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

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Luca Amendola
  • Davi C. Rodrigues
  • Sumit Kumar
  • Miguel Quartin

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • Heidelberg University
  • Universidade Federal Do Espirito Santo
  • Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
  • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2377-2390
Number of pages14
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume528
Issue number2
Early online date13 Jan 2024
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2024

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

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Constraints on cosmologically coupled black holes from gravitational wave observations and minimal formation mass. / Amendola, Luca; Rodrigues, Davi C.; Kumar, Sumit et al.
In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 528, No. 2, 02.2024, p. 2377-2390.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Amendola L, Rodrigues DC, Kumar S, Quartin M. Constraints on cosmologically coupled black holes from gravitational wave observations and minimal formation mass. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 2024 Feb;528(2):2377-2390. Epub 2024 Jan 13. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2307.02474, 10.1093/mnras/stae143
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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}. ",
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Download

TY - JOUR

T1 - Constraints on cosmologically coupled black holes from gravitational wave observations and minimal formation mass

AU - Amendola, Luca

AU - Rodrigues, Davi C.

AU - Kumar, Sumit

AU - Quartin, Miguel

N1 - 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 Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq-Brazil) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (FAPES-Brazil) (TO 1020/2022, 976/2022, 1081/2022). MQ is supported by the Brazilian research agencies FAPERJ, CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), and CAPES. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. We acknowledge support from the CAPES-DAAD bilateral project ‘Data Analysis and Model Testing in the Era of Precision Cosmology’.

PY - 2024/2

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N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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KW - dark energy

KW - gravitational waves

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DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2307.02474

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SP - 2377

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