VLBI studies of DAGN and SMBHB hosting galaxies

TL;DR

This paper reviews VLBI techniques for detecting dual active galactic nuclei and supermassive black hole binaries, highlighting current status, challenges, and future prospects with upcoming radio astronomy facilities.

Contribution

It provides an overview of VLBI applications in identifying DAGN and SMBHBs, including recent candidate lists, methodological challenges, and future survey strategies.

Findings

VLBI can directly image radio structures of DAGN and SMBHBs.

Current candidate list of high-resolution radio imaged systems.

Discussion of challenges and solutions for future large-scale surveys.

Abstract

Dual active galactic nuclei (DAGN) and supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) at kpc and pc-scale separations, respectively, are expected during stages of galaxy merger and evolution. Their observational identification can address a range of areas of current astrophysics frontiers including the final parsec problem and their contribution towards the emission of low-frequency gravitational waves. This has however been difficult to achieve with current spectroscopy and time domain strategies. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) as a method of directly imaging radio structures with milli-arcsecond (mas) and sub-mas resolutions is introduced as a possible means of detecting DAGN and SMBHBs. We motivate its usage with expected observational signatures and cite some studies from literature to illustrate its current status, and present an updated list of candidates imaged with high-resolution radio observations. We then recall some shortcomings of the method with possible solutions and discuss future directions, relevant to large surveys with the upcoming Square Kilometer Array and future space VLBI missions.