical sample, we adopt a strategy that allows us to follow the evolution of six secondary MBHs concomitantly. We find that the magnitude of the dynamical-friction induced torques is significantly smaller than that of the large-scale, stochastic gravitational torques arising from the perturbed and morphologically evolving galactic disc, suggesting that the standard dynamical friction treatment is inadequate for realistic galaxies at high redshift. The dynamical evolution of MBHs is very stochastic, and a variation in the initial orbital phase can lead to a drastically different time-scale for the inspiral. Most remarkably, the development of a galactic bar in the host system either significantly accelerates the inspiral by dragging a secondary MBH into the centre, or ultimately hinders the orbital decay by scattering the MBH in the galaxy outskirts. The latter occurs more rarely, suggesting that galactic bars overall promote MBH inspiral and binary coalescence. The orbital decay time can be an order of magnitude shorter than what would be predicted relying on dynamical friction alone. The stochasticity, and the important role of global torques, have crucial implications for the rates of MBH coalescences in the early Universe: both have to be accounted for when making predictions for the upcoming LISA observatory., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 15 pages, 10 Figures, 2 Tables

We report on high-resolution simulations that explore the orbital decay of massive black hole (MBH) pairs with masses between $10^5$ and $10^7 M_{\odot}$ embedded in a circumnuclear gas disk (CND). An adiabatic equation of state is adopted, with a range of adiabatic indices, which maintains a smooth flow. Mergers between MBHs in this mass range would be detectable by the upcoming Laser Inteferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The orbital evolution is followed from the CND scale ($100$~pc) down to separations of $0.1$--$0.01$~pc at which a circumbinary disk (CBD) could form. The decay is erratic and strongly dependent on the gas flow within the disk, that ultimately determines the net torques experienced by the sinking MBH. Overall, we can identify three different evolutionary stages: (i) an initially slow decay that leads to no significant change in the orbital angular momentum, resulting in some circularization; (ii) a fast migration phase in which the orbital angular momentum decreases rapidly; and (iii) a final, very slow decay phase, in which orbital angular momentum can even increase, and a CBD can form. The fast migration phase owes to disk-driven torques originating primarily from the co-orbital region of the secondary MBH, at a distance of 1--3 Hill radii. We find strong analogies with fast Type III migration for massive planets in protoplanetary disks. The CBD forms only when the decay rate becomes small enough to allow it enough time to carve a cavity around the primary MBH, at scales $\lesssim 1$~pc; when this happens, the MBH separation nearly stalls in our higher-resolution run. We suggest an empirically modified gap-opening criterion that takes into account such timescale effects as well as other deviations from standard assumptions made in the literature. [Abriged], Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures, 1 table, submitted to ApJ

The quest for binary and dual supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the dawn of the multi-messenger era is compelling. Detecting dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) -- active SMBHs at projected separations larger than several parsecs -- and binary AGN -- probing the scale where SMBHs are bound in a Keplerian binary -- is an observational challenge. The study of AGN pairs (either dual or binary) also represents an overarching theoretical problem in cosmology and astrophysics. The AGN triggering calls for detailed knowledge of the hydrodynamical conditions of gas in the imminent surroundings of the SMBHs and, at the same time, their duality calls for detailed knowledge on how galaxies assemble through major and minor mergers and grow fed by matter along the filaments of the cosmic web. This review describes the techniques used across the electromagnetic spectrum to detect dual and binary AGN candidates and proposes new avenues for their search. The current observational status is compared with the state-of-the-art numerical simulations and models for formation of dual and binary AGN. Binary SMBHs are among the loudest sources of gravitational waves (GWs) in the Universe. The search for a background of GWs at nHz frequencies from inspiralling SMBHs at low redshifts, and the direct detection of signals from their coalescence by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna in the next decade, make this a theme of major interest for multi-messenger astrophysics. This review discusses the future facilities and observational strategies that are likely to significantly advance this fascinating field., Comment: 69 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication in New Astronomy Reviews

