State of the field: Binary black hole natal kicks and prospects for isolated field formation after GWTC-2

Abstract

Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo's newly-released GWTC-2 catalog of gravitational-wave detections offers unprecedented information about the spin magnitudes and orientations of merging binary black holes (BBHs). Notably, analysis of the BBH population suggests the presence of binaries whose component spins are significantly misaligned with respect to their orbital angular momenta. Significantly misaligned spins are typically predicted to be at odds with isolated field formation via standard common envelope (CE) evolution, and hence a "smoking gun" signature of dynamical binary formation inside dense stellar clusters. Here, we explore whether the LIGO/Virgo observation of spin-orbit misalignment indeed rules out the possibility that BBHs are formed entirely in the field via standard CE evolution. In particular, we seek to understand whether, by varying the natal kicks black holes receive upon formation, we can invoke the CE scenario to self-consistently explain both the observed spin distribution and merger rate of BBHs. We find that, if isolated black holes are born with small natal spins, then BBHs formed through CE require extreme natal kicks to match the observed BBH population, with a velocity dispersion $\sigma =9.7_{-5.9}^{+26.7}\times 10^2\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ and $\sigma >260\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ at 99% credibility. To avoid this condition, we argue that it is necessary to assume that isolated black holes are born with non-vanishing natal spins, that one or more alternative channels contribute to the observed BBH population, and/or that other unforeseen mechanisms serve to yield large spin-orbit misalignment in the field.

arXiv commentPublished in ApJ

References in corpus (93)

