2021ApJ...915...54N -
Astrophys. J., 915, 54-54 (2021/July-1)
Search for gravitational waves from the coalescence of subsolar mass and eccentric compact binaries.
NITZ A.H. and WANG Y.-F.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present a search for gravitational waves from subsolar mass compact-binary mergers that allows for nonnegligible orbital eccentricity. Subsolar mass black holes are a signature of primordial origin black holes, which may be a component of dark matter. To produce binary coalescences, primordial black holes may form close binaries either in the early universe or more recently through dynamical interactions. A signature of dynamical formation would be the observation of noncircularized orbits. We search for black hole mergers where the primary mass is 0.1-7M☉ and the secondary mass is 0.1-1M☉. We allow for eccentricity up to ∼0.3 at a dominant-mode gravitational-wave frequency of 10 Hz for binaries with component masses >0.5M☉. We find no convincing candidates in the public LIGO data from 2015-2017. The two most promising candidates have a false alarm rate of 1 per 3 and 4 yr, respectively, which combined is only a ∼2.4σ deviation from the expected Poisson rate. Given the marginal statistical significance, we place upper limits on the rate of subsolar mass mergers under the assumption of a null observation and compare how these limits may inform the possible dark matter contribution.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Journal keyword(s):
Primordial black holes - Elliptical orbits - Gravitational waves
Simbad objects:
3
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