We present a revised version of Peters' (1964) time-scale for the gravitational-wave (GW) induced decay of two point masses. The new formula includes the effects of the first-order post-Newtonian perturbation and additionally provides a simple fit to account for the Newtonian self-consistent evolution of the eccentricity. The revised time-scale is found by multiplying Peters' estimate by two factors, $R(e_0)= 8^{1-\sqrt{1-e_0}}$ and $Q_{\rm f}(p_0) = \exp \left(2.5 (r_{\rm S}/p_0) \right)$, where $e_0$ and $p_0$ are the initial eccentricity and periapsis, respectively, and $r_{\rm S}$ the Schwarzschild radius of the system. Their use can correct errors of a factor of 1-10 that arise from using the original Peters' formula. We apply the revised time-scales to a set of typical sources for existing ground-based laser interferometers and for the future Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), at the onset of their GW driven decay. We argue that our more accurate model for the orbital evolution will affect current event- and detection-rate estimates for mergers of compact object binaries, with stronger deviations for eccentric LISA sources, such as extreme and intermediate mass-ratio inspirals. We propose the correction factors $R$ and $Q_{\rm f}$ as a simple prescription to quantify decay time-scales more accurately in future population synthesis models. We also suggest that the corrected time-scale may be used as a computationally efficient alternative to numerical integration in other applications that include the modelling of radiation reaction for eccentric sources., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Soon after the recent first ever detection of gravitational waves from merging black holes it has been suggested that their origin is primordial. Appealingly, a sufficient number of primordial black holes (PBHs) could also partially or entirely constitute the dark matter (DM) in the Universe. However, recent studies on PBHs in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDGs) suggest that they would dynamically heat up the stellar component due to two-body relaxation processes. From the comparison with the observed stellar velocity dispersions and the stellar half-light radii it was claimed that only PBHs with masses $\lesssim10\,M_\odot$ can significantly contribute to the DM. In this work, we improve the latter constraints by considering the largest observational sample of UFDGs and by allowing the PBH masses to follow an extended (log-normal) distribution. By means of collisional Fokker-Planck simulations, we explore a wide parameter space of UFDGs containing PBHs. The analysis of the half-light radii and velocity dispersions resulting from the simulations leads to three general findings that exclude PBHs with masses $\sim\mathcal{O}(1$-$100)\,M_\odot$ from constituting all of the DM: (i) We identify a critical sub-sample of UFDGs that only allows for $\sim\mathcal{O}(1)\,M_\odot$ PBH masses; (ii) for any PBH mass, there is an UFDG in our sample that disfavours it; (iii) the spatial extensions of a majority of simulated UFDGs containing PBHs are too large to match the observed.

We propose a space-based interferometer surveying the gravitational wave (GW) sky in the milli-Hz to $\mu$-Hz frequency range. By the 2040s', the $\mu$-Hz frequency band, bracketed in between the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and pulsar timing arrays, will constitute the largest gap in the coverage of the astrophysically relevant GW spectrum. Yet many outstanding questions related to astrophysics and cosmology are best answered by GW observations in this band. We show that a $\mu$-Hz GW detector will be a truly overarching observatory for the scientific community at large, greatly extending the potential of LISA. Conceived to detect massive black hole binaries from their early inspiral with high signal-to-noise ratio, and low-frequency stellar binaries in the Galaxy, this instrument will be a cornerstone for multimessenger astronomy from the solar neighbourhood to the high-redshift Universe., Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures; White Paper submitted to ESA's Voyage 2050 call for papers on behalf of the LISA Consortium 2050 Task Force

The rate of tidal disruption events (TDEs) depends sensitively on the stellar properties of the central galactic regions. Simulations show that galaxy mergers cause gas inflows, triggering nuclear starbursts, increasing the central stellar density. Motivated by these numerical results, and by the observed over-representation of post-starburst galaxies among TDE hosts, we study the evolution of the TDE rate in high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of a galaxy merger, in which we capture the evolution of the stellar density around the massive black holes (BHs). We apply analytical estimates of the loss-cone theory, using the stellar density profiles from simulations, to estimate the time evolution of the TDE rate. At the second pericentre, a nuclear starburst enhances the stellar density around the BH in the least massive galaxy, leading to an enhancement of the TDE rate around the secondary BH, although the magnitude and the duration of the increase depend on the stochasticity of star formation on very small scales. The central stellar density around the primary BH remains instead fairly constant, and so is its TDE rate. After the formation of the binary, the stellar density decreases, and so does the TDE rate., Comment: Letter accepted in MNRAS

In the local universe, black holes of $10^{5-6}$ M$_{\odot}$ are hosted in galaxies displaying a variety of stellar profiles and morphologies. These black holes are the anticipated targets of LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna that will detect the low-frequency gravitational-wave signal emitted by binary black holes in this mass interval. In this paper, we infer upper limits on the lifetime of binary black holes of $10^{5-6}$ M$_{\odot}$ and up to $10^8$ M$_{\odot}$, forming in galaxy mergers, exploring two underlying stellar density profiles, by Dehnen and by Prugniel & Simien, and by exploiting local scaling relations between the mass of the black holes and several quantities of their hosts. We focus on the phase of the dynamical evolution when the binary is transitioning from the hardening phase ruled by the interaction with single stars to the phase driven by the emission of gravitational waves. We find that different stellar profiles predict very distinct trends with binary mass, with lifetimes ranging between fractions of a Gyr to more than 10 Gyr, and with a spread of about one order of magnitude, given by the uncertainties in the observed correlations, which are larger in the low-mass tail of the observed black hole population., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; published on MNRAS

