Spin distribution of binary black holes formed in open clusters

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to explore how the spins of merging binary black holes formed in open clusters depend on stellar interactions and metallicity, aligning with gravitational wave observations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed model of spin evolution in binary black hole progenitors within open clusters, highlighting the impact of tidal forces and stellar winds.

Findings

Approximately 16% of merging BBHs have effective spins > 0.1.

The effective spin distribution matches that observed by LIGO and Virgo.

Smaller semi-major axes lead to higher effective spins due to tidal effects.

Abstract

We performed direct N-body simulations of open clusters with four different metallicities. To investigate the effective spins of merging binary black holes (BBHs) originated from these open clusters, we calculated the spin evolution of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars with close companion stars (BBH progenitors), taking into account stellar wind mass loss and tidal spin-up of the WR stars. We found that BBH progenitors with smaller semi-major axes evolve to merging BBHs with greater effective spins because of strong tidal forces. In the local Universe, about 16% of merging BBHs get effective spins larger than 0.1 even if BHs and their progenitors do not get spin angular momenta other than tidal forces exerted by their companion stars. If we assume that WR stars have flat and isotropic distribution of dimensionless spins just after common envelope phases, the effective spin distribution of merging BBHs is similar to that inferred from gravitational wave observations with LIGO and Virgo.