Abstract
Recent calculations of the recoil velocity in binary black-hole mergers have found the kick velocity to be of the order of a few hundred in the case of nonspinning binaries and about in the case of spinning configurations, and have lead to predictions of a maximum kick of up to . We test these predictions and demonstrate that kick velocities of at least are possible for equal-mass binaries with antialigned spins in the orbital plane. Kicks of that magnitude are likely to have significant repercussions for models of black-hole formation, the population of intergalactic black holes, and the structure of host galaxies.
- Received 26 February 2007
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.231101
©2007 American Physical Society