Eccentric black hole mergers via three-body interactions in young, globular, and nuclear star clusters

Abstract

Eccentric mergers are a signature of the dynamical formation channel of binary black holes (BBHs) in dense stellar environments and hierarchical triple systems. Here, we investigate the formation of eccentric mergers via binary-single interactions by means of $2.5\times 10^5$ direct $\text{N}$-body simulations. Our simulations include post-Newtonian terms up to the 2.5th order and model the typical environment of young (YSCs), globular (GCs), and nuclear star clusters (NSCs). Around $0.6\%$ ($1\%$) of our mergers in NSCs (GCs) have an eccentricity $>0.1$ when the emitted gravitational wave frequency is 10 Hz in the source frame, while in YSCs this fraction rises to $1.6\%$. Approximately $\sim 63\%$ of these mergers are produced by chaotic, resonant interactions where temporary binaries are continuously formed and destroyed, while $\sim 31\%$ arise from an almost direct collision of two black holes (BHs). Lastly, $\sim 6\%$ of these eccentric mergers occur in temporary hierarchical triples. We find that binaries undergoing a flyby generally develop smaller tilt angles with respect to exchanges. This result challenges the idea that perfectly isotropic spin orientations are produced by dynamics. The environment dramatically affects BH retention: $0\%$, $3.1\%$, and $19.9\%$ of all the remnant BHs remain in YSCs, GCs, and NSCs, respectively. The fraction of massive BHs also depends on the host cluster properties, with pair-instability ($60\le$M${}_{\mathrm{BH}}$/M${}_{\odot }\le$100) and intermediate-mass (M${}_{\mathrm{BH}}\ge$100M${}_{\odot }$) BHs accounting for approximately $\sim 44\%$ and $1.6\%$ of the mergers in YSCs, $\sim 33\%$ and $0.7\%$ in GCs, and $\sim 28\%$ and $0.4\%$ in NSCs, respectively.

Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 683, Number A186

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