Gravitational-wave localization alone can probe origin of stellar-mass black hole mergers

I. Bartos; Z. Haiman; Z. Marka; B. D. Metzger; N. C. Stone; S. Marka

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00851-7

Gravitational-wave localization alone can probe origin of stellar-mass black hole mergers

I. Bartos^*, Z. Haiman, Z. Marka, B. D. Metzger, N. C. Stone, S. Marka

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

The recent discovery of gravitational waves from stellar-mass binary black hole mergers by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory opened the door to alternative probes of stellar and galactic evolution, cosmology and fundamental physics. Probing the origin of binary black hole mergers will be difficult due to the expected lack of electromagnetic emission and limited localization accuracy. Associations with rare host galaxy types - such as active galactic nuclei - can nevertheless be identified statistically through spatial correlation. Here we establish the feasibility of statistically proving the connection between binary black hole mergers and active galactic nuclei as hosts, even if only a sub-population of mergers originate from active galactic nuclei. Our results are the demonstration that the limited localization of gravitational waves, previously written off as not useful to distinguish progenitor channels, can in fact contribute key information, broadening the range of astrophysical questions probed by binary black hole observations.

Original language	American English
Article number	831
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	8
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00851-7
State	Published - 1 Dec 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Jules Halpern for useful discussions. I.B., Z.M., and S.M. are thankful for the generous support of Columbia University in the City of New York and of NSF grant PHY-1404462. Z.H. acknowledges support from NASA grant NNX15AB19G and a Simons Fellowship for Theoretical Physics. B.D.M. acknowledges support from NASA grant NNX16AB30G and the Research Corporation for Science Advancement Scialog Program grant RCSA23810. NCS acknowledges support by NASA through Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Number PF5-160145.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).

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title = "Gravitational-wave localization alone can probe origin of stellar-mass black hole mergers",

abstract = "The recent discovery of gravitational waves from stellar-mass binary black hole mergers by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory opened the door to alternative probes of stellar and galactic evolution, cosmology and fundamental physics. Probing the origin of binary black hole mergers will be difficult due to the expected lack of electromagnetic emission and limited localization accuracy. Associations with rare host galaxy types - such as active galactic nuclei - can nevertheless be identified statistically through spatial correlation. Here we establish the feasibility of statistically proving the connection between binary black hole mergers and active galactic nuclei as hosts, even if only a sub-population of mergers originate from active galactic nuclei. Our results are the demonstration that the limited localization of gravitational waves, previously written off as not useful to distinguish progenitor channels, can in fact contribute key information, broadening the range of astrophysical questions probed by binary black hole observations.",

author = "I. Bartos and Z. Haiman and Z. Marka and Metzger, {B. D.} and Stone, {N. C.} and S. Marka",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Jules Halpern for useful discussions. I.B., Z.M., and S.M. are thankful for the generous support of Columbia University in the City of New York and of NSF grant PHY-1404462. Z.H. acknowledges support from NASA grant NNX15AB19G and a Simons Fellowship for Theoretical Physics. B.D.M. acknowledges support from NASA grant NNX16AB30G and the Research Corporation for Science Advancement Scialog Program grant RCSA23810. NCS acknowledges support by NASA through Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Number PF5-160145. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 The Author(s).",

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-017-00851-7",

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AU - Marka, S.

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N2 - The recent discovery of gravitational waves from stellar-mass binary black hole mergers by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory opened the door to alternative probes of stellar and galactic evolution, cosmology and fundamental physics. Probing the origin of binary black hole mergers will be difficult due to the expected lack of electromagnetic emission and limited localization accuracy. Associations with rare host galaxy types - such as active galactic nuclei - can nevertheless be identified statistically through spatial correlation. Here we establish the feasibility of statistically proving the connection between binary black hole mergers and active galactic nuclei as hosts, even if only a sub-population of mergers originate from active galactic nuclei. Our results are the demonstration that the limited localization of gravitational waves, previously written off as not useful to distinguish progenitor channels, can in fact contribute key information, broadening the range of astrophysical questions probed by binary black hole observations.

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Gravitational-wave localization alone can probe origin of stellar-mass black hole mergers

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