Ebersold, M., Tiwari, S., Smith, L., Bae, Y.-B., Kang, G., Williams, D. , Gopakumar, A., Heng, I. S. and Haney, M. (2022) Observational limits on the rate of radiation-driven binary black hole capture events. Physical Review D, 106(10), 104014. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.106.104014)
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Abstract
Dense astrophysical environments like globular clusters and galactic nuclei can host hyperbolic encounters of black holes which can lead to gravitational-wave driven capture. There are several astrophysical models which predict a fraction of binary black hole mergers to come from these radiation-driven capture scenarios. In this paper we present the sensitivity of a search towards gravitational-wave driven capture events for the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo. We use capture waveforms produced by numerical relativity simulations covering a wide parameter space, four different mass ratios and at least two different values of initial angular momentum per mass-ratio. We employed the most generic search for short-duration transients to evaluate the search sensitivity in this wide parameter space in terms of visible spacetime volume. From the visible spacetime volume we determine for the first time the merger rate upper limit of such systems. The most stringent estimate of rate upper limits at 90\% confidence is $0.2~\mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ for an equal mass $200~M_\odot$ binary. Furthermore, we discuss the event GW190521 in the light of it being a capture event which has been suggested in recent studies. For the closest injection set corresponding to this event, we find that the lowest rate needed to detect one event at 90\% confidence is $0.47~\mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Gravitational waves, black holes. |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Heng, Professor Ik Siong and Williams, Dr Daniel and Smith, Ms Leigh |
| Authors: | Ebersold, M., Tiwari, S., Smith, L., Bae, Y.-B., Kang, G., Williams, D., Gopakumar, A., Heng, I. S., and Haney, M. |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy |
| Research Centre: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research |
| Journal Name: | Physical Review D |
| Publisher: | American Physical Society |
| ISSN: | 1550-7998 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1550-2368 |
| Published Online: | 09 November 2022 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2022 American Physical Society |
| First Published: | First published in Physical Review D 106(10):104014 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher |
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