Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-01-31
Phys.Rev.D76:061504,2007
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in PRD Rapid Communications
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevD.76.061504
Binary black holes can form efficiently in dense young stellar clusters, such as the progenitors of globular clusters, via a combination of gravitational segregation and cluster evaporation. We use simple analytic arguments supported by detailed N-body simulations to determine how frequently black holes born in a single stellar cluster should form binaries, be ejected from the cluster, and merge through the emission of gravitational radiation. We then convolve this ``transfer function'' relating cluster formation to black hole mergers with (i) the distribution of observed cluster masses and (ii) the star formation history of the universe, assuming that a significant fraction gcl of star formation occurs in clusters and that a significant fraction gcand of clusters undergo this segregation and evaporation process. We predict future ground--based gravitational wave (GW) detectors could observe ~500 (gcl/0.5) (gcand/0.1) double black hole mergers per year, and the presently operating LIGO interferometer would have a chance (50%) at detecting a merger during its first full year of science data. More realistically, advanced LIGO and similar next-generation gravitational wave observatories provide unique opportunities to constrain otherwise inaccessible properties of clusters formed in the early universe.
O'Leary Ryan
O'Shaughnessy Richard
Rasio Frederic
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