Brownian motion of massive black hole binaries and the final parsec problem

Massive black hole binaries (BHBs) are expected to be one of the most powerful sources of gravitational waves in the frequency range of the pulsar timing array and of forthcoming space-borne detectors. They are believed to form in the final stages of galaxy mergers, and then harden by slingshot ejections of passing stars. However, evolution via the slingshot mechanism may be ineffective if the reservoir of interacting stars is not readily replenished, and the binary shrinking may come to a halt at roughly a parsec separation. Recent simulations suggest that the departure from spherical symmetry, naturally produced in merger remnants, leads to efficient loss cone refilling, preventing the binary from stalling. However, current N-body simulations able to accurately follow the evolution of BHBs are limited to very modest particle numbers. Brownian motion may artificially enhance the loss cone refilling rate in low-N simulations, where the binary encounters a larger population of stars due...