Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component
The astrophysical origin of over 90 compact binary mergers discovered by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories is an open question. While the unusual mass and spin of some of the discovered objects constrain progenitor scenarios, the observed mergers are consistent with multiple interp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbfb8 |
| _version_ | 1797697162302193664 |
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| author | V. Gayathri Daniel Wysocki Y. Yang Vera Delfavero R. O’Shaughnessy Z. Haiman H. Tagawa I. Bartos |
| author_facet | V. Gayathri Daniel Wysocki Y. Yang Vera Delfavero R. O’Shaughnessy Z. Haiman H. Tagawa I. Bartos |
| author_sort | V. Gayathri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The astrophysical origin of over 90 compact binary mergers discovered by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories is an open question. While the unusual mass and spin of some of the discovered objects constrain progenitor scenarios, the observed mergers are consistent with multiple interpretations. A promising approach to solve this question is to consider the observed distributions of binary properties and compare them to expectations from different origin scenarios. Here we describe a new hierarchical population analysis framework to assess the relative contribution of different formation channels simultaneously. For this study we considered binary formation in active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks along with phenomenological models, but the same framework can be extended to other models. We find that high-mass and high-mass-ratio binaries appear more likely to have an AGN origin compared to having the same origin as lower-mass events. Future observations of high-mass black hole mergers could further disentangle the AGN component from other channels. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:36:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0666b8301cc44828aca610b4e649f218 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:36:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-0666b8301cc44828aca610b4e649f2182023-09-03T13:08:54ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019452L2910.3847/2041-8213/acbfb8Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN ComponentV. Gayathri0Daniel Wysocki1Y. Yang2Vera Delfavero3R. O’Shaughnessy4Z. Haiman5H. Tagawa6I. Bartos7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5607-3637Department of Physics, University of Florida , PO Box 118440, Gainesville, FL 32611-8440, USA; Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee , Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA ; gayathri.v@ligo.orgLeonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee , Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA ; gayathri.v@ligo.orgDepartment of Physics, University of Florida , PO Box 118440, Gainesville, FL 32611-8440, USAGravitational Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USACenter for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology , Rochester, NY 14623, USADepartment of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th St., New York, NY 10027, USADepartment of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W. 120th St., New York, NY 10027, USADepartment of Physics, University of Florida , PO Box 118440, Gainesville, FL 32611-8440, USAThe astrophysical origin of over 90 compact binary mergers discovered by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories is an open question. While the unusual mass and spin of some of the discovered objects constrain progenitor scenarios, the observed mergers are consistent with multiple interpretations. A promising approach to solve this question is to consider the observed distributions of binary properties and compare them to expectations from different origin scenarios. Here we describe a new hierarchical population analysis framework to assess the relative contribution of different formation channels simultaneously. For this study we considered binary formation in active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks along with phenomenological models, but the same framework can be extended to other models. We find that high-mass and high-mass-ratio binaries appear more likely to have an AGN origin compared to having the same origin as lower-mass events. Future observations of high-mass black hole mergers could further disentangle the AGN component from other channels.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbfb8Gravitational wavesGravitational wave sourcesActive galactic nuclei |
| spellingShingle | V. Gayathri Daniel Wysocki Y. Yang Vera Delfavero R. O’Shaughnessy Z. Haiman H. Tagawa I. Bartos Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component The Astrophysical Journal Letters Gravitational waves Gravitational wave sources Active galactic nuclei |
| title | Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component |
| title_full | Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component |
| title_fullStr | Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component |
| title_short | Gravitational Wave Source Populations: Disentangling an AGN Component |
| title_sort | gravitational wave source populations disentangling an agn component |
| topic | Gravitational waves Gravitational wave sources Active galactic nuclei |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbfb8 |
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