Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: Binary SMBHs are generic outcomes of hierarchical galaxy mergers. They are of great value in understanding the role of galaxy mergers in AGN fueling and the interplay between SMBHs and their hosts, as well as predictions for future gravitational wave detection experiments. While pervasive in theoretical models, despite decades of searching, binary SMBHs with separations below a few kpc remain extremely difficult to find. In this talk I will discuss ongoing searches for binary SMBHs at various separations, with focuses on our recent work on tens of kpc to kpc-scale binary AGNs selected from SDSS. This is a first step towards quantifying the demographics of low-redshift (z<0.3) binary AGNs on >~kpc scales.