Astro Seminar: Henry Whitehead

Speaker: Henry Whitehead (University of Oxford)

Date: November 3, 2025

Time: 14:15

Location: Auditorium A

Title: Hydrodynamic Simulations of Black Holes Embedded in AGN Discs

Abstract: The gaseous discs of active galactic nuclei offer the perfect environment for the formation and hardening of black hole binaries, allowing them to function as factories for gravitational wave events. We investigate the readiness with which lone black holes may form stable binaries when they encounter each other within AGN discs, performing hydrodynamic simulations of scattering events between black holes. We discuss how the presence of the central supermassive black hole results in complex three-body encounters. We identify the necessary conditions for successful binary formation and unveil a circum-black hole wind morphology that may drive unusual electromagnetic signatures associated with black hole close encounters