Great Balls of FIRE III: Modeling Black Hole Mergers from Massive Star Clusters in Simulations of Galaxies

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Autori principali: Bruel, Tristan, Rodriguez, Carl L., Lamberts, Astrid, Grudic, Michael Y., Hafen, Zachary, Feldmann, Robert
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Bruel, Tristan
Rodriguez, Carl L.
Lamberts, Astrid
Grudic, Michael Y.
Hafen, Zachary
Feldmann, Robert
author_facet Bruel, Tristan
Rodriguez, Carl L.
Lamberts, Astrid
Grudic, Michael Y.
Hafen, Zachary
Feldmann, Robert
contents After the nearly hundred gravitational-wave detections reported by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, the question of the cosmological origin of merging binary black holes (BBHs) remains open. The two main formation channels generally considered are from isolated field binaries or via dynamical assembly in dense star clusters. Here, we focus on understanding the dynamical formation of merging BBHs within massive clusters in galaxies of different masses. To this end, we apply a new framework to consistently model the formation and evolution of massive star clusters in zoom-in cosmological simulations of galaxies. Each simulation, taken from the FIRE project, provides a realistic star formation environment with a unique star formation history and hosts realistic giant molecular clouds that constitute the birthplace of star clusters. Combined with the code for star cluster evolution CMC, we are able to produce populations of dynamically formed merging BBHs across cosmic time in different environments. As the most massive star clusters preferentially form in dense massive clouds of gas, we find that, despite their low metallicities favourable to the creation of black holes, low-mass galaxies contain few massive clusters and therefore have a limited contribution to the global production of dynamically formed merging BBHs. Furthermore, we find that massive clusters can host hierarchical BBH mergers with clear identifiable physical properties. Looking at the evolution of the BBH merger rate in different galaxies, we find strong correlations between BBH mergers and the most extreme episodes of star formation. Finally, we discuss the implications for future LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational wave observations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2311_14855
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Great Balls of FIRE III: Modeling Black Hole Mergers from Massive Star Clusters in Simulations of Galaxies
Bruel, Tristan
Rodriguez, Carl L.
Lamberts, Astrid
Grudic, Michael Y.
Hafen, Zachary
Feldmann, Robert
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
After the nearly hundred gravitational-wave detections reported by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, the question of the cosmological origin of merging binary black holes (BBHs) remains open. The two main formation channels generally considered are from isolated field binaries or via dynamical assembly in dense star clusters. Here, we focus on understanding the dynamical formation of merging BBHs within massive clusters in galaxies of different masses. To this end, we apply a new framework to consistently model the formation and evolution of massive star clusters in zoom-in cosmological simulations of galaxies. Each simulation, taken from the FIRE project, provides a realistic star formation environment with a unique star formation history and hosts realistic giant molecular clouds that constitute the birthplace of star clusters. Combined with the code for star cluster evolution CMC, we are able to produce populations of dynamically formed merging BBHs across cosmic time in different environments. As the most massive star clusters preferentially form in dense massive clouds of gas, we find that, despite their low metallicities favourable to the creation of black holes, low-mass galaxies contain few massive clusters and therefore have a limited contribution to the global production of dynamically formed merging BBHs. Furthermore, we find that massive clusters can host hierarchical BBH mergers with clear identifiable physical properties. Looking at the evolution of the BBH merger rate in different galaxies, we find strong correlations between BBH mergers and the most extreme episodes of star formation. Finally, we discuss the implications for future LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational wave observations.
title Great Balls of FIRE III: Modeling Black Hole Mergers from Massive Star Clusters in Simulations of Galaxies
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.14855