Differential interferometry of close binary of supermassive black holes in an elliptical configuration

Understand

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), and the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be a robust astrophysics suite offering the opportunity of probing the structure and dynamics of CB-SMBH at high spectral and angular resolution.

• Here, we explore and illustrate the application of differential interferometry on unresolved the CB-SMBH systems in elliptical orbital configurations and a single SMBH with clouds in elliptical orbital motion.
• Photocenter displacements between each SMBH and regions in their disc-like broad line regions (BLR) appear as small interferometric differential phase variability.
• To investigate the application of interferometric phases for the detection of CB-SMBH systems, we simulate a series of differential interferometry signatures, based on our model comprising ensembles of clouds surrounding each of supermassive black hole in a CB-SMBH.