Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userCharacterisation of lensing selection effects for LISA massive black hole binary mergers
70
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We present a method to include lensing selection effects due to the finite horizon of a given detector when studying lensing of gravitational wave (GW) sources. When selection effects are included, the mean of the magnification distribution is shifted from one to higher values for sufficiently high-redshift sources. This introduces an irreducible (multiplicative) bias on the luminosity distance reconstruction, in addition to the typical source of uncertainty in the distance determination. We apply this method to study lensing of GWs emitted by massive black hole binary mergers at high redshift detectable by LISA. We estimate the expected bias induced by selection effects on the luminosity distance reconstruction as function of cosmological redshift, and discuss its implications for cosmological and astrophysical analyses with LISA. We also reconstruct the distribution of lensing magnification as a function of the observed luminosity distance to a source, that is the observable quantity in the absence of an electromagnetic counterpart. Lensing provides the dominant source of errors in distance measurements of high-redshift GW sources. Its full characterisation, including the impact of selection effects, is of paramount importance to correctly determine the astrophysical properties of the underlying source population and to be able to use gravitational wave sources as a new cosmological probe.
rate research
Read More
Using the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis code BPASS, we have calculated the rates, timescales and mass distributions for binary black hole mergers as a function of metallicity. We consider these in the context of the recently reported 1st LIGO event detection. We find that the event has a very low probability of arising from a stellar population with initial metallicity mass fraction above Z=0.010 (Z>0.5Zsun). Binary black hole merger events with the reported masses are most likely in populations below 0.008 (Z<0.4Zsun). Events of this kind can occur at all stellar population ages from ~3 Myr up to the age of the universe, but constitute only 0.1 to 0.4 per cent of binary BH mergers between metallicities of Z=0.001 to 0.008. However at metallicity Z=0.0001, 26 per cent of binary BH mergers would be expected to have the reported masses. At this metallicity the progenitor merger times can be close to ~10Gyr and rotationally-mixed stars evolving through quasi-homogeneous evolution, due to mass transfer in a binary, dominate the rate. The masses inferred for the black holes in the binary progenitor of GW,150914 are amongst the most massive expected at anything but the lowest metallicities in our models. We discuss the implications of our analysis for the electromagnetic follow-up of future LIGO event detections.
In this Letter we revisit arguments suggesting that the Bardeen-Petterson effect can coalign the spins of a central supermassive black hole binary accreting from a circumbinary (or circumnuclear) gas disc. We improve on previous estimates by adding the dependence on system parameters, and noting that the nonlinear nature of warp propagation in a thin viscous disc affects alignment. This reduces the discs ability to communicate the warp, and can severely reduce the effectiveness of disc-assisted spin alignment. We test our predictions with a Monte Carlo realization of random misalignments and accretion rates and we find that the outcome depends strongly on the spin magnitude. We estimate a generous upper limit to the probability of alignment by making assumptions which favour it throughout. Even with these assumptions, about 40% of black holes with $a gtrsim 0.5$ do not have time to align with the disc. If the residual misalignment is not small and it is maintained down to the final coalescence phase this can give a powerful recoil velocity to the merged hole. Highly spinning black holes are thus more likely of being subject to strong recoils, the occurrence of which is currently debated.
Understanding the interaction of massive black hole binaries with their gaseous environment is crucial since at sub-parsec scales the binary is too wide for gravitational wave emission to take over and to drive the two black holes to merge. We here investigate the interaction between a massive black hole binary and a self-gravitating circumbinary disc using 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. We find that, when the disc self-gravity regulates the angular momentum transport, the binary semi-major axis decreases regardless the choice of disc masses and temperatures, within the range we explored. In particular, we find that the disc initial temperature (hence the disc aspect ratio) has little effect on the evolution of the binary since discs with the same mass self-regulate towards the same temperature. Initially warmer discs cause the binary to shrink on a slightly shorter timescale until the disc has reached the self-regulated equilibrium temperature. More massive discs drive the binary semi-major axis to decrease at a faster pace compared to less massive discs and result in faster binary eccentricity growth even after the initial-condition-dependent transient evolution. Finally we investigate the effect that the initial cavity size has on the binary-disc interaction and we find that, in the self-gravitating regime, an initially smaller cavity leads to a much faster binary shrinking, as expected. Our results are especially important for very massive black hole binaries such as those in the PTA band, for which gas self gravity cannot be neglected.
During the first three observing runs of the Advanced gravitational-wave detector network, the LIGO/Virgo collaboration detected several black hole binary (BHBH) mergers. As the population of detected BHBH mergers grows, it will become possible to constrain different channels for their formation. Here we consider the chemically homogeneous evolution (CHE) channel in close binaries, by performing population synthesis simulations that combine realistic binary models with detailed cosmological calculations of the chemical and star-formation history of the Universe. This allows us to constrain population properties, as well as cosmological and aLIGO/aVirgo detection rates of BHBH mergers formed through this pathway. We predict a BHBH merger rate at redshift zero of $5.8 , textrm{Gpc}^{-3} textrm{yr}^{-1}$ through the CHE channel, to be compared with aLIGO/aVirgos measured rate of ${53.2}_{-28.2}^{+55.8} , text{Gpc}^{-3} text{yr}^{-1}$, and find that eventual merger systems have BH masses in the range $17 - 43 , textrm{M}_{odot}$ below the pair-instability supernova (PISN) gap, and $>124 , textrm{M}_{odot}$ above the PISN gap. We investigate effects of momentum kicks during black hole formation, and calculate cosmological and magnitude limited PISN rates. We also study the effects of high-redshift deviations in the star formation rate. We find that momentum kicks tend to increase delay times of BHBH systems, and our magnitude limited PISN rate estimates indicate that current deep surveys should be able to detect such events. Lastly, we find that our cosmological merger rate estimates change by at most $sim 8%$ for mild deviations of the star formation rate in the early Universe, and by up to $sim 40%$ for extreme deviations.
We perform a binary population synthesis calculation incorporating very massive population (Pop.) III stars up to 1500 $M_odot$, and investigate the nature of binary black hole (BBH) mergers. Above the pair-instability mass gap, we find that the typical primary black hole (BH) mass is 135-340 $M_odot$. The maximum primary BH mass is as massive as 686 $M_odot$. The BBHs with both of their components above the mass gap have low effective inspiral spin $sim$ 0. So far, no conclusive BBH merger beyond the mass gap has been detected, and the upper limit on the merger rate density is obtained. If the initial mass function (IMF) of Pop. III stars is simply expressed as $xi_m(m) propto m^{-alpha}$ (single power law), we find that $alpha gtrsim 2.8$ is needed in order for the merger rate density not to exceed the upper limit. In the future, the gravitational wave detectors such as Einstein telescope and Pre-DECIGO will observe BBH mergers at high redshift. We suggest that we may be able to impose a stringent limit on the Pop. III IMF by comparing the merger rate density obtained from future observations with that derived theoretically.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