Bars are a key factor in the long-term evolution of spiral galaxies, in their unique role in redistributing angular momentum and transporting gas and stars on large scales. The Eris-suite simulations are cosmological zoom-in, N-body, smoothed-particle hydrodynamic simulations built to follow the formation and evolution of a Milky Way-sized galaxy across the build-up of the large scale structure. Here we analyse and describe the outcome of two particular simulations taken from the Eris suite - ErisBH and Eris2k - which mainly differ in the prescriptions employed for gas cooling, star formation, and feedback from supernovae and black holes. Our study shows that the enhanced effective feedback in Eris2k, due to the collective effect of the different micro-physics implementations, results in a galaxy which is less massive than its ErisBH counterpart till z~1. However, when the stellar content is large enough so that global dynamical instabilities can be triggered, the galaxy in Eris2k develops a stronger and more extended bar with respect to ErisBH. We demonstrate that he structural properties and time evolution of the two bars are very different. Our results highlight the importance of accurate sub-grid prescriptions in cosmological zoom-in simulations of the process of galaxy formation and evolution, and the possible use of a statistical sample of barred galaxies to assess the strength of the stellar feedback., Comment: 16 pages, 14 Figure; accepted for publication in MNRAS; added references and figures, more details, results unchanged

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect gravitational-wave (GW) signals from merging supermassive black holes (BHs) with masses below $10^7$~M$_{\odot}$. It is thus of paramount importance to understand the orbital dynamics of these relatively light central BHs, which typically reside in disc-dominated galaxies, in order to produce reliable forecasts of merger rates. To this aim, realistic simulations probing BH dynamics in unequal-mass disc galaxy mergers, into and beyond the binary hardening stage, are performed by combining smooth particle hydrodynamics and direct $N$-body codes. The structural properties and orbits of the galaxies are chosen to be consistent with the results of galaxy formation simulations. Stellar and dark matter distributions are triaxial down to the central 100 pc of merger remnant. In all cases, a BH binary forms and hardens on time-scales of at most 100~Myr, coalescing on another few hundred Myr time-scale, depending on the characteristic density and orbital eccentricity. Overall, the sinking of the BH binary takes no more than $\sim$0.5~Gyr after the merger of the two galaxies is completed, but can be much faster for very plunging orbits. Comparing with previous numerical simulations following the decay of BHs in massive early-type galaxies at $z \sim 3$, we confirm that the characteristic density is the most crucial parameter determining the overall BH merging time-scale, despite the structural diversity of the host galaxies. Our results lay down the basis for robust forecasts of LISA event rates in the case of merging BHs., Comment: ApJ submitted

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of a black hole (BH) and recount the initial theoretical predictions. We then review the possible types of BHs in nature, from primordial, to stellar-mass, to supermassive BHs. Finally, we focus on the latter category and on their intricate relation with their host galaxies., Comment: Preprint of the chapter "Astrophysical black holes" of the review volume "Formation of the First Black Holes", Latif, M. and Schleicher, D. R. G., eds., World Scientific Publishing Company, 2019, pp 1-22 [see https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10652]

Theoretical models for the expected merger rates of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are vital for planned gravitational-wave detection experiments such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Using collisionless $N$-body simulations of dwarf galaxy (DG) mergers, we examine how the orbital decay of IMBHs and the efficiency of IMBH binary formation depend on the central dark matter (DM) density profile of the merging DGs. Specifically, we explore various asymptotic inner slopes $\gamma$ of the DG's DM density distribution, ranging from steep cusps ($\gamma=1$) to shallower density profiles ($\gamma<1$), motivated by well-known baryonic-feedback effects as well as by DM models that differ from cold DM at the scales of DGs. We find that the inner DM slope is crucial for the formation (or lack thereof) of an IMBH binary; only mergers between DGs with cuspy DM profiles ($\gamma=1$) are favourable to forming a hard IMBH binary, whereas when $\gamma<1$ the IMBHs stall at a separation of 50-100 pc. Consequently, the rate of LISA signals from IMBH coalescence will be determined by the fraction of DGs with a cuspy DM profile. Conversely, the LISA event rates at IMBH mass scales offer in principle a novel way to place constraints on the inner structure of DM halos in DGs and address the core-cusp controversy. We also show that, with spatial resolutions of $\sim$0.1 kpc, as often adopted in cosmological simulations, all IMBHs stall, independent of $\gamma$. This suggests caution in employing cosmological simulations of galaxy formation to study BH dynamics in DGs., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJL

