The chemically homogeneous evolutionary channel for binary black hole mergers: rates and properties of gravitational-wave events detectable by advanced LIGO

TL;DR

This paper predicts that chemically homogeneous evolution in massive binaries could produce around 500 detectable gravitational-wave events annually, with a preference for nearly equal-mass, high-mass black hole mergers, consistent with LIGO observations.

Contribution

It introduces the chemically homogeneous evolution channel as a significant formation pathway for binary black hole mergers detectable by advanced LIGO, analyzing rates, properties, and robustness of predictions.

Findings

Approximately 500 detections per year at full LIGO sensitivity.

Strong preference for nearly equal-mass, high-mass mergers.

Compatibility of this channel with GW150914 parameters.

Abstract

We explore the predictions for detectable gravitational-wave signals from merging binary black holes formed through chemically homogeneous evolution in massive short-period stellar binaries. We find that $\sim 500$ events per year could be detected with advanced ground-based detectors operating at full sensitivity. We analyze the distribution of detectable events, and conclude that there is a very strong preference for detecting events with nearly equal components (mass ratio $>0.66$ at 90\% confidence in our default model) and high masses (total source-frame mass between $57$ and $103\, M_\odot$ at 90\% confidence). We consider multiple alternative variations to analyze the sensitivity to uncertainties in the evolutionary physics and cosmological parameters, and conclude that while the rates are sensitive to assumed variations, the mass distributions are robust predictions. Finally, we consider the recently reported results of the analysis of the first 16 double-coincident days of the O1 LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) observing run, and find that this formation channel is fully consistent with the inferred parameters of the GW150914 binary black hole detection and the inferred merger rate.