Spin and Eccentricity Evolution in Triple Systems: from the Lidov-Kozai Interaction to the Final Merger of the Inner Binary

TL;DR

This paper investigates the evolution of spin and eccentricity in black-hole binaries influenced by tertiary masses, revealing dynamical attractors, spin alignments, and eccentricity limits relevant for gravitational wave detection.

Contribution

It extends the understanding of spin-orbit and spin-spin dynamics in LK-perturbed binaries, including eccentricity effects and implications for gravitational wave observations.

Findings

Spin-orbit angles evolve towards initial angles relative to the outer orbit.

Spin-spin and spin-orbit alignments are correlated and depend on initial conditions.

Maximum eccentricity during LK excitation remains below 0.1 at 10 Hz for massive systems.

Abstract

We study the spin and eccentricity evolution of black-hole (BH) binaries that are perturbed by tertiary masses and experience the Lidov-Kozai (LK) excitation. We focus on three aspects. Firstly, we study the spin-orbit alignment of the inner binary following the approach outlined by Antonini et al. [MNRAS 480, L58 (2018)] and Liu and Lai [ApJ 863, 68 (2018)], yet allowing the spins to have random initial orientations. We confirm the existence of a dynamical attractor that drives the spin-orbit angle at the end of the LK evolution to a value given by the initial angle between the spin and the outer orbital angular momentum (instead of to a specific value of the effective spin). Secondly, we follow the (inner) binary's evolution further to the merger to study the final spin-spin alignment. We generalize the effective potential theory to include orbital eccentricity, which allows us to efficiently evolve the system in the early inspiral stages. We further find that the spin-spin and spin-orbit alignments are correlated and the correlation is determined by the initial spin-orbit angle. For systems with the spin vectors initially in the orbital plane, the final spins strongly disfavor an aligned configuration and could thus lead to a greater value of the GW recoil than a uniform spin-spin alignment would predict. Lastly, we study the maximum eccentricity excitation that can be achieved during the LK process, including the effects of gravitational-wave radiation. We find that when the tertiary mass is a super-massive BH and the inner binary is massive, then even with the maximum LK excitation, the residual eccentricity is typically less than 0.1 when the binary's orbital frequency reaches 10 Hz, and a decihertz detector would be necessary to follow such a system's orbital evolution.