Observing IMBH-IMBH binary coalescences via gravitational radiation

John M. Fregeau; Shane L. Larson; M. Coleman Miller; Richard O'Shaughnessy; Frederic A. Rasio

doi:10.1086/507106

Observing IMBH-IMBH binary coalescences via gravitational radiation

John M. Fregeau^*, Shane L. Larson, M. Coleman Miller, Richard O'Shaughnessy, Frederic A. Rasio

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent numerical simulations have suggested the possibility of forming double intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) via the collisional runaway scenario in young dense star clusters. The two IMBHs that formed would exchange into a common binary shortly after their birth and quickly inspiral and merge. Since space-borne gravitational wave (GW) observatories such as LISA will be able to see the late phases of their inspiral out to several gigaparsecs, and LIGO will be able to see the merger and ringdown out to similar distances, they represent potentially significant GW sources. In this Letter we estimate the rate at which LISA and LIGO will see their inspiral and merger in young star clusters, and we discuss the information that can be extracted from the observations. We find that LISA will likely see tens of IMBH-IMBH inspirais per year, while advanced LIGO could see ∼10 merger and ringdown events per year, with both rates strongly dependent on the distribution of cluster masses and densities.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	L135-L138
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	646
Issue number	2 II
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/507106
State	Published - Aug 1 2006

Keywords

Black hole physics
Gravitational waves
Stellar dynamics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1086/507106

Cite this

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title = "Observing IMBH-IMBH binary coalescences via gravitational radiation",

abstract = "Recent numerical simulations have suggested the possibility of forming double intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) via the collisional runaway scenario in young dense star clusters. The two IMBHs that formed would exchange into a common binary shortly after their birth and quickly inspiral and merge. Since space-borne gravitational wave (GW) observatories such as LISA will be able to see the late phases of their inspiral out to several gigaparsecs, and LIGO will be able to see the merger and ringdown out to similar distances, they represent potentially significant GW sources. In this Letter we estimate the rate at which LISA and LIGO will see their inspiral and merger in young star clusters, and we discuss the information that can be extracted from the observations. We find that LISA will likely see tens of IMBH-IMBH inspirais per year, while advanced LIGO could see ∼10 merger and ringdown events per year, with both rates strongly dependent on the distribution of cluster masses and densities.",

keywords = "Black hole physics, Gravitational waves, Stellar dynamics",

author = "Fregeau, {John M.} and Larson, {Shane L.} and Miller, {M. Coleman} and Richard O'Shaughnessy and Rasio, {Frederic A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Kayhan G{\"u}ltekin for providing the numerically calculated timescale for an IMBHB to shrink by stellar dynamical encounters after formation. We also thank the anonymous referee for many helpful comments on the manuscript. J. M. F. and F. A. R. acknowledge support from NASA grant NNG04G176G and NSF grant PHY-0245028. S. L. L. acknowledges support from NASA award NNG05GF71G, and M. C. M. was supported in part by NASA grant NAG 5-13229 and by the Research Associateships Programs Office of the National Research Council and Oak Ridge Associated Universities. R. O. S. was supported by NSF grant PHYS-0353111, and by the Research Corporation through a Cottrell Scholar Award to V. Kalogera.",

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doi = "10.1086/507106",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Fregeau, John M.

AU - Larson, Shane L.

AU - Miller, M. Coleman

AU - O'Shaughnessy, Richard

AU - Rasio, Frederic A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Kayhan Gültekin for providing the numerically calculated timescale for an IMBHB to shrink by stellar dynamical encounters after formation. We also thank the anonymous referee for many helpful comments on the manuscript. J. M. F. and F. A. R. acknowledge support from NASA grant NNG04G176G and NSF grant PHY-0245028. S. L. L. acknowledges support from NASA award NNG05GF71G, and M. C. M. was supported in part by NASA grant NAG 5-13229 and by the Research Associateships Programs Office of the National Research Council and Oak Ridge Associated Universities. R. O. S. was supported by NSF grant PHYS-0353111, and by the Research Corporation through a Cottrell Scholar Award to V. Kalogera.

PY - 2006/8/1

Y1 - 2006/8/1

N2 - Recent numerical simulations have suggested the possibility of forming double intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) via the collisional runaway scenario in young dense star clusters. The two IMBHs that formed would exchange into a common binary shortly after their birth and quickly inspiral and merge. Since space-borne gravitational wave (GW) observatories such as LISA will be able to see the late phases of their inspiral out to several gigaparsecs, and LIGO will be able to see the merger and ringdown out to similar distances, they represent potentially significant GW sources. In this Letter we estimate the rate at which LISA and LIGO will see their inspiral and merger in young star clusters, and we discuss the information that can be extracted from the observations. We find that LISA will likely see tens of IMBH-IMBH inspirais per year, while advanced LIGO could see ∼10 merger and ringdown events per year, with both rates strongly dependent on the distribution of cluster masses and densities.

AB - Recent numerical simulations have suggested the possibility of forming double intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) via the collisional runaway scenario in young dense star clusters. The two IMBHs that formed would exchange into a common binary shortly after their birth and quickly inspiral and merge. Since space-borne gravitational wave (GW) observatories such as LISA will be able to see the late phases of their inspiral out to several gigaparsecs, and LIGO will be able to see the merger and ringdown out to similar distances, they represent potentially significant GW sources. In this Letter we estimate the rate at which LISA and LIGO will see their inspiral and merger in young star clusters, and we discuss the information that can be extracted from the observations. We find that LISA will likely see tens of IMBH-IMBH inspirais per year, while advanced LIGO could see ∼10 merger and ringdown events per year, with both rates strongly dependent on the distribution of cluster masses and densities.

KW - Black hole physics

KW - Gravitational waves

KW - Stellar dynamics

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Observing IMBH-IMBH binary coalescences via gravitational radiation

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Keywords

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