{"DOAJ_listed":"1","file_date_updated":"2025-10-23T09:09:30Z","oa":1,"tmp":{"legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","short":"CC BY (4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)"},"status":"public","title":"Triples as links between binary Black Hole mergers, their electromagnetic counterparts, and galactic Black Holes","OA_type":"gold","has_accepted_license":"1","arxiv":1,"type":"journal_article","scopus_import":"1","acknowledgement":"We thank the anonymous referee for the useful and detailed report. S.N. acknowledges the partial support of NSF-BSF grant AST-2206428 and NASA XRP grant 80NSSC23K0262, as well as Howard and Astrid Preston for their generous support. Z.H. acknowledges support from NASA grants 80NSSC22K0822 and 80NSSC24K0440. E.Q. thanks the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for support through grant GBMF5076.","article_type":"original","date_published":"2025-10-10T00:00:00Z","quality_controlled":"1","date_created":"2025-10-19T22:01:31Z","doi":"10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20","publisher":"IOP Publishing","publication_status":"published","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","day":"10","OA_place":"publisher","volume":992,"author":[{"full_name":"Naoz, Smadar","first_name":"Smadar","last_name":"Naoz"},{"id":"7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36","full_name":"Haiman, Zoltán","first_name":"Zoltán","orcid":"0000-0003-3633-5403","last_name":"Haiman"},{"full_name":"Quataert, Eliot","first_name":"Eliot","last_name":"Quataert"},{"full_name":"Holzknecht, Liz","last_name":"Holzknecht","first_name":"Liz"}],"date_updated":"2025-10-23T09:12:02Z","article_number":"L12","file":[{"date_created":"2025-10-23T09:09:30Z","access_level":"open_access","creator":"dernst","content_type":"application/pdf","file_name":"2025_AstrophysicalJour_Naoz.pdf","file_id":"20520","date_updated":"2025-10-23T09:09:30Z","checksum":"cb81d666f6d7638a5bcf45653d25bcb3","relation":"main_file","success":1,"file_size":8787316}],"_id":"20493","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2041-8213"],"issn":["2041-8205"]},"year":"2025","department":[{"_id":"ZoHa"}],"article_processing_charge":"Yes","abstract":[{"text":"We propose a formation pathway linking black holes (BHs) observed in gravitational-wave (GW) mergers, wide BH–stellar systems uncovered by Gaia, and accreting low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). In this scenario, a stellar-mass BH binary undergoes isolated binary evolution and merges while hosting a distant, dynamically unimportant tertiary stellar companion. The tertiary becomes relevant only after the merger, when the remnant BH receives a GW recoil kick. Depending on the kick velocity and system configuration, the outcome can be: (1) a bright electromagnetic (EM) counterpart to the GW merger; (2) an LMXB; (3) a wide BH–stellar companion system resembling the Gaia BH population; or (4) an unbound isolated BH. Modeling the three-body dynamics, we find that ∼0.02% of LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA (LVK) mergers may be followed by an EM counterpart within ∼10 days, produced by tidal disruption of the star by the BH. The flare is likely brightest in the optical–UV and lasts for days to weeks; in some cases, partial disruption causes recurring flares with a period of ∼2 months. We further estimate that this channel can produce ∼1%–10% of Gaia BH systems in the Milky Way. This scenario provides the first physically motivated link between GW sources, Gaia BHs, and some X-ray binaries, and predicts a rare but robust pathway for EM counterparts to binary BH mergers, potentially detectable in LVK’s O5 run.","lang":"eng"}],"publication":"Astrophysical Journal Letters","oa_version":"Published Version","external_id":{"arxiv":["2508.13270"]},"intvolume":"       992","ddc":["520"],"month":"10","issue":"1","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"citation":{"ieee":"S. Naoz, Z. Haiman, E. Quataert, and L. Holzknecht, “Triples as links between binary Black Hole mergers, their electromagnetic counterparts, and galactic Black Holes,” <i>Astrophysical Journal Letters</i>, vol. 992, no. 1. IOP Publishing, 2025.","apa":"Naoz, S., Haiman, Z., Quataert, E., &#38; Holzknecht, L. (2025). Triples as links between binary Black Hole mergers, their electromagnetic counterparts, and galactic Black Holes. <i>Astrophysical Journal Letters</i>. IOP Publishing. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20\">https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20</a>","ista":"Naoz S, Haiman Z, Quataert E, Holzknecht L. 2025. Triples as links between binary Black Hole mergers, their electromagnetic counterparts, and galactic Black Holes. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 992(1), L12.","mla":"Naoz, Smadar, et al. “Triples as Links between Binary Black Hole Mergers, Their Electromagnetic Counterparts, and Galactic Black Holes.” <i>Astrophysical Journal Letters</i>, vol. 992, no. 1, L12, IOP Publishing, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20\">10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20</a>.","chicago":"Naoz, Smadar, Zoltán Haiman, Eliot Quataert, and Liz Holzknecht. “Triples as Links between Binary Black Hole Mergers, Their Electromagnetic Counterparts, and Galactic Black Holes.” <i>Astrophysical Journal Letters</i>. IOP Publishing, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20\">https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20</a>.","short":"S. Naoz, Z. Haiman, E. Quataert, L. Holzknecht, Astrophysical Journal Letters 992 (2025).","ama":"Naoz S, Haiman Z, Quataert E, Holzknecht L. Triples as links between binary Black Hole mergers, their electromagnetic counterparts, and galactic Black Holes. <i>Astrophysical Journal Letters</i>. 2025;992(1). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20\">10.3847/2041-8213/ae0a20</a>"},"PlanS_conform":"1"}