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1. Search for intermediate-mass black hole binaries in the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141452  

   Abbott, R. ; Abbott, T. D. ; Acernese, F. ; Ackley, K. ; Adams, C. ; Adhikari, N. ; Adhikari, R. X. ; Adya, V. B. ; Affeldt, C. ; Agarwal, D. ; et al ( March 2022 , Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) span the approximate mass range 100−10 5   M ⊙ , between black holes (BHs) that formed by stellar collapse and the supermassive BHs at the centers of galaxies. Mergers of IMBH binaries are the most energetic gravitational-wave sources accessible by the terrestrial detector network. Searches of the first two observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo did not yield any significant IMBH binary signals. In the third observing run (O3), the increased network sensitivity enabled the detection of GW190521, a signal consistent with a binary merger of mass ∼150  M ⊙ providing direct evidencemore »of IMBH formation. Here, we report on a dedicated search of O3 data for further IMBH binary mergers, combining both modeled (matched filter) and model-independent search methods. We find some marginal candidates, but none are sufficiently significant to indicate detection of further IMBH mergers. We quantify the sensitivity of the individual search methods and of the combined search using a suite of IMBH binary signals obtained via numerical relativity, including the effects of spins misaligned with the binary orbital axis, and present the resulting upper limits on astrophysical merger rates. Our most stringent limit is for equal mass and aligned spin BH binary of total mass 200  M ⊙ and effective aligned spin 0.8 at 0.056 Gpc −3 yr −1 (90% confidence), a factor of 3.5 more constraining than previous LIGO-Virgo limits. We also update the estimated rate of mergers similar to GW190521 to 0.08 Gpc −3 yr −1 .« less
2. Evolutionary roads leading to low effective spins, high black hole masses, and O1/O2 rates for LIGO/Virgo binary black holes

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201936528  

   Belczynski, K. ; Klencki, J. ; Fields, C. E. ; Olejak, A. ; Berti, E. ; Meynet, G. ; Fryer, C. L. ; Holz, D. E. ; O’Shaughnessy, R. ; Brown, D. A. ; et al ( April 2020 , Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   All ten LIGO/Virgo binary black hole (BH-BH) coalescences reported following the O1/O2 runs have near-zero effective spins. There are only three potential explanations for this. If the BH spin magnitudes are large, then: (i) either both BH spin vectors must be nearly in the orbital plane or (ii) the spin angular momenta of the BHs must be oppositely directed and similar in magnitude. Then there is also the possibility that (iii) the BH spin magnitudes are small. We consider the third hypothesis within the framework of the classical isolated binary evolution scenario of the BH-BH merger formation. We test threemore »models of angular momentum transport in massive stars: a mildly efficient transport by meridional currents (as employed in the Geneva code), an efficient transport by the Tayler-Spruit magnetic dynamo (as implemented in the MESA code), and a very-efficient transport (as proposed by Fuller et al.) to calculate natal BH spins. We allow for binary evolution to increase the BH spins through accretion and account for the potential spin-up of stars through tidal interactions. Additionally, we update the calculations of the stellar-origin BH masses, including revisions to the history of star formation and to the chemical evolution across cosmic time. We find that we can simultaneously match the observed BH-BH merger rate density and BH masses and BH-BH effective spins. Models with efficient angular momentum transport are favored. The updated stellar-mass weighted gas-phase metallicity evolution now used in our models appears to be key for obtaining an improved reproduction of the LIGO/Virgo merger rate estimate. Mass losses during the pair-instability pulsation supernova phase are likely to be overestimated if the merger GW170729 hosts a BH more massive than 50  M ⊙ . We also estimate rates of black hole-neutron star (BH-NS) mergers from recent LIGO/Virgo observations. If, in fact. angular momentum transport in massive stars is efficient, then any (electromagnetic or gravitational wave) observation of a rapidly spinning BH would indicate either a very effective tidal spin up of the progenitor star (homogeneous evolution, high-mass X-ray binary formation through case A mass transfer, or a spin- up of a Wolf-Rayet star in a close binary by a close companion), significant mass accretion by the hole, or a BH formation through the merger of two or more BHs (in a dense stellar cluster).« less
3. The Stellar Merger Scenario for Black Holes in the Pair-instability Gap

