Eccentricity Estimate for Black Hole Mergers with Numerical Relativity Simulations

Abstract

The origin of black hole mergers discovered by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave observatories is currently unknown. GW190521 is the heaviest black hole merger detected so far. Its observed high mass and possible spin-induced orbital precession could arise from the binary having formed following a close encounter. An observational signature of close encounters is eccentric binary orbit; however, this feature is currently difficult to identify due to the lack of suitable gravitational waveforms. No eccentric merger has been previously found. Here we report 611 numerical relativity simulations covering the full eccentricity range and an estimation approach to probe the eccentricity of mergers. Our set of simulations corresponds to $\sim 10^5$ waveforms, comparable to the number used in gravitational wave searches, albeit with coarser mass-ratio and spin resolution. We applied our approach to GW190521 and found that it is the most consistent with a highly eccentric ($e=0.69_{-0.22}^{+0.17}$; 90% credible level) merger within our set of waveforms. This interpretation is supported over a non-eccentric merger with $>10$ Odds ratio if $\gtrsim 10\%$ of GW190521-like mergers are highly eccentric. Detectable orbital eccentricity would be evidence against an isolated binary origin, which is otherwise difficult to rule out based on observed mass and spin.

Published in Nature Astronomy

Cited by in corpus (36)

• 3-OGC: Catalog of gravitational waves from compact-binary mergers
• Hierarchical black hole mergers in young, globular and nuclear star clusters: the effect of metallicity, spin and cluster properties
• Minding the gap: GW190521 as a straddling binary
• Equilibrium eccentricity of accreting binaries
• Constraining the orbital eccentricity of inspiralling compact binary systems with Advanced LIGO
• Orbital evolution of binary black holes in active galactic nucleus disks: a disk channel for binary black hole mergers?
• Effective-one-body waveforms from dynamical captures in black hole binaries
• Detectable environmental effects in GW190521-like black-hole binaries with LISA
• Eccentricity evolution of compact binaries and applications to gravitational-wave physics
• A detailed analysis of GW190521 with phenomenological waveform models
• High Eccentricities and High Masses Characterize Gravitational-wave Captures in Galactic Nuclei as Seen by Earth-based Detectors
• Cosmology and modified gravitational wave propagation from binary black hole population models
• Outflow Bubbles from Compact Binary Mergers Embedded in Active Galactic Nuclei: Cavity Formation and the Impact on Electromagnetic Counterparts
• The Memory Remains (Undetected): Updates from the Second LIGO/Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
• Compact Binary Coalescences: Astrophysical Processes and Lessons Learned
• Measuring the properties of active galactic nuclei disks with gravitational waves
• GW190521 formation via three-body encounters in young massive star clusters
• Investigating the relation between gravitational wave tests of general relativity
• Generalized Approach to Matched Filtering using Neural Networks
• Constraining accretion efficiency in massive binary stars with LIGO-Virgo black holes
• An optimized PyCBC search for gravitational waves from intermediate-mass black hole mergers
• Micro Tidal Disruption Events in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Universal features of gravitational waves emitted by superkick binary black hole systems
• The Eccentric and Accelerating Stellar Binary Black Hole Mergers in Galactic Nuclei: Observing in Ground and Space Gravitational Wave Observatories
• Search for binary black hole mergers in the third observing run of Advanced LIGO-Virgo using coherent WaveBurst enhanced with machine learning
• Anomalies in the gravitational recoil of eccentric black-hole mergers with unequal mass ratios
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• Scope out multiband gravitational-wave observations of GW190521-like binary black holes with space gravitational wave antenna B-DECIGO
• Detection of LIGO-Virgo binary black holes in the pair-instability mass gap
• Dynamical Formation Scenarios for GW190521 and Prospects for Decihertz Gravitational-Wave Astronomy with GW190521-Like Binaries
• The imprint of superradiance on hierarchical black hole mergers
• Prospects for measuring off-axis spins of binary black holes with Plus-era gravitational-wave detectors
• Determining the Hubble Constant with AGN-assisted Black Hole Mergers
• Effective chirp mass captures the inspiral frequency evolution of the non-spinning eccentric compact binary
• Recent LIGO-Virgo discoveries
• An eccentric binary blackhole in post-Newtonian theory