The Decoupling of Binaries from Their Circumbinary Disks
Bibliographic record
Abstract
We have investigated, both analytically and numerically, accreting supermassive black hole binaries as they inspiral due to gravitational radiation to elucidate the decoupling of binaries from their disks and inform future multi-messenger observations of these systems. Our numerical studies evolve equal-mass binaries from initial separations of $100 GM/c^2$ until merger, resolving scales as small as $\sim0.04 GM/c^2$, where $M$ is the total binary mass. Our simulations accurately capture the point at which the orbital evolution of each binary decouples from that of their circumbinary disk, and precisely resolve the flow of gas throughout the inspiral. We demonstrate analytically and numerically that timescale-based predictions overestimate the binary separations at which decoupling occurs by factors of $\sim3$, and illustrate the utility of a velocity-based decoupling criterion. High-viscosity ($ν\gtrsim0.03 GM/c$) circumbinary systems decouple late ($a_b\lesssim 15 GM/c^2$) and have qualitatively similar morphologies near merger to circumbinary systems with constant binary separations. Lower-viscosity circumbinary disks decouple earlier and exhibit qualitatively different accretion flows, which lead to precipitously decreasing accretion onto the binary. If detected, such a decrease may unambiguously identify the host galaxy of an ongoing event within a LISA error volume. We illustrate how accretion amplitude and variability evolve as binaries gradually decouple from their circumbinary disks, and where decoupling occurs over the course of binary inspirals in the LISA band. We show that, even when dynamically negligible, gas may leave a detectable imprint on the phase of gravitational waves.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".