• Advanced Virgo: a 2nd generation interferometric gravitational wave detector
• Cosmic Star Formation History
• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 M${}_{\odot }$ Black Hole with a 2.6 M${}_{\odot }$ Compact Object
• A statistical study of 233 pulsar proper motions
• Characterization of the LIGO detectors during their sixth science run
• Common Envelope Evolution: Where we stand and how we can move forward
• Compact Remnant Mass Function: Dependence on the Explosion Mechanism and Metallicity
• The first gravitational-wave source from the isolated evolution of two 40-100 Msun stars
• Coalescing binary systems of compact objects to (post)$^{5/2}-Newtonian order. V. Spin Effects
• Double Compact Objects I: The Significance Of The Common Envelope On Merger Rates
• A simple model of complete precessing black-hole-binary gravitational waveforms
• Coalescence of Two Spinning Black Holes: An Effective One-Body Approach
• The Velocity Distribution of Isolated Radio Pulsars
• Merging binary black holes formed through chemically homogeneous evolution in short-period stellar binaries
• Surrogate models for precessing binary black hole simulations with unequal masses
• Extracting distribution parameters from multiple uncertain observations with selection biases
• Towards models of gravitational waveforms from generic binaries II: Modelling precession effects with a single effective precession parameter
• Merging black hole binaries in galactic nuclei: implications for advanced-LIGO detections
• Slowing the Spins of Stellar Cores
• The evolutionary roads leading to low effective spins, high black hole masses, and O1/O2 rates of LIGO/Virgo binary black holes
• Illuminating Black Hole Binary Formation Channels with Spins in Advanced LIGO
• The Formation of Eccentric Compact Binary Inspirals and the Role of Gravitational Wave Emission in Binary-Single Stellar Encounters
• Multipolar Effective-One-Body Waveforms for Precessing Binary Black Holes: Construction and Validation
• Most Black Holes are Born Very Slowly Rotating
• One Channel to Rule Them All? Constraining the Origins of Binary Black Holes using Multiple Formation Pathways
• The effect of the metallicity-specific star formation history on double compact object mergers
• Distinguishing Spin-Aligned and Isotropic Black Hole Populations With Gravitational Waves
• Cygnus X-1 contains a 21-solar mass black hole -- implications for massive star winds
• The LIGO Open Science Center
• Merging black holes in young star clusters
• Does the Black Hole Merger Rate Evolve with Redshift?
• Eccentric Black Hole Mergers in Dense Star Clusters: The Role of Binary-Binary Encounters
• Massive runaways and walkaway stars
• The origin of spin in binary black holes: Predicting the distributions of the main observables of Advanced LIGO
• The spin of the second-born black hole in coalescing binary black holes
• Towards models of gravitational waveforms from generic binaries: A simple approximate mapping between precessing and non-precessing inspiral signals
• Spin orientations of merging black holes formed from the evolution of stellar binaries
• Spin-Orbit Misalignment in Close Binaries with Two Compact Objects
• Investigating stellar-mass black hole kicks
• Evidence for alignment of the rotation and velocity vectors in pulsars
• Forming short-period Wolf-Rayet X-ray binaries and double black holes through stable mass transfer
• Modeling Dense Star Clusters in the Milky Way and Beyond with the $\text{CMC}$ Cluster Catalog
• The cosmic merger rate of neutron stars and black holes
• Orbital Characteristics of Binary Systems after Asymmetric Supernova Explosions
• Merging stellar-mass binary black holes
• Hierarchical analysis of gravitational-wave measurements of binary black hole spin-orbit misalignments
• Including higher order multipoles in gravitational-wave models for precessing binary black holes
• Population Synthesis for Neutron Star Systems with Intrinsic Kicks
• Neutron star kicks by the gravitational tug-boat mechanism in asymmetric supernova explosions: progenitor and explosion dependence
• Constraining Formation Models of Binary Black Holes with Gravitational-Wave Observations
• Natal Kicks of Stellar-Mass Black Holes by Asymmetric Mass Ejection in Fallback Supernovae
• The impact of mass-transfer physics on the observable properties of field binary black hole populations
• Estimates of black-hole natal kick velocities from observations of low-mass X-ray binaries
• Using spin to understand the formation of LIGO's black holes
• Potential Kick Velocity distribution of black hole X-ray binaries and implications for natal kicks
• Binary black holes in young star clusters: the impact of metallicity
• Understanding Compact Object Formation and Natal Kicks I. Calculation Methods and the case of GRO J1655-40
• On the Origin of Black Hole Spin in High-mass X-Ray Binaries
• A Precise Proper Motion for the Crab Pulsar, and the Difficulty of Testing Spin-Kick Alignment for Young Neutron Stars
• Simple recipes for compact remnant masses and natal kicks
• Research Note: The Expected Spins of Gravitational Wave Sources With Isolated Field Binary Progenitors
• Pulsar Spin-Velocity Alignment: Kinematic Ages, Birth Periods and Braking Indices
• Joint constraints on the field-cluster mixing fraction, common envelope efficiency, and globular cluster radii from a population of binary hole mergers via deep learning
• Understanding Compact Object Formation and Natal Kicks: II. The case of XTE J1118+480
• Polluting the pair-instability mass gap for binary black holes through super-Eddington accretion in isolated binaries
• Accuracy Requirements for Empirically-Measured Selection Functions
• Revising natal kick prescriptions in population synthesis simulations
• The Galactic distribution of X-ray binaries and its implications for compact object formation and natal kicks
• Grids of stellar models with rotation IV. Models from 1.7 to 120 Msun at a metallicity Z = 0.0004
• Understanding Compact Object Formation and Natal Kicks. III. The case of Cygnus X-1
• Gaia DR2 in 6D: Searching for the fastest stars in the Galaxy
• Constraining the formation of black-holes in short-period Black-Hole Low-Mass X-ray Binaries
• PRECESSION: Dynamics of spinning black-hole binaries with python
• Black Hole Spin-Orbit Misalignment in Galactic X-ray Binaries
• Inferences about supernova physics from gravitational-wave measurements: GW151226 spin misalignment as an indicator of strong black-hole natal kicks
• An alternative interpretation of GW190412 as a binary black hole merger with a rapidly spinning secondary
• Kinematics of Black Hole X-ray Binary GRS 1915+105
• Understanding Compact Object Formation and Natal Kicks. IV. The case of IC 10 X-1
• Black hole induced spins from hyperbolic encounters in dense clusters
• Pathways for producing binary black holes with large misaligned spins in the isolated formation channel
• Wolf-Rayet and O Star Runaway Populations from Supernovae
• The formation of the black hole in the X-ray binary system V404 Cyg
• Core-Collapse Supernovae in Binaries as the Origin of Galactic Hyper-Runaway Stars
• Flipping spins in mass transferring binaries and origin of spin-orbit misalignment in binary black holes
• Evidence from high mass X-ray binaries that Galactic WR components of WR+O binaries end their life with a supernova explosion
• Origin of Spin-Orbit Misalignments: The Microblazar V4641 Sgr
• Toward an Empirical Theory of Pulsar Emission XI. Understanding the Orientations of Pulsar Radiation and Supernova "Kicks"
• Orbital period dependent spatial scatter of Galactic Black Hole Transients
• Supernova Kicks and Misaligned Microquasars
• Unraveling the Formation History of the Black Hole X-ray Binary LMC X-3 from ZAMS to Present

