TY - JOUR
T1 - Formation of the first three gravitational-wave observations through isolated binary evolution
AU - Stevenson, Simon
AU - Vigna-gómez, Alejandro
AU - Mandel, Ilya
AU - Barrett, Jim W.
AU - Neijssel, Coenraad J.
AU - Perkins, David
AU - De Mink, Selma E.
PY - 2017/4/5
Y1 - 2017/4/5
N2 - During its first four months of taking data, Advanced LIGO has detected gravitational waves from two binary black hole mergers, GW150914 and GW151226, along with the statistically less significant binary black hole merger candidate LVT151012. Here we use the rapid binary population synthesis code COMPAS to show that all three events can be explained by a single evolutionary channel—classical isolated binary evolution via mass transfer including a common envelope phase. We show all three events could have formed in low-metallicity environments (Z=0.001) from progenitor binaries with typical total masses ≳160M⨀, ≳60M⨀ and ≳90M⨀, for GW150914, GW151226 and LVT151012, respectively.
AB - During its first four months of taking data, Advanced LIGO has detected gravitational waves from two binary black hole mergers, GW150914 and GW151226, along with the statistically less significant binary black hole merger candidate LVT151012. Here we use the rapid binary population synthesis code COMPAS to show that all three events can be explained by a single evolutionary channel—classical isolated binary evolution via mass transfer including a common envelope phase. We show all three events could have formed in low-metallicity environments (Z=0.001) from progenitor binaries with typical total masses ≳160M⨀, ≳60M⨀ and ≳90M⨀, for GW150914, GW151226 and LVT151012, respectively.
KW - Computational astrophysics
KW - High-energy astrophysics
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms14906
DO - 10.1038/ncomms14906
M3 - Article
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 8
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
M1 - 14906
ER -