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arXiv · 2310.03074

Evidence for the evolution of black hole mass function with redshift

Stefano Rinaldi·Walter Del Pozzo·Michela Mapelli·Ana Lorenzo-Medina·Thomas Dent
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Abstract

We investigate the joint primary mass, mass ratio, and redshift observed distribution of astrophysical black holes using the gravitational wave events detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration and included in the third gravitational wave transient catalogue. We reconstruct this distribution using Bayesian non-parametric methods, which are data-driven models able to infer arbitrary probability densities under minimal mathematical assumptions. We find evidence for the evolution with redshift of both the primary mass and mass ratio distribution: our analysis shows the presence of two distinct sub-populations in the primary mass - redshift plane, with the lighter population, $\lesssim$ 20 $M_\odot$, disappearing at higher redshifts, $z > 0.4$. The mass ratio distribution shows no support for symmetric binaries. The observed population of coalescing binary black holes evolves with look-back time, suggesting a trend in metallicity with redshift and/or the presence of multiple, redshift-dependent formation channels.

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Stefano Rinaldi, Walter Del Pozzo, Michela Mapelli, Ana Lorenzo-Medina, Thomas Dent. 2023-10-04. Evidence for the evolution of black hole mass function with redshift. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%2F202348161

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