The first pieces of the gravitational-wave progenitor population puzzle

The field of gravitational wave astronomy is rapidly unfolding; between the start and finish of this thesis, the Gravitational-WaveTransient catalog has grown from order 10 to almost 100 merging double compact objects (pairs of merging black holes and neutronstars). The larger sample size has, for the first time, allowed us to infer properties of the entire population, rather than justindividual sources. The observed population properties serve as the initial pieces of the “progenitor population puzzle”,that provides new insight into the question: ‘How do merging double compact objects form?’In this thesis, we set out to use the first pieces of this puzzle to form a picture of the massive stellar progenitors thatgive rise to merging double compact objects. We apply a combination of numerical population synthesis models, and analyticalmodels to build intuition for the complex phenomena involved.Specifically, we show why the locations of features in the mass distribution of merging binary black holes are especiallypromising to constrain the physics of isolated binary stars. With this knowledge in mind, we explore features related to boththe smallest-, and the largest-mass black holes formed from massive stars. We provide the first theoretical explanation forwhy lower-mass double compact objects (i.e., binary neutron stars) form through different formation channels than higher-masssystems (i.e., binary black holes), and produce testable results for the evolution of the merger rate with redshift. We concludeby looking ahead to the observational landscape of the next 20 years.More

References(739)

Figures(0)

Predictions for the Rates of Compact Binary Coalescences Observable by Ground-based Gravitational-wave Detectors

LIGO Scientific and
VIRGO

Collaborations

•

J. Abadie
(
- LIGO Lab., Caltech
)

et al.

- Class.Quant.Grav. 27 (2010) 173001
•
e-Print:
- 1003.2480
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/0264-9381/27/17/173001

a, Physical Review X

B. Abbott
,
R. Abbott
,
T. Abbott

Astrophysical Implications of the Binary Black-Hole Merger GW150914

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- Caltech
)

et al.

- Astrophys.J.Lett. 818 (2016) 2, L22
•
e-Print:
- 1602.03846
•
DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

Astrophysical Implications of the Binary Black-Hole Merger GW150914

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- Caltech
)

et al.

- Astrophys.J.Lett. 818 (2016) 2, L22
•
e-Print:
- 1602.03846
•
DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- Caltech
)

et al.

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 116 (2016) 24, 241102
•
e-Print:
- 1602.03840
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.241102

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- Caltech
)

et al.

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 116 (2016) 24, 241102
•
e-Print:
- 1602.03840
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.241102

The Rate of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred from Advanced LIGO Observations Surrounding GW150914

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- Caltech
)

et al.

- Astrophys.J.Lett. 833 (2016) 1, L1
•
e-Print:
- 1602.03842
•
DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8205/833/1/L1

Exploring the Sensitivity of Next Generation Gravitational Wave Detectors

LIGO Scientific

Collaboration

•

Benjamin P Abbott
(
- LIGO Lab., Caltech
)

et al.

- Class.Quant.Grav. 34 (2017) 4, 044001
•
e-Print:
- 1607.08697
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/1361-6382/aa51f4

GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- LIGO Lab., Caltech
)

et al.

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 119 (2017) 16, 161101
•
e-Print:
- 1710.05832
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101

Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo and
Fermi GBM and
INTEGRAL and
IceCube and
IPN and
Insight-Hxmt and
ANTARES and
Swift and
Dark Energy Camera GW-EM and
DES and
DLT40 and
GRAWITA and
Fermi-LAT and
ATCA and
ASKAP and
OzGrav and
DWF (Deeper Wider Faster Program) and
AST3 and
CAASTRO and
VINROUGE and
MASTER and
J-GEM and
GROWTH and
JAGWAR and
CaltechNRAO and
TTU-NRAO and
NuSTAR and
Pan-STARRS and
KU and
Nordic Optical Telescope and
ePESSTO and
GROND and
Texas Tech University and
TOROS and
BOOTES and
MWA and
CALET and
IKI-GW Follow-up and
H.E.S.S. and
LOFAR and
LWA and
HAWC and
Pierre Auger and
ALMA and
Pi of Sky and
Chandra Team at McGill University and
DFN and
ATLAS Telescopes and
High Time Resolution Universe Survey and
RIMAS and
RATIR and
SKA South Africa/MeerKAT

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- LIGO Lab., Caltech
)

et al.

- Astrophys.J.Lett. 848 (2017) 2, L12
•
e-Print:
- 1710.05833
•
DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/aa91c9

GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs

LIGO Scientific and
Virgo

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- LIGO Lab., Caltech
)

et al.

- Phys.Rev.X 9 (2019) 3, 031040
•
e-Print:
- 1811.12907
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031040

Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA

Collaborations

•

B.P. Abbott
(
- LIGO Lab., Caltech
)

et al.

- Living Rev.Rel. 23 (2020) 3,
- Living Rev.Rel. 21 (2018) 3,
- Living Rev.Rel. 19 (2016) 1
•
e-Print:
- 1304.0670
•
DOI:
- 10.1007/s41114-020-00026-9