Rotational Brownian Motion (astronomy) - Applications

Applications

Rotational Brownian motion was first discussed in the context of binary supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Perturbations from passing stars can alter the orbital plane of such a binary, which in turn alters the direction of the spin axis of the single black hole that forms when the two coalesce.

Rotational Brownian motion is often observed in N-body simulations of galaxies containing binary black holes. The massive binary sinks to the center of the galaxy via dynamical friction where it interacts with passing stars. The same gravitational perturbations that induce a random walk in the orientation of the binary, also cause the binary to shrink, via the gravitational slingshot. It can be shown that the rms change in the binary's orientation, from the time the binary forms until the two black holes collide, is roughly

In a real galaxy, the two black holes would eventually coalesce due to emission of gravitational waves. The spin axis of the coalesced hole will be aligned with the angular momentum axis of the orbit of the pre-existing binary. Hence, a mechanism like rotational Brownian motion that affects the orbits of binary black holes can also affect the distribution of black hole spins. This may explain in part why the spin axes of supermassive black holes appear to be randomly aligned with respect to their host galaxies.