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Unexpectedly high formation rate of merging binary black holes in open clusters
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 March 2020
Abstract
Gravitational wave direct detections suggest that 30 M⊙ binary black holes (BBHs) commonly exist in the universe. One possible formation scenario of such BBHs is dynamical three-body encounters in dense star clusters. We performed a series of direct N-body simulations with a mass of 2500 and 10000 M⊙ and found a new channel for the formation of BBHs which is dominant in open clusters. In open clusters, the core-collapse time is shorter than in globular clusters, and therefore massive main-sequence (MS) binaries can form before they evolve to BHs. These MS binaries experience common envelope evolution and evolve to hard BBHs, which can merge within the Hubble time. The number of BBH mergers per unit mass obtained from our simulations reached 20–50 % of that for globular clusters, assuming an initial cluster mass function. Thus, open clusters can be a dominant formation site of hard BBHs.
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 14 , Symposium S351: Star Clusters: From the Milky Way to the Early Universe , May 2019 , pp. 204 - 207
- Copyright
- © International Astronomical Union 2020