The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics---dark matter, dark energy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularities and the hierarchy problem---all involve gravity as a key component. And of all gravitational phenomena, black holes stand out in their elegant simplicity, while harbouring some of the most remarkable predictions of General Relativity: event horizons, singularities and ergoregions. The hitherto invisible landscape of the gravitational Universe is being unveiled before our eyes: the historical direct detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration marks the dawn of a new era of scientific exploration. Gravitational-wave astronomy will allow us to test models of black hole formation, growth and evolution, as well as models of gravitational-wave generation and propagation. It will provide evidence for event horizons and ergoregions, test the theory of General Relativity itself, and may reveal the existence of new fundamental fields. The synthesis of these results has the potential to radically reshape our understanding of the cosmos and of the laws of Nature. The purpose of this work is to present a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the relevant fields of research, summarize important open problems, and lay out a roadmap for future progress., Comment: White Paper for the COST action "Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, and Fundamental Physics", 272 pages, 12 figures; v4: updated references and author list. Overall improvements and corrections. To appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity

It has been proposed that close interactions with satellite galaxies can significantly perturb the morphology of the main galaxy. However, the dynamics of an already formed bar following the interaction with the external environment has not been studied in detail in a fully cosmological context. In this work, analysing the cosmological zoom-in simulation Eris2k, we study the effects that a very unequal-mass flyby crossing the stellar disc has on the stability of the pre-existing bar. We characterize the evolution of the bar strength and length showing that the perturbation exerted by the flyby shuffles the orbits of stars for less than one Gyr. After this time, the bar shows a remarkable resilience, reforming with properties comparable to those it had before the interaction. Our work shows that close unequal-mass encounters, the most frequent interactions occurring during the evolution of cosmic structures, have (i) an overall minor impact on the global evolution of the bar in the long term, still (ii) the effect is destructive and (iii) a very weak interaction is sufficient to dismantle a strong bar leading to its "apparent death". As a consequence, due to the non-negligible duration of the bar-less period, a fraction of observed spiral galaxies classified as non-barred could be prone to bar formation., Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figure; Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Surface abundance observations of halo stars hint at the occurrence of $r$-process nucleosynthesis at low metallicity ($\rm{[Fe/H]< -3}$), possibly within the first $10^8$ yr after the formation of the first stars. Possible loci of early-Universe $r$-process nucleosynthesis are the ejecta of either black hole--neutron star or neutron star--neutron star binary mergers. Here we study the effect of the inclination--eccentricity oscillations raised by a tertiary (e.g. a star) on the coalescence time scale of the inner compact object binaries. Our results are highly sensitive to the assumed initial distribution of the inner binary semi-major axes. Distributions with mostly wide compact object binaries are most affected by the third object, resulting in a strong increase (by more than a factor of 2) in the fraction of fast coalescences. If instead the distribution preferentially populates very close compact binaries, general relativistic precession prevents the third body from increasing the inner binary eccentricity to very high values. In this last case, the fraction of coalescing binaries is increased much less by tertiaries, but the fraction of binaries that would coalesce within $10^8$ yr even without a third object is already high. Our results provide additional support to the compact object merger scenario for $r$-process nucleosynthesis., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASA

In this study, we present a suite of high-resolution numerical simulations of an isolated galaxy to test a sub-grid framework to consistently follow the formation and dissociation of H$_2$ with non-equilibrium chemistry. The latter is solved via the package KROME, coupled to the mesh-less hydrodynamic code GIZMO. We include the effect of star formation (SF), modelled with a physically motivated prescription independent of H$_2$, supernova feedback and mass losses from low-mass stars, extragalactic and local stellar radiation, and dust and H$_2$ shielding, to investigate the emergence of the observed correlation between H$_2$ and SF rate surface densities. We present two different sub-grid models and compare them with on-the-fly radiative transfer (RT) calculations, to assess the main differences and limits of the different approaches. We also discuss a sub-grid clumping factor model to enhance the H$_2$ formation, consistent with our SF prescription, which is crucial, at the achieved resolution, to reproduce the correlation with H$_2$. We find that both sub-grid models perform very well relative to the RT simulation, giving comparable results, with moderate differences, but at much lower computational cost. We also find that, while the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation for the total gas is not strongly affected by the different ingredients included in the simulations, the H$_2$-based counterpart is much more sensitive, because of the crucial role played by the dissociating radiative flux and the gas shielding., Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, 3 tables; submitted to MNRAS