Cited by in corpus (36)

• GWTC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the Second Part of the Third Observing Run
• The Cosmic Evolution of Binary Black Holes in Young, Globular and Nuclear Star Clusters: Rates, Masses, Spins and Mixing Fractions
• Merger rate density of Population III binary black holes below, above, and in the pair-instability mass gap
• Stochastic gravitational-wave background as a tool to investigate multi-channel astrophysical and primordial black-hole mergers
• Evolution of accretor stars in massive binaries: broader implications from modeling ζ Ophiuchi
• No evidence that the majority of black holes in binaries have zero spin
• Triage of the Gaia DR3 astrometric orbits. I. A sample of binaries with probable compact companions
• Mass and rate of hierarchical black hole mergers in young, globular and nuclear star clusters
• Compact Binary Coalescences: Astrophysical Processes and Lessons Learned
• Dynamics of binary black holes in low-mass young star clusters
• The Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna: Mission Studies and Science Case
• "Super-Kilonovae" from Massive Collapsars as Signatures of Black-Hole Birth in the Pair-instability Mass Gap
• The ${\chi }_{\mathrm{eff}}-z$ correlation of field binary black hole mergers and how 3G gravitational-wave detectors can constrain it
• Hierarchical binary black hole mergers in globular clusters: mass function and evolution with redshift
• GW241011 and GW241110: Exploring Binary Formation and Fundamental Physics with Asymmetric, High-Spin Black Hole Coalescence
• Spin misalignment of black hole binaries from young star clusters: implications for the origin of gravitational waves events
• Tossing Black Hole Spin Axes
• A Channel to Form Fast-spinning Black Hole--Neutron Star Binary Mergers as Multi-messenger Sources
• Constraints on the contributions to the observed binary black hole population from individual evolutionary pathways in isolated binary evolution
• Gravitational waves from Population III binary black holes are consistent with LIGO/Virgo O3a data for the chirp mass larger than $\sim 20M_{\odot }$
• Which black hole is spinning? Probing the origin of black-hole spin with gravitational waves
• Biases in estimates of black hole kicks from the spin distribution of binary black holes
• Who Ordered That? Unequal-Mass Binary Black Hole Mergers Have Larger Effective Spins
• Measuring the mass function of isolated stellar remnants with gravitational microlensing. II. Analysis of the OGLE-III data
• Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM): Bayesian inference of natal kicks from inert black hole binaries
• Populations of ultraluminous X-ray sources in galaxies: origin and evolution
• Strong Variability in AzV 493, an Extreme Oe-Type Star in the SMC
• Analysis and simulations of binary black hole merger spins -- the question of spin-axis tossing at black hole formation
• Inferring the spins of merging black holes in the presence of data-quality issues
• On the Astrophysical Origin of Binary Black Hole Subpopulations: A Tale of Three Channels?
• Gravitational-wave bursts from spin-precessing black holes in binary systems
• Signatures of spin precession and nutation in isolated black-hole binaries
• Impact of tides on non-coplanar orbits of progenitors of high-mass X-ray binaries
• Where are Gaia's small black holes?
• Constraining Black Hole Natal Kicks with Astrometric Microlensing
• Measuring spin precession from massive black hole binaries with gravitational waves: insights from time-domain signal morphology