Binary Black Hole Mergers from Globular Clusters: Implications for Advanced LIGO.
The predicted rate of binary black hole mergers from galactic fields can vary over several orders of magnitude and is extremely sensitive to the assumptions of stellar evolution. But in dense stellar environments such as globular clusters, binary black holes form by well-understood gravitational interactions. In this Letter, we study the formation of black hole binaries in an extensive collection of realistic globular cluster models. By comparing these models to observed Milky Way and extragalactic globular clusters, we find that the mergers of dynamically formed binaries could be detected at a rate of ∼100 per year, potentially dominating the binary black hole merger rate. We also find that a majority of cluster-formed binaries are more massive than their field-formed counterparts, suggesting that Advanced LIGO could identify certain binaries as originating from dense stellar environments.
Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Carl L
CL
Rodriguez
Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Meagan
M
Morscher
Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.|Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Bharath
B
Pattabiraman
Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Sourav
S
Chatterjee
Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.|School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Carl-Johan
CJ
Haster
Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Frederic A
FA
Rasio