By using a novel interface between the modern smoothed particle hydrodynamics code GASOLINE2 and the chemistry package KROME, we follow the hydrodynamical and chemical evolution of an isolated galaxy. In order to assess the relevance of different physical parameters and prescriptions, we constructed a suite of ten simulations, in which we vary the chemical network (primordial and metal species), how metal cooling is modelled (non-equilibrium versus equilibrium; optically thin versus thick approximation), the initial gas metallicity (from ten to hundred per cent solar), and how molecular hydrogen forms on dust. This is the first work in which metal injection from supernovae, turbulent metal diffusion, and a metal network with non-equilibrium metal cooling are self-consistently included in a galaxy simulation. We find that properly modelling the chemical evolution of several metal species and the corresponding non-equilibrium metal cooling has important effects on the thermodynamics of the gas, the chemical abundances, and the appearance of the galaxy: the gas is typically warmer, has a larger molecular gas mass fraction, and has a smoother disc. We also conclude that, at relatively high metallicity, the choice of molecular-hydrogen formation rates on dust is not crucial. Moreover, we confirm that a higher initial metallicity produces a colder gas and a larger fraction of molecular gas, with the low-metallicity simulation best matching the observed molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. Finally, our simulations agree quite well with observations which link star formation rate to metal emission lines., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study the dynamical evolution of supermassive black holes, in the late stage of galaxy mergers, from kpc to pc scales. In particular, we capture the formation of the binary, a necessary step before the final coalescence, and trace back the main processes causing the decay of the orbit. We use hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy mergers with different resolutions, from $20\,\rm pc$ down to $1\,\rm pc$, in order to study the effects of the resolution on our results, remove numerical effects, and assess that resolving the influence radius of the orbiting black hole is a minimum condition to fully capture the formation of the binary. Our simulations include the relevant physical processes, namely star formation, supernova feedback, accretion onto the black holes and the ensuing feedback. We find that, in these mergers, dynamical friction from the smooth stellar component of the nucleus is the main process that drives black holes from kpc to pc scales. Gas does not play a crucial role and even clumps do not induce scattering or perturb the orbits. We compare the time needed for the formation of the binary to analytical predictions and suggest how to apply such analytical formalism to obtain estimates of binary formation times in lower resolution simulations., Comment: 12 pages, 12 Figures, submitted to MNRAS

The emergence of a large-scale stellar bar is one of the most striking features in disc galaxies. By means of state-of-the-art cosmological zoom-in simulations, we study the formation and evolution of bars in Milky Way-like galaxies in a fully cosmological context, including the physics of gas dissipation, star formation, and supernova feedback. Our goal is to characterise the actual trigger of the non-axisymmetric perturbation that leads to the strong bar observable in the simulations at z=0, discriminating between an internal/secular versus an external/tidal origin. To this aim, we run a suite of cosmological zoom-in simulations altering the original history of galaxy-satellite interactions at a time when the main galaxy, though already bar-unstable, does not feature any non-axisymmetric structure yet. We find that the main effect of a late minor merger and of a close fly-by is to delay the time of bar formation and those two dynamical events are not directly responsible for the development of the bar and do not alter significantly its global properties (e.g. its final extension). We conclude that, once the disc has grown to a mass large enough to sustain global non-axisymmetric modes, then bar formation is inevitable., Comment: 15 pages, 6 Figure; Accepted for publication in MNRAS - Full-resolution images are available at http://www.dfm.uninsubria.it/fh/FHpages/Research.html

We investigate the angular momentum evolution of four disk galaxies residing in Milky Way-sized halos formed in cosmological zoom-in simulations with various sub-grid physics and merging histories. We decompose these galaxies kinematically and photometrically, into their disk and bulge components. The simulated galaxies and their components lie on the observed sequences in the $j_*$--$M_*$ diagram relating the specific angular momentum and mass of the stellar component. We find that galaxies in low-density environments follow the relation $j_* \propto M_*^{\alpha}$ past major mergers, with $\alpha \sim 0.6$ in the case of strong feedback, when bulge-to-disk ratios are relatively constant, and $\alpha \sim 1.4$ in the other cases, when secular processes operate on shorter timescales. We compute the retention factors (i.e. the ratio of the specific angular momenta of stars and dark matter) for both disks and bulges and show that they vary relatively slowly after averaging over numerous but brief fluctuations. For disks, the retention factors are usually close to unity, while for bulges, they are a few times smaller. Our simulations therefore indicate that galaxies and their halos grow in a quasi-homologous way., Comment: accepted by ApJ