Modelling the formation of the first two neutron star-black hole mergers, GW200105 and GW200115: metallicity, chirp masses and merger remnant spins

TL;DR

This study models the formation of the first neutron star-black hole mergers observed by LIGO/Virgo, analyzing how metallicity and spins influence their origins and properties using population synthesis models.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive population synthesis analysis of neutron star-black hole mergers, highlighting the role of metallicity and spin assumptions in formation scenarios.

Findings

Low metallicity environments favor formation of these mergers.

Models with non-spinning black holes best match LIGO data.

Remnant spin distributions vary across different sub-populations.

Abstract

The two neutron star-black hole mergers (GW200105 and GW200115) observed in gravitational waves by advanced LIGO and Virgo, mark the first ever discovery of such binaries in nature. We study these two neutron star-black hole systems through isolated binary evolution, using a grid of population synthesis models. Using both mass and spin observations (chirp mass, effective spin and remnant spin) of the binaries, we probe their different possible formation channels in different metallicity environments. Our models only support LIGO data when assuming the black hole is non spinning. Our results show a strong preference that GW200105 and GW200115 formed from stars with sub-solar metallicities $Z\lesssim 0.005$. Only two metal-rich ($Z=0.02$) models are in agreement with GW200115. We also find that chirp mass and remnant spins jointly aid in constraining the models, whilst the effective spin parameter does not add any further information. We also present the observable (i.e. post selection effects) median values of spin and mass distribution from all our models, which maybe used as a reference for future mergers. Further, we show that the remnant spin parameter distribution exhibits distinguishable features in different neutron star-black hole sub-populations. We find that non-spinning, first born black holes dominate significantly the merging neutron star-black hole population, ensuring electromagnetic counterparts to such mergers a rare affair.