Black holes as telescopes: Discovering supermassive binaries through quasi-periodic lensed starlight

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method to detect and study supermassive black hole binaries by observing quasi-periodic lensing effects on background stars, providing insights into their evolution and gravitational wave signals.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of Quasi-Periodic Lensing of Starlight (QPLS) as a new observational signature for SMBH binaries, linking gravitational lensing with binary evolution and gravitational wave detection.

Findings

QPLS can identify SMBH binaries with periods less than 10 years.

Predicted 1-50 binaries detectable via QPLS in the local universe.

QPLS offers a new way to connect electromagnetic observations with gravitational wave signals.

Abstract

Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary systems are unavoidable outcomes of galaxy mergers. Their dynamics encode information about their formation and growth, the composition of their host galactic nuclei, the evolution of galaxies, and the nature of gravity. Many SMBH binaries with separations pc-kpc have been found, but closer (sub-parsec) binaries remain to be confirmed. Identifying these systems may elucidate how binaries evolve past the ``final parsec'' until gravitational radiation drives them to coalescence. Here we show that SMBH binaries in non-active galactic nuclei can be identified and characterized by the gravitational lensing of individual bright stars, located behind them in the host galaxy. The rotation of `caustics' -- regions where sources are hugely magnified due to the SMBH binary's orbit and inspiral -- leads to Quasi-Periodic Lensing of Starlight (QPLS). The extreme lensing magnification of individual bright stars produces a significant variation in the host galaxies' luminosity; their lightcurve traces the orbit of the SMBH binary and its evolution. QPLS probes the population of sources observable by pulsar timing arrays and space detectors (LISA, TianQin), offering advance warning triggers for merging SMBHs for coincident or follow-up GW detections. SMBH population models predict $1-50\; [190-5,000] \left({n_\star}/{\rm pc}^{-3}\right)$ QPLS binaries with period less than $10\; [40]$ yr with comparable masses and $z<0.3$, where $n_\star$ is the stellar number density. Additionally, stellar and orbital motion will lead to frequent instances of single/double flares caused by SMBHBs with longer periods. This novel signature can be searched for in a wealth of existing and upcoming time-domain photometric data: identifying quasi-periodic variability in galactic lightcurves will reveal an ensemble of binary systems and illuminate outstanding questions around them.