Related papers: Comparison of LIGO/Virgo upper limits with predict…
Mergers of black hole (BH) and neutron star (NS) binaries are expected to be observed by gravitational wave observatories in the coming years. Until now, LIGO has only set an upper limit on this merger rate. BH-NS binaries are expected to…
We present the results from three gravitational-wave searches for coalescing compact binaries with component masses above 1$\mathrm{M}_\odot$ during the first and second observing runs of the Advanced gravitational-wave detector network.…
Gravitational wave (GW) detections of binary black holes (BBHs) have shown evidence for a dearth of component black holes with masses above $\sim50M_\odot$. This is consistent with expectations of a mass gap due to the existence of…
Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) span the approximate mass range $100$--$10^5\,M_\odot$, between black holes (BHs) formed by stellar collapse and the supermassive BHs at the centers of galaxies. Mergers of IMBH binaries are the most…
The LIGO-Virgo analyses of signals from compact binary mergers observed so far have assumed isolated binary systems in a vacuum, neglecting the potential presence of astrophysical environments. We present here the first investigation of…
The LIGO/Virgo collaboration has by now observed or constrained the gravitational merger rates of different classes of compact objects. We consider the possibility that the bulk of these mergers are primordial black hole (PBH) mergers of…
Orbital eccentricity in compact binary mergers carries crucial information about the binary's formation and environment. There are emerging signs that some of the mergers detected by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors could…
Advanced LIGO and Virgo have so far detected gravitational waves from 10 binary black hole mergers (BBH) and 1 binary neutron star merger (BNS). In the future, we expect the detection of many more marginal sources, since compact binary…
We have calculated the detectable merger rate of primordial black holes, as a function of the redshift, as well as the binary's mass ratio, total mass and chirp mass (observables that have not previously been explored in great detail for…
We derive constraints on the time-averaged event rate of neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) mergers by using estimates of the population-integrated production of heavy rapid neutron-capture (r-process) elements with nuclear mass numbers A >…
We analyze the properties of VIRGO detector with the aim of studying its ability to search for coalescing black hole binaries. We focus on the remnants of the Population III stars, which currently should be massive black holes ($\sim…
We derive a lower bound on the merger rate of primordial black hole (PBH) binaries by estimating the maximal fraction of binaries that were perturbed between formation in the early Universe and merger, and computing a conservative merger…
By probing the population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by LIGO-Virgo, we can infer properties about the underlying black hole formation channels. A mechanism known as pair-instability (PI) supernova is expected to prevent the…
The LIGO and Virgo detectors have directly observed gravitational waves from mergers of pairs of stellar-mass black holes, along with a smaller number of mergers involving neutron stars. These observations raise the hope that compact object…
We show that the inferred merger rate and chirp masses of binary black holes (BBHs) detected by advanced LIGO (aLIGO) can be used to constrain the rate of double neutron star (DNS) and neutron star - black hole (NSBH) mergers in the…
With no binary neutron star (BNS) merger detected yet during the fourth observing run (O4) of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) gravitational wave (GW) detector network, despite the time-volume (VT) surveyed with respect to the end of O3 increased…
We present an Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo search for sub-solar mass ultracompact objects in data obtained during Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In contrast to a previous search of Advanced LIGO data from the first observing run,…
Dense astrophysical environments like globular clusters and galactic nuclei can host hyperbolic encounters of black holes which can lead to gravitational-wave driven capture. There are several astrophysical models which predict a fraction…
Using simulations performed with the population synthesis code MOBSE, we compute the merger rate densities and detection rates of compact binary mergers formed in isolation for second- and third-generation gravitational-wave detectors. We…
Advanced LIGO \& Advanced Virgo are detecting a large number of binary stellar origin black hole (BH) mergers. A promising channel for accelerated BH merger lies in active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks of gas around super-masssive black…