Binary inspiral, gravitational radiation, and cosmology

Lee Samuel Finn
Phys. Rev. D 53, 2878 – Published 15 March 1996
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Abstract

Observations of binary inspiral in a single interferometric gravitational wave detector can be cataloged according to signal-to-noise ratio ρ and chirp mass M. The distribution of events in a catalog composed of observations with ρ greater than a threshold ρ0 depends on the Hubble expansion, deceleration parameter, and cosmological constant, as well as the distribution of component masses in binary systems and evolutionary effects. In this paper I find general expressions, valid in any homogeneous and isotropic cosmological model, for the distribution with ρ and M of cataloged events; I also evaluate these distributions explicitly for relevant matter-dominated Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models and simple models of the neutron star mass distribution. In matter-dominated Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological models advanced LIGO detectors will observe binary neutron star inspiral events with ρ>8 from distances not exceeding approximately 2 Gpc, corresponding to redshifts of 0.48 (0.26) for h=0.8(0.5), at an estimated rate of 1 per week. As the binary system mass increases so does the distance it can be seen, up to a limit: in a matter-dominated Einstein-de Sitter cosmological model with h=0.8(0.5) that limit is approximately z=2.7(1.7) for binaries consisting of two 10M black holes. Cosmological tests based on catalogs of the kind discussed here depend on the distribution of cataloged events with ρ and M. The distributions found here will play a pivotal role in testing cosmological models against our own universe and in constructing templates for the detection of cosmological inspiraling binary neutron stars and black holes.

  • Received 5 July 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.53.2878

©1996 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Lee Samuel Finn

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-2900

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Issue

Vol. 53, Iss. 6 — 15 March 1996

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