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abc6a6  

   Renzo, M. ; Cantiello, M. ; Metzger, B. D. ; Jiang, Y.-F. ( November 2020 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract The recent detection of GW190521 stimulated ideas on how to populate the predicted black hole (BH) pair-instability (PI) mass gap. One proposal is the dynamical merger of two stars below the PI regime forming a star with a small core and an oversized envelope. We outline the main challenges this scenario faces to form one BH in the gap. In particular, the core needs to avoid growing during the merger, and the merger product needs to retain enough mass, including in the subsequent evolution, and at core collapse (CC). We explore this scenario with detailed stellar evolution calculations, startingmore »with ad hoc initial conditions enforcing no core growth during the merger. We find that these massive merger products are likely to be helium-rich and spend most of their remaining lifetime within regions of instabilities in the Herzsprung–Russell diagram, such as luminous blue variable eruptions. An energetic estimate of the amount of mass loss neglecting the back reaction of the star suggests that the total amount of mass that can be removed at low metallicity is ≲1 M ⊙ . This is small enough that at CC our models are retaining sufficient mass to form BHs in the PI gap similar to the recent ones detected by LIGO/Virgo. However, mass loss at the time of merger, the resulting core structure, and the mass loss at CC still need to be quantified for these models to confirm the viability of this scenario.« less
4. Have hierarchical three-body mergers been detected by LIGO/Virgo?

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slaa123  

   Veske, Doğa ; Márka, Zsuzsa ; Sullivan, Andrew G ; Bartos, Imre ; Corley, K Rainer ; Samsing, Johan ; Márka, Szabolcs ( July 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters)

   Abstract One of the proposed channels of binary black hole mergers involves dynamical interactions of three black holes. In such scenarios, it is possible that all three black holes merge in a so-called hierarchical merger chain, where two of the black holes merge first and then their remnant subsequently merges with the remaining single black hole. Depending on the dynamical environment, it is possible that both mergers will appear within the observable time window. Here we perform a search for such merger pairs in the public available LIGO and Virgo data from the O1/O2 runs. Using a frequentist p-value assignmentmore »statistics we do not find any significant merger pair candidates, the most significant being GW170809-GW151012 pair. Assuming no observed candidates in O3/O4, we derive upper limits on merger pairs to be ∼11 − 110 year−1Gpc−3, corresponding to a rate that relative to the total merger rate is ∼0.1 − 1.0. From this we argue that both a detection and a non-detection within the next few years can be used to put useful constraints on some dynamical progenitor models.« less
5. Updated parameter estimates for GW190425 using astrophysical arguments and implications for the electromagnetic counterpart

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa725  

   Foley, Ryan J ; Coulter, David A ; Kilpatrick, Charles D ; Piro, Anthony L ; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico ; Schwab, Josiah ( May 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT The progenitor system of the compact binary merger GW190425 had a total mass of $3.4^{+0.3}_{-0.1}$ M⊙ (90th-percentile confidence region) as measured from its gravitational wave signal. This mass is significantly different from the Milky Way (MW) population of binary neutron stars (BNSs) that are expected to merge in a Hubble time and from that of the first BNS merger, GW170817. Here, we explore the expected electromagnetic (EM) signatures of such a system. We make several astrophysically motivated assumptions to further constrain the parameters of GW190425. By simply assuming that both components were NSs, we reduce the possible component masses significantly,more »finding $m_{1}=1.85^{+0.27}_{-0.19}$ M⊙ and $m_{2}=1.47^{+0.16}_{-0.18}$ M⊙. However, if the GW190425 progenitor system was an NS–black hole (BH) merger, we find best-fitting parameters $m_{1}=2.19^{+0.21}_{-0.17}$ M⊙ and $m_{2}=1.26^{+0.10}_{-0.08}$ M⊙. For a well-motivated BNS system where the lighter NS has a mass similar to the mass of non-recycled NSs in MW BNS systems, we find $m_{1}=2.03^{+0.15}_{-0.14}$ M⊙ and m2 = 1.35 ± 0.09 M⊙, corresponding to only 7 per cent mass uncertainties. For all scenarios, we expect a prompt collapse of the resulting remnant to a BH. Examining detailed models with component masses similar to our best-fitting results, we find the EM counterpart to GW190425 is expected to be significantly redder and fainter than that of GW170817. We find that almost all reported search observations were too shallow to detect the expected counterpart to GW190425. If the LIGO–Virgo Collaboration promptly provides the chirp mass, the astronomical community can adapt their observations to improve the likelihood of detecting a counterpart for similarly ‘high-mass’ BNS systems.« less