Bayesian analysis of LIGO-Virgo mergers: Primordial versus astrophysical black hole populations

Hall, Alex; Gow, Andrew D.; Byrnes, Christian T.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.102.123524

Cited by 132 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The first one is the LIGO binary black hole mergers [309,[313][314][315]. Notably, although some models are already ruled out by current data [318] there seems to be evidence for a small fraction of PBHs in addition to astrophysical ones [319,320]. Interestingly, the corresponding induced GWs to the PBHs in the LIGO window fall in the PTA band.…”

Section: Current and Future Observational Prospectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Scalar Induced Gravitational Waves Review

2021

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We provide a review on the state-of-the-art of gravitational waves induced by primordial fluctuations, so-called induced gravitational waves. We present the intuitive physics behind induced gravitational waves and we revisit and unify the general analytical formulation. We then present general formulas in a compact form, ready to be applied. This review places emphasis on the open possibility that the primordial universe experienced a different expansion history than the often assumed radiation dominated cosmology. We hope that anyone interested in the topic will become aware of current advances in the cosmology of induced gravitational waves, as well as becoming familiar with the calculations behind.

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Section: Current and Future Observational Prospectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Scalar Induced Gravitational Waves Review

2021

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“…Numerous attempts have been made to leverage GW observations for characterizing the branching fractions between these channels or constraining uncertain physical processes governing these channels (Stevenson et al 2015;Rodriguez et al 2016b;Farr et al 2017a,b;Mandel et al 2017;Stevenson et al 2017a;Talbot & Thrane 2017;Vitale et al 2017;Zevin et al 2017;Barrett et al 2018;Taylor & Gerosa 2018;Arca Sedda & Benacquista 2019;Powell et al 2019;Roulet & Zaldarriaga 2019;Wysocki et al 2019;Abbott et al 2020c;Antonini & Gieles 2020a;Arca Sedda et al 2020;Baibhav et al 2020;Bavera et al 2020a;Bouffanais et al 2020;Farmer et al 2020;Fishbach & Holz 2020;Hall et al 2020;Kimball et al 2020a,b;Roulet et al 2020;Safarzadeh 2020;Wong et al 2020Wong et al , 2021Bhagwat et al 2021). However, due to the high complexity and dimensionality of the problem, these studies often restrict themselves to targeting a single channel or a small subset of channels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One Channel to Rule Them All? Constraining the Origins of Binary Black Holes Using Multiple Formation Pathways

Zevin

Bavera

Berry

et al. 2021

ApJ

292

259

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The second LIGO-Virgo catalog of gravitational-wave (GW) transients has more than quadrupled the observational sample of binary black holes. We analyze this catalog using a suite of five state-of-the-art binary black hole population models covering a range of isolated and dynamical formation channels and infer branching fractions between channels as well as constraints on uncertain physical processes that impact the observational properties of mergers. Given our set of formation models, we find significant differences between the branching fractions of the underlying and detectable populations, and that the diversity of detections suggests that multiple formation channels are at play. A mixture of channels is strongly preferred over any single channel dominating the detected population: an individual channel does not contribute to more than 70% of the observational sample of binary black holes. We calculate the preference between the natal spin assumptions and common-envelope efficiencies in our models, favoring natal spins of isolated black holes of 0.1, and marginally preferring common-envelope efficiencies of 2.0 while strongly disfavoring highly inefficient common envelopes. We show that it is essential to consider multiple channels when interpreting GW catalogs, as inference on branching fractions and physical prescriptions becomes biased when contributing formation scenarios are not considered or incorrect physical prescriptions are assumed. Although our quantitative results can be affected by uncertain assumptions in model predictions, our methodology is capable of including models with updated theoretical considerations and additional formation channels.

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“…[5] for a review), and that can comprise a significant fraction f PBH of the dark matter (DM) [6,7]. The possible primordial origin of at least some of the GW events has motivated several studies on the confrontation between the PBH scenario and the GW data [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

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confidence: 99%

GW190521 Mass Gap Event and the Primordial Black Hole Scenario

Desjacques²,

et al. 2021

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The LIGO/Virgo Collaboration has recently observed GW190521, the first binary black hole merger with at least the primary component mass in the mass gap predicted by the pair-instability supernova theory. This observation disfavors the standard stellar-origin formation scenario for the heavier black hole, motivating alternative hypotheses. We show that GW190521 cannot be explained within the primordial black hole (PBH) scenario if PBHs do not accrete during their cosmological evolution, since this would require an abundance which is already in tension with current constraints. On the other hand, GW190521 may have a primordial origin if PBHs accrete efficiently before the reionization epoch.

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Bayesian analysis of LIGO-Virgo mergers: Primordial versus astrophysical black hole populations

Abstract: Posterior samples from each of the sources in the O1O2 source catalogue, indicated in each panel. We show samples in the plane of redshifted chirp mass Mz and mass ratio q, marginalised over the other source parameters. Samples have been thinned by a factor of 16 for visual clarity.

Cited by 132 publications

References 80 publications

Scalar Induced Gravitational Waves Review

Scalar Induced Gravitational Waves Review

One Channel to Rule Them All? Constraining the Origins of Binary Black Holes Using Multiple Formation Pathways

GW190521 Mass Gap Event and the Primordial Black Hole Scenario

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