http://arxiv.org/abs/1903.11614
Binary neutron stars (BNS) mergers are prime sites for r-process nucleosynthesis. As such their rate determines the chemical evolution of heavy elements in the Milky Way. The merger rate of BNS is a convolution of their birth rate and the gravitational radiation spiral-in delay time. Using the observed population of Galactic BNS we show here that at late times ($t\gtrsim 1$ Gyr) the gravitational wave delay time distribution (DTD) follows the expected $ t^{-1}$. However, a significant excess of rapidly merging systems (between $40-60\%$ of the entire population) is apparent at shorter times.This population of rapid mergers implies a declining deposition rate of $r$-process materials that is consistent with several independent observations of heavy element abundances in the Milky Way. At the same time this population that requires initial binary separations of roughly one solar radius clearly indicates that these binaries had common envelope progenitors. Our results suggest that a significant fraction of future LIGO/Virgo BNS mergers would reside in star forming galaxies.
P. Beniamini and T. Piran
Fri, 29 Mar 19
78/78
Comments: 8 pages, 4 figures