Probability distribution function for inclinations of merging compact binaries detected by gravitational wave interferometers

Abstract

We analytically discuss probability distribution function (PDF) for inclinations of merging compact binaries whose gravitational waves are coherently detected by a network of ground based interferometers. The PDF would be useful for studying prospects of (1) simultaneously detecting electromagnetic signals (such as gamma-ray-bursts) associated with binary mergers and (2) statistically constraining the related theoretical models from the actual observational data of multi-messenger astronomy. Our approach is similar to Schutz (2011), but we explicitly include the dependence of the polarization angles of the binaries, based on the concise formulation given in Cutler and Flanagan (1994). We find that the overall profiles of the PDFs are similar for any networks composed by the second generation detectors (Advanced-LIGO, Advanced-Virgo, KAGRA, LIGO-India). For example, 5.1% of detected binaries would have inclination angle less than 10 degree with at most 0.1% differences between the potential networks. A perturbative expression is also provided for generating the PDFs with a small number of parameters given by directional averages of the quantity $\epsilon$ that characterises the asymmetry of network sensitivities to incoming two orthogonal polarization modes.

8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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