Binary black hole mergers: formation and populations

Abstract

We review the main physical processes that lead to the formation of stellar binary black holes (BBHs) and to their merger. BBHs can form from the isolated evolution of massive binary stars. The physics of core-collapse supernovae and the process of common envelope are two of the main sources of uncertainty about this formation channel. Alternatively, two black holes can form a binary by dynamical encounters in a dense star cluster. The dynamical formation channel leaves several imprints on the mass, spin and orbital properties of BBHs.

Mini review. Invited contribution to the volume "Gravitational Waves: A New Window to the Universe", published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science. Guest Editors: Rosalba Perna and Bruno Giacomazzo. Journal-ref: Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, Volume 7, id.38 (2020)

References in corpus (17)

• GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of $150M_{\odot }$
• Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter
• Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae
• Pulsational pair instability as an explanation for the most luminous supernovae
• Properties and astrophysical implications of the 150 Msun binary black hole merger GW190521
• The Effect of Pair-Instability Mass Loss on Black Hole Mergers
• Mind the gap: The location of the lower edge of the pair instability supernovae black hole mass gap
• Very massive stars, pair-instability supernovae and intermediate-mass black holes with the SEVN code
• Illuminating Black Hole Binary Formation Channels with Spins in Advanced LIGO
• Merging black holes in young star clusters
• What is a globular cluster? An observational perspective
• Dynamics of stellar black holes in young star clusters with different metallicities - II. Black hole-black hole binaries
• The Evolution of Massive Helium Stars Including Mass Loss
• Mass loss from late-type WN stars and its Z-dependence: very massive stars approaching the Eddington limit
• The cosmic merger rate of stellar black hole binaries from the Illustris simulation
• Low metallicity and ultra-luminous X-ray sources in the Cartwheel galaxy
• Dependence of Gravitational Wave Transient Rates on Cosmic Star Formation and Metallicity Evolution History