Triple Black Hole Interaction
The evolution of a triple black hole system, showing its chaotic dynamics, and the eventual ejection of a single and a binary black hole.
Credit: Stefan Umbreit (Northwestern) |
Merger Tree Figure
A cartoon of the merger-tree history of a Milky-Way sized galaxy and
its central black hole in cold dark matter cosmology. Time increases
from top ("small branches") to bottom ("trunk", at the current time). A
galaxy is formed by the sequential merger of smaller systems (white
circles), increasing in mass in a hierarchical fashion. Black holes
(black dots) evolve in a similar way - merging when their hosts do. If a
black hole binary has not coalesced yet when the host galaxy
experiences a subsequent merger, a triple black hole interaction
occurs.
Credit: Marta Volonteri (University of Michigan) |
