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In the nonspherical gravitational collapse of a stellar core to a black hole, linear momentum will in general be radiated with gravitational waves. As a result the black hole will recoil. Here we make a rough estimate of the possible recoil velocities by means of the linearized theory of gravitational waves extended to octopole order. Velocities ranging from small values for nearly up-down symmetrical collapse up to a few hundred kilometers per second for highly asymmetrical collapse may be possible. We also explore some likely consequences of black-hole recoil: breakup of a binary upon collapse of one of its components, runaway binaries with a black-hole component, detachment of the stellar envelope from the black hole formed by the collapsed stellar core, and escape of black holes from globular clusters and the Galaxy. Subject headings: binaries - black holes - collapsed - gravitation - relativity
Jacob D. Bekenstein (Sun,) studied this question.