The formation and coalescence sites of the first gravitational wave events [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1705.06781


We present a novel theoretical model to characterize the formation and coalescence sites of compact binaries in a cosmological context. This is based on the coupling between the binary population synthesis code SeBa with a simulation following the formation of a Milky Way-like halo in a well resolved cosmic volume of 4 cMpc, performed with the GAMESH pipeline. We have applied this technique to investigate when and where systems with properties similar to the recently observed LIGO/VIRGO events are more likely to form and where they are more likely to reside when they coalescence. We find that more than 70% of GW151226 and LVT151012 candidates form in galaxies with stellar mass M_{star} > 10^8 Msun in the redshift range [0.06 – 3] and [0.14 – 11.3], respectively. All GW150914 candidates form in low-metallicity dwarfs with M_{star} < 5 \times 10^6 Msun at 2.4 < z < 4.2. Despite these initial differences, by the time they reach coalescence the observed events are most likely hosted by star forming galaxies with M_{star} > 10^{10} Msun. Due to tidal stripping and radiative feedback, a non negligible fraction of GW150914 candidates end-up in galaxies with properties similar to dwarf spheroidals and ultra-faint satellites.

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R. Schneider, L. Graziani, S. Marassi, et. al.
Mon, 22 May 17
42/51

Comments: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRAS, comments are welcome