Inferring Eccentricity of Binary Black Holes from Spin-Orbit Misalignment

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method to infer the orbital eccentricity of binary black holes by analyzing spin-orbit misalignment, providing insights into their formation and evolution even when direct eccentricity measurements are unavailable.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new technique linking spin-tilt measurements to formation eccentricity, enabling eccentricity inference from gravitational wave data.

Findings

Applied method to GW190412 and GW241011, constraining their formation eccentricity.

Demonstrated improved accuracy with higher signal-to-noise ratios in future detectors.

Showed potential to recover orbital separation and redshift at formation.

Abstract

Orbital eccentricity remains one of the least accessible parameters in observations of binary black hole (BBH) systems, largely erased by gravitational radiation long before detection. We introduce a new method to recover this lost parameter by using a more accessible and routinely measurable quantity: spin-orbit misalignment. In isolated binary evolution, a natal kick from the second supernova both tilts the orbital plane and injects orbital eccentricity, forging a direct and quantifiable connection between spin-tilt and post-supernova eccentricity. By measuring this spin-tilt using gravitational waves, we can not only constrain the natal kick, but we can also reconstruct the binary's formation eccentricity. We apply this method to GW190412 and GW241011, assuming an isolated formation channel, and show how their eccentricity at formation can be constrained even in the absence of direct eccentricity measurements. As more advanced detectors come online, improved signal-to-noise ratios will tighten spin-tilt constraints, allowing more precise and reliable estimates of BBH formation eccentricity. Combining this method with multiband observations from LISA and next-generation (XG) detectors will allow us to recover not only eccentricity but also the binary's orbital separation and redshift at formation, offering a clearer picture of the birth environments of BBH systems and processes that drive their merger.