On the detectability of dual jets from binary black holes

Abstract

We revisit the suggestion that dual jets can be produced during the inspiral and merger of supermassive black holes when these are immersed in a force-free plasma threaded by a uniform magnetic field. By performing independent calculations of the late inspiral and merger, and by computing the electromagnetic (EM) emission in a way which is consistent with estimates using the Poynting flux, we show that a dual-jet structure is present but energetically subdominant with respect to a non-collimated and predominantly quadrupolar emission, which is similar to the one computed when the binary is in electrovacuum. While our findings set serious restrictions on the detectability of dual jets from coalescing binaries, they also increase the chances of detecting an EM counterpart from these systems. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.