2020
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa3055
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Discovery of a Candidate Binary Supermassive Black Hole in a Periodic Quasar from Circumbinary Accretion Variability

Abstract: Binary supermassive black holes (BSBHs) are expected to be a generic byproduct from hierarchical galaxy formation. The final coalescence of BSBHs is thought to be the loudest gravitational wave (GW) siren, yet no confirmed BSBH is known in the GW-dominated regime. While periodic quasars have been proposed as BSBH candidates, the physical origin of the periodicity has been largely uncertain. Here we report discovery of a periodicity (P=1607±7 days) at 99.95% significance (with a global p-value of ∼10−3 accounti… Show more

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Cited by 38 publications
(35 citation statements)
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“…In the following section, we construct a multiwavelength SED of SDSS J0252−0028 (see also Liao et al 2021, where this data set is first presented). Similar to the analysis presented in Foord et al (2017), we combine all available multi-wavelength observations, and compare the SED to the standard non-blazar AGN SEDs presented in Shang et al (2011).…”
Section: Multi-wavelength Sedmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…In the following section, we construct a multiwavelength SED of SDSS J0252−0028 (see also Liao et al 2021, where this data set is first presented). Similar to the analysis presented in Foord et al (2017), we combine all available multi-wavelength observations, and compare the SED to the standard non-blazar AGN SEDs presented in Shang et al (2011).…”
Section: Multi-wavelength Sedmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This drop in emission in the SED may be a result a binary AGN accretion mode. In particular, if SDSS J0252−0028 is a binary AGN system with separation a = 200 R S (where R S = 2GM c −2 is the Schwarzchild radius for a black hole with mass M ), as estimated in Liao et al (2021), the binary is well into the gravitationalwave dominated regime. Here, circumbinary accretion is likely and we may expect that individual accretion disks have formed around each SMBH.…”
Section: Comparison To Binary Agn Accretion Modelsmentioning
confidence: 99%
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“…For example, if many binaries stall at large radii, only ★ E-mail: dittmann@astro.umd.edu a select few would have orbital periods short enough to be reliably detected in optical surveys, although more recent candidates with low estimated false alarm probabilities suggest that binary stalling may not be common (e.g. Graham et al 2015;Vaughan et al 2016;Charisi et al 2016;Liu et al 2018;Chen et al 2020;Liao et al 2021, but see also Foord et al (2021)). However, if circumbinary discs drive rapid inspirals up to GW frequencies of ∼ 10 −8 Hz, they may limit the number of SMBH binaries contributing to the stochastic GW signals probed by pulsar timing arrays (e.g.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%