Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | L7 |
| Number of pages | 53 |
| Journal | Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Volume | 913 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 19 May 2021 |
| Publication status | Published - 20 May 2021 |
Abstract
Keywords
- astro-ph.HE, gr-qc
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Space and Planetary Science
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 913, No. 1, L7, 20.05.2021.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Population Properties of Compact Objects from the Second LIGO-Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
AU - The LIGO Scientific Collaboration
AU - The Virgo Collaboration
AU - Abbott, R.
AU - Abbott, T. D.
AU - Abraham, S.
AU - Acernese, F.
AU - Ackley, K.
AU - Adams, A.
AU - Adams, C.
AU - Adhikari, R. X.
AU - Adya, V. B.
AU - Affeldt, C.
AU - Agathos, M.
AU - Agatsuma, K.
AU - Aggarwal, N.
AU - Aguiar, O. D.
AU - Aiello, L.
AU - Ain, A.
AU - Ajith, P.
AU - Allen, G.
AU - Allocca, A.
AU - Altin, P. A.
AU - Amato, A.
AU - Anand, S.
AU - Ananyeva, A.
AU - Anderson, S. B.
AU - Anderson, W. G.
AU - Angelova, S. V.
AU - Ansoldi, S.
AU - Antelis, J. M.
AU - Antier, S.
AU - Appert, S.
AU - Arai, K.
AU - Araya, M. C.
AU - Areeda, J. S.
AU - Arène, M.
AU - Arnaud, N.
AU - Aronson, S. M.
AU - Arun, K. G.
AU - Asali, Y.
AU - Ascenzi, S.
AU - Ashton, G.
AU - Danilishin, S. L.
AU - Danzmann, K.
AU - Heurs, M.
AU - Lück, H.
AU - Richardson, L.
AU - Steinmeyer, D.
AU - Vahlbruch, H.
AU - Wei, L.
AU - Wilken, D. M.
AU - Willke, B.
AU - Bose, Sukanta
AU - Brown, D. D.
AU - Chen, Y. B.
AU - Cheng, Hai-Ping
AU - Hanke, Manuela
AU - Hansen, Hannah
AU - Hennig, J.
AU - Hübner, M. T.
AU - Lang, R. N.
AU - Lee, H. M.
AU - Lee, H. W.
AU - Lee, J.
AU - Lee, K.
AU - Li, X.
AU - Nguyen, T.
AU - Rose, C. A.
AU - Rose, D.
AU - Sanders, I. R.
AU - Schmidt, Patricia
AU - Sun, L.
AU - Tran, A. T.
AU - White, L. V.
AU - Wu, D. S.
AU - Zhang, L.
AU - Zhang, R.
AU - Zhu, X. J.
AU - Bergamin, Fabio
AU - Bergmann, G.
AU - Bisht, A.
AU - Bode, Nina
AU - Booker, P.
AU - Brinkmann, M.
AU - Cabero, M.
AU - Gohlke, N.
AU - Denker, Timo
AU - Heinze, J.
AU - de Varona, O.
AU - Hennig, M. H.
AU - Hochheim, S.
AU - Junker, J.
AU - Kastaun, W.
AU - Kirchhoff, R.
AU - Koch, P.
AU - Koper, N.
AU - Köhlenbeck, S. M.
AU - Kringel, V.
AU - Krishnendu, N. V.
AU - Kuehn, G.
AU - Leavey, S.
AU - Lehmann, J.
AU - Liu, J.
AU - Lough, J. D.
AU - Matuisheckina, Mariia
AU - Mehmet, M.
AU - Meylahn, Fabian
AU - Mukund, N.
AU - Nadji, S. L.
AU - Nery, M.
AU - Ohme, F.
AU - Oppermann, P.
AU - Schreiber, E.
AU - Schulte, B. W.
AU - Setyawati, Y.
AU - Steinke, M.
AU - Venneberg, J.
AU - Weinert, M.
AU - Wellmann, F.
AU - Weßels, Peter
AU - Wimmer, Maximilian H.
AU - Winkler, W.
AU - Woehler, J.
AU - von Wrangel, J.
AU - Aufmuth, Peter
AU - Krämer, C.
