Constraints on cosmologically coupled black holes from gravitational wave observations and minimal formation mass

verfasst von: Luca Amendola, Davi C. Rodrigues, Sumit Kumar, Miguel Quartin
Abstract: We test the possibility that the black holes (BHs) detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) may be cosmologically coupled and grow in mass proportionally to the cosmological scale factor to some power k, which may also act as the dark energy source if k ≈ 3. This approach was proposed as an extension of Kerr BHs embedded in cosmological backgrounds and possibly without singularities or horizons. In our analysis, we develop and apply two methods to test these cosmologically coupled BHs (CCBHs) either with or without connection to dark energy. We consider different scenarios for the time between the binary BH formation and its merger, and we find that the standard log-uniform distribution yields weaker constraints than the CCBH-corrected case. Assuming that the minimum mass of a BH with stellar progenitor is 2 M_☉, we estimate the probability that at least one BH among the observed ones had an initial mass below this threshold. We obtain these probabilities either directly from the observed data or by assuming the LVK power-law-plus-peak mass distribution. In the latter case, we find at 2σ level, that k < 2.1 for the standard log-uniform distribution, or k < 1.1 for the CCBH-corrected distribution. Slightly weaker bounds are obtained in the direct method. Considering the uncertainties on the nature of CCBHs, we also find that the required minimum CCBH mass value to eliminate the tensions for k = 3 should be lower than 0.5 M_☉ (again at 2σ). Finally, we show that future observations have the potential to decisively confirm these bounds.
Organisationseinheit(en): Institut für Gravitationsphysik
Externe Organisation(en): Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Universidade Federal Do Espirito Santo
Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut)
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Typ: Artikel
Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Band: 528
Seiten: 2377-2390
Anzahl der Seiten: 14
ISSN: 0035-8711
Publikationsdatum: 02.2024
Publikationsstatus: Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: Astronomie und Astrophysik, Astronomie und Planetologie
Elektronische Version(en): https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2307.02474 (Zugang: Offen)
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae143 (Zugang: Offen)

BibTeX

@article{43927dc4e20148abb3fa6a0424e702db,
title = "Constraints on cosmologically coupled black holes from gravitational wave observations and minimal formation mass",
abstract = "We test the possibility that the black holes (BHs) detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) may be cosmologically coupled and grow in mass proportionally to the cosmological scale factor to some power k, which may also act as the dark energy source if k ≈ 3. This approach was proposed as an extension of Kerr BHs embedded in cosmological backgrounds and possibly without singularities or horizons. In our analysis, we develop and apply two methods to test these cosmologically coupled BHs (CCBHs) either with or without connection to dark energy. We consider different scenarios for the time between the binary BH formation and its merger, and we find that the standard log-uniform distribution yields weaker constraints than the CCBH-corrected case. Assuming that the minimum mass of a BH with stellar progenitor is 2 M☉, we estimate the probability that at least one BH among the observed ones had an initial mass below this threshold. We obtain these probabilities either directly from the observed data or by assuming the LVK power-law-plus-peak mass distribution. In the latter case, we find at 2σ level, that k < 2.1 for the standard log-uniform distribution, or k < 1.1 for the CCBH-corrected distribution. Slightly weaker bounds are obtained in the direct method. Considering the uncertainties on the nature of CCBHs, we also find that the required minimum CCBH mass value to eliminate the tensions for k = 3 should be lower than 0.5 M☉ (again at 2σ). Finally, we show that future observations have the potential to decisively confirm these bounds.",
keywords = "black hole physics, dark energy, gravitational waves",
author = "Luca Amendola and Rodrigues, {Davi C.} and Sumit Kumar and Miguel Quartin",
note = "Funding Information: LA acknowledges support from DFG project 456622116. DCR thanks Heidelberg University for hospitality and support, he also acknowledges support from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico e Tecnol{\'o}gico (CNPq-Brazil) and Funda{\c c}{\~a}o de Amparo {\`a} Pesquisa e Inova{\c c}{\~a}o do Esp{\'i}rito Santo (FAPES-Brazil) (TO 1020/2022, 976/2022, 1081/2022). MQ is supported by the Brazilian research agencies FAPERJ, CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico e Tecnol{\'o}gico), and CAPES. This study was financed in part by the Coordena{\c c}{\~a}o de Aperfei{\c c}oamento de Pessoal de N{\'i}vel Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. We acknowledge support from the CAPES-DAAD bilateral project {\textquoteleft}Data Analysis and Model Testing in the Era of Precision Cosmology{\textquoteright}. ",
year = "2024",
month = feb,
doi = "10.48550/arXiv.2307.02474",
language = "English",
volume = "528",
pages = "2377--2390",
journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",
issn = "0035-8711",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "2",
}