Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors
Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) have not been detected beyond any reasonable doubt through either dynamical or accretion signatures. Gravitational waves (GWs) represent an unparalleled opportunity to survey the sky and detect mergers of IMBHs, making it possible for the first time to constrain...
| Main Authors: | , |
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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 |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb34e |
| _version_ | 1797695648330416128 |
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| author | Giacomo Fragione Abraham Loeb |
| author_facet | Giacomo Fragione Abraham Loeb |
| author_sort | Giacomo Fragione |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) have not been detected beyond any reasonable doubt through either dynamical or accretion signatures. Gravitational waves (GWs) represent an unparalleled opportunity to survey the sky and detect mergers of IMBHs, making it possible for the first time to constrain their formation, growth, and merger history across cosmic time. While the current network LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA is significantly limited in detecting mergers of IMBH binaries, the next generation of ground-based observatories and space-based missions promise to shed light on the IMBH population through the detection of several events per year. Here, we assess this possibility by determining the optimal network of the next generation of GW observatories to reconstruct the IMBH merger history across cosmic time. We show that Voyager, the Einstein Telescope, and Cosmic Explorer will be able to constrain the distribution of the primary masses of merging IMBHs up to ∼10 ^3 M _⊙ and with mass ratio ≳0.1, while LISA will complementary do so at higher mass and smaller mass ratios. Therefore, a network of next-generation ground-based and space-based observatories will potentially reconstruct the merger history of IMBHs. Moreover, IMBHs with masses ≲5 × 10 ^3 M _⊙ could be observed in multiband up to a redshift of z ≈ 4, ushering in a new era of GW astronomy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:15:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ab873e5b08bc4d9485a696d986102c5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:15:21Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-ab873e5b08bc4d9485a696d986102c5e2023-09-03T14:11:18ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194418110.3847/1538-4357/acb34eConstraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave DetectorsGiacomo Fragione0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7330-027XAbraham Loeb1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4330-287XCenter for Interdisciplinary Exploration & Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA giacomo.fragione@northwestern.edu; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USAAstronomy Department, Harvard University , 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USAIntermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) have not been detected beyond any reasonable doubt through either dynamical or accretion signatures. Gravitational waves (GWs) represent an unparalleled opportunity to survey the sky and detect mergers of IMBHs, making it possible for the first time to constrain their formation, growth, and merger history across cosmic time. While the current network LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA is significantly limited in detecting mergers of IMBH binaries, the next generation of ground-based observatories and space-based missions promise to shed light on the IMBH population through the detection of several events per year. Here, we assess this possibility by determining the optimal network of the next generation of GW observatories to reconstruct the IMBH merger history across cosmic time. We show that Voyager, the Einstein Telescope, and Cosmic Explorer will be able to constrain the distribution of the primary masses of merging IMBHs up to ∼10 ^3 M _⊙ and with mass ratio ≳0.1, while LISA will complementary do so at higher mass and smaller mass ratios. Therefore, a network of next-generation ground-based and space-based observatories will potentially reconstruct the merger history of IMBHs. Moreover, IMBHs with masses ≲5 × 10 ^3 M _⊙ could be observed in multiband up to a redshift of z ≈ 4, ushering in a new era of GW astronomy.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb34eAstrophysical black holesBlack hole physicsBlack holesIntermediate-mass black holesGravitational wave astronomyGravitational wave detectors |
| spellingShingle | Giacomo Fragione Abraham Loeb Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors The Astrophysical Journal Astrophysical black holes Black hole physics Black holes Intermediate-mass black holes Gravitational wave astronomy Gravitational wave detectors |
| title | Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors |
| title_full | Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors |
| title_fullStr | Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors |
| title_short | Constraining the Cosmic Merger History of Intermediate-mass Black Holes with Gravitational Wave Detectors |
| title_sort | constraining the cosmic merger history of intermediate mass black holes with gravitational wave detectors |
| topic | Astrophysical black holes Black hole physics Black holes Intermediate-mass black holes Gravitational wave astronomy Gravitational wave detectors |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb34e |
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