When two black holes merger, any asymmetries in their initial masses and / or spins can cause gravitational wave radiation to be beamed in a preferred direction. To conserve linear momentum, the coalescing black hole binary suffers a recoil “kick” that can range from 100-4000 km/s. The idea that this phenomenon can eject massive black holes (MBH) from their host galaxies has been around for quite some time now, but now offset nuclei have actually been confirmed.
Another consequence of black hole recoil mergers is that they emit gravitons, and gravitons can travel through dimensions. If indeed the Large Hadron Collider could generate (tiny) black holes, then how cool would it be control their production and collide them (perhaps by producing two beams that travel in opposite directions) and measure the energy loss due to the production of the graviton. It would certainly be a good test for both the “extra” dimensions and the theory behind black hole recoil.
Disclaimer: Crazy, I now. It’s the IAS effect.
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