Sub-parsec Detectability Lifetimes for a Sample of Dual AGN with Known Mass Ratios

Abstract We analyze 84 double quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, selected by G. Foreman et al., to investigate the sub-parsec-scale detectability lifetimes of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries—key progenitors of low-frequency gravitational waves. We compute the time during which binaries with the same mass ratios as the G. Foreman et al. sample are likely to have observable signatures in variable broad line profiles. Our results are helpful for predicting the population of resolvable SMBH binaries detectable with future space-based interferometers such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.