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Title: Compact binary merger rates: Comparison with LIGO/Virgo upper limits

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
; ;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Astronomical Observatory, Warsaw University, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warsaw (Poland)
  2. Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen (Netherlands)
  3. Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Physics, and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)
  4. Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623 (United States)
  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677 (United States)
  6. CCS-2, MSD409, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

We compare evolutionary predictions of double compact object merger rate densities with initial and forthcoming LIGO/Virgo upper limits. We find that: (i) Due to the cosmological reach of advanced detectors, current conversion methods of population synthesis predictions into merger rate densities are insufficient. (ii) Our optimistic models are a factor of 18 below the initial LIGO/Virgo upper limits for BH–BH systems, indicating that a modest increase in observational sensitivity (by a factor of ∼2.5) may bring the first detections or first gravitational wave constraints on binary evolution. (iii) Stellar-origin massive BH–BH mergers should dominate event rates in advanced LIGO/Virgo and can be detected out to redshift z ≃ 2 with templates including inspiral, merger, and ringdown. Normal stars (<150 M{sub ⊙}) can produce such mergers with total redshifted mass up to M{sub tot,z}≃400 M{sub ⊙}. (iv) High black hole (BH) natal kicks can severely limit the formation of massive BH–BH systems (both in isolated binary and in dynamical dense cluster evolution), and thus would eliminate detection of these systems even at full advanced LIGO/Virgo sensitivity. We find that low and high BH natal kicks are allowed by current observational electromagnetic constraints. (v) The majority of our models yield detections of all types of mergers (NS–NS, BH–NS, BH–BH) with advanced detectors. Numerous massive BH–BH merger detections will indicate small (if any) natal kicks for massive BHs.

OSTI ID:
22890154
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 819, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Since 2009, the country of publication for this journal is the UK.; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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