The accretion disk response to a loss of 5% of the mass of the accretor formed by a stellar-mass binary black hole collision has been simulated. The parameters of the initial binary system correspond to the gravitational-wave source GW170814. We performed a series of simulations of models with radiative and convective heat transfer mechanism, and various accretion rates. The models took into account radiation pressure and adiabatic vertical gas expansion. Reducing the mass of the accretor due to radiation of gravitational waves led to a strong hydrodynamic disturbance of the disk that developed in less than one second into a shock wave. As a result of shock heating, the luminosity of convective disks increased by 3—5 orders of magnitude and reached 10⁴³ erg s⁻¹. The luminosity of radiative disks increased by 1 2 orders of magnitude, to 10⁴⁰ erg s⁻¹. If the source is as far as 540 Mpc (as in the case of the GW170814 event), the disk brightening can be detected by the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory.

Keywords: gravitational waves, black holes, binary stars, black hole merging, accretion disks PACS: 04.30.Tv, 97.10.Gz, 97.80.−d (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2019.04.038591 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2019/11/e/ 000518757700005 2-s2.0-85083341908 Citation: Bisikalo D V, Zhilkin A G, Kurbatov E P "Possible electromagnetic manifestations of merging black holes" Phys. Usp. 62 1136–1152 (2019) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Received: 4th, June 2019, accepted: 3rd, April 2019 Оригинал: Бисикало Д В, Жилкин А Г, Курбатов Е П «Возможные электромагнитные проявления сливающихся чёрных дыр» УФН 189 1213–1229 (2019); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2019.04.038591