A multiresolution method for modelling galaxy and massive black hole mergers

The coalescence of the most massive black hole (MBH) binaries releases gravitational waves (GWs) within the detectable frequency range of pulsar timing arrays (PTAs; 10(-9) to 10(-6) Hz). The incoherent superposition of GWs from MBH mergers, the stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB), can provide unique information on MBH parameters and the large-scale structure of the Universe. The recent evidence for a GWB reported by the PTAs opens an exciting new window on to MBHs and their host galaxies. However, the astrophysical interpretation of the GWB requires accurate estimations of MBH merger time-scales for a statistically representative sample of galaxy mergers. This is numerically challenging; a high numerical resolution is required to avoid spurious relaxation and stochastic effects, while a large number of simulations are needed to sample a cosmologically representative volume. Here, we present a new multimass modelling method to increase the central resolution of a galaxy model at a fixed particle number. We follow mergers of galaxies hosting central MBHs with the fast multiple method code griffin at two reference resolutions and with two refinement schemes. We show that both refinement schemes are effective at increasing central resolution, reducing spurious relaxation and stochastic effects. A particle number of N >= 10(6) within a radius of five times the sphere of influence of the MBHs is required to reduce numerical scatter in the binary eccentricity and the coalescence time-scale to <30 per cent, a resolution that can only be reached at present with the mass refinement scheme.