Double gravitational wave mergers

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

In this paper we study the dynamical outcome in which black hole (BH) binary-single interactions lead to two successive gravitational wave (GW) mergers, a scenario we refer to as a 'double GWmerger'. The first GW merger happens during the three-body interaction through a two-body GW capture, where the second GW merger is between the BH formed in the first GW merger and the remaining bound single BH. We estimate the probability for observing both GW mergers, and for observing only the second merger that we refer to as a 'prompt second-generation (2G) merger'. We find that the probability for observing both GW mergers is only notable for co-planar interactions with low GW kicks (≲ 101 - 102 km s-1), which suggests that double GW mergers can be used to probe environments facilitating such interactions. For isotropic encounters, such as the one found in globular clusters, the probability for prompt 2G mergers to form is only at the percent level, suggesting that second-generation mergers are most likely to be between BHs which have swapped partners at least once.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume482
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)30-39
Number of pages10
ISSN0035-8711
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Gravitation, Gravitational waves, Stars: kinematics and dynamics

ID: 236271176