Massive binary star mergers in galactic nuclei: implications for blue stragglers, binary S-stars and gravitational waves

Understand

Galactic nuclei are often found to contain young stellar populations and, in most cases, a central supermassive black hole (SMBH).

• Most known massive stars are found in binaries or higher-multiplicity systems, and in a galactic nucleus the gravitational interaction with the SMBH can affect their long-term evolution.
• In this paper, we study the orbital evolution of stellar binaries near SMBHs using high precision $N$-body simulations, and including tidal forces and Post-Newtonian corrections to the motion.
• We focus on the Lidov-Kozai (LK) effect induced by the SMBH on massive star binaries.