AU - Matiushechkina, Mariia
PY - 2021/5/20
Y1 - 2021/5/20
N2 - We report on the population of the 47 compact binary mergers detected with a false-alarm rate 1/yr in the second LIGO--Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2. We observe several characteristics of the merging binary black hole (BBH) population not discernible until now. First, we find that the primary mass spectrum contains structure beyond a power-law with a sharp high-mass cut-off; it is more consistent with a broken power law with a break at \(39.7^{+20.3}_{-9.1}\,M_\odot\), or a power law with a Gaussian feature peaking at \(33.1^{+4.0}_{-5.6}\,M_\odot\) (90\% credible interval). While the primary mass distribution must extend to \(\sim65\,M_\odot\) or beyond, only \(2.9^{+3.5}_{1.7}\%\) of systems have primary masses greater than \(45\,M_\odot\). Second, we find that a fraction of BBH systems have component spins misaligned with the orbital angular momentum, giving rise to precession of the orbital plane. Moreover, 12% to 44% of BBH systems have spins tilted by more than \(90^\circ\), giving rise to a negative effective inspiral spin parameter \(\chi_\mathrm{eff}\). Under the assumption that such systems can only be formed by dynamical interactions, we infer that between 25% and 93% of BBH with non-vanishing \(|\chi_\mathrm{eff}| > 0.01\) are dynamically assembled. Third, we estimate merger rates, finding \(\mathcal{R}_\text{BBH} = 23.9^{+14.3}_{8.6}\) Gpc\(^{-3}\) yr\(^{-1}\) for BBH and \(\mathcal{R}_\text{BNS}= 320^{+490}_{-240}\) Gpc\(^{-3}\) yr\(^{-1}\) for binary neutron stars. We find that the BBH rate likely increases with redshift (\(85\%\) credibility), but not faster than the star-formation rate (\(86\%\) credibility). Additionally, we examine recent exceptional events in the context of our population models, finding that the asymmetric masses of GW190412 and the high component masses of GW190521 are consistent with our models, but the low secondary mass of GW190814 makes it an outlier.
AB - We report on the population of the 47 compact binary mergers detected with a false-alarm rate 1/yr in the second LIGO--Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2. We observe several characteristics of the merging binary black hole (BBH) population not discernible until now. First, we find that the primary mass spectrum contains structure beyond a power-law with a sharp high-mass cut-off; it is more consistent with a broken power law with a break at \(39.7^{+20.3}_{-9.1}\,M_\odot\), or a power law with a Gaussian feature peaking at \(33.1^{+4.0}_{-5.6}\,M_\odot\) (90\% credible interval). While the primary mass distribution must extend to \(\sim65\,M_\odot\) or beyond, only \(2.9^{+3.5}_{1.7}\%\) of systems have primary masses greater than \(45\,M_\odot\). Second, we find that a fraction of BBH systems have component spins misaligned with the orbital angular momentum, giving rise to precession of the orbital plane. Moreover, 12% to 44% of BBH systems have spins tilted by more than \(90^\circ\), giving rise to a negative effective inspiral spin parameter \(\chi_\mathrm{eff}\). Under the assumption that such systems can only be formed by dynamical interactions, we infer that between 25% and 93% of BBH with non-vanishing \(|\chi_\mathrm{eff}| > 0.01\) are dynamically assembled. Third, we estimate merger rates, finding \(\mathcal{R}_\text{BBH} = 23.9^{+14.3}_{8.6}\) Gpc\(^{-3}\) yr\(^{-1}\) for BBH and \(\mathcal{R}_\text{BNS}= 320^{+490}_{-240}\) Gpc\(^{-3}\) yr\(^{-1}\) for binary neutron stars. We find that the BBH rate likely increases with redshift (\(85\%\) credibility), but not faster than the star-formation rate (\(86\%\) credibility). Additionally, we examine recent exceptional events in the context of our population models, finding that the asymmetric masses of GW190412 and the high component masses of GW190521 are consistent with our models, but the low secondary mass of GW190814 makes it an outlier.
KW - astro-ph.HE
KW - gr-qc
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107556742&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/abe949
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/abe949
M3 - Article
VL - 913
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
SN - 2041-8205
IS - 1
M1 - L7
ER -