arXiv subjects

Mehdi El Bouhaddouti

Publications and source records attributed to Mehdi El Bouhaddouti.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Conservative limits on primordial black holes from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observations

Primordial black holes (PBH) may constitute a considerable fraction of dark matter. In this work we use the recent observations by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaborations to set direct limits on stellar-mass range PBHs. We evaluate the merger rates of PBH binaries by accounting for the binaries formed by two-body captures inside dark matter halos and by studying the evolution of PBH binaries inside such halos through binary-single interactions. Those type of interactions contribute to what is a minimum of PBH merger rates at low redshifts detectable by LVK. Thus, they allow us to derive what is the most conservative upper limits on the presence of merging PBH binaries in the gravitational-wave observations. We study both the case where PBHs have a monochromatic mass-distribution and the case where that distribution is described by a log-normal function. Our derived limits on the mass fraction of dark matter composed of PBHs is in the range of $10^{-4}$ to $2\times 10^{-2}$, depending on the exact assumptions relating to the PBH binaries properties. For reasonable assumptions on those PBH binaries' properties before their evolution inside dark matter halos, we get that fraction to be in the range of $10^{-3} - 10^{-2}$, for PBH masses of 5-80 $M_{\odot}$. Our work provide some of the most competitive limits in the mass range of 5-50 $M_{\odot}$. [abridged]

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Binary Black Holes population synthesis based on the current LVK observations

The ongoing observations from ground based gravitational-wave observatories have led to the detection of more than a hundred merger events between black holes. We use the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) observations from 2015 to early 2024, to test the population synthesis of these merging binaries; which will allow us to probe the formation mechanisms and environments of these black holes. We test if the current sample of binary black holes can be explained only by the merger of black holes coming from the collapse of the cores of massive stars, i.e. as just first generation black holes merging with each other. Those black holes' masses will roughly follow a power-law distribution. We also test if in addition to the merger between first generation black holes, there is evidence for a second population of black hole binaries in which at least one the binaries' members is the product of an earlier merger between black holes. These binaries are typically referred to as signals of hierarchical mergers. Such a population can possibly explain the observation of very massive black hole binaries by the LVK collaboration. We find that the LVK observations give a statistical preference in log-likelihood of up to $- 2 Δln\mathcal{L} = -150$ or in log-Bayes factor of up to $ln\textrm{BF} = 71$, for the full sample of black hole binaries originating from a combination of black holes following a power-law distribution and black holes from hierarchical mergers. The ratio of black holes following a power-law mass-distribution to a mass-distribution expected from hierarchical mergers is found to be as high as one-to-one. We also consider that some of the LVK black hole merging binaries are the result of primordial black holes (PBHs), merging inside dark matter halos and in the intergalactic medium. Adding a third population is preferred. [abridged]

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

On the mass distribution of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA events

The merging black hole binaries detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) gravitational-wave observatories, may help us shed light on how such binaries form. In addition, these detections can help us probe the hypothesized primordial black holes, a candidate for the observed abundance of dark matter. In this work, we study the black-hole mass distribution obtained from the LVK binary black hole merger events. We obtain that distribution by first associating a skewed normal distribution to each event detected with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) $>$ 8 and then summing all such distributions. We also simulate black hole binaries from two separate populations of merging binaries. One of these is a stellar-origin population that follows a mass-distribution similar to the zero-age mass function of stars. The second population of black holes follows a Gaussian mass-distribution. Such a distribution could approximate a population of black hole binaries formed from earlier black hole mergers in dense stellar environments, or binaries of primordial black holes. For those populations, we evaluate the number of detectable events and fit their combination to the LVK observations. In our work, we rely on a wide range of stellar-origin black-hole mass distributions. We find that the observed LVK events can be fitted much better by the combination of such a stellar-origin mass distribution and a Gaussian distribution, than by the stellar-origin mass distribution alone.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

All sky archival search for FRB high energy counterparts with Swift and Fermi

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio signals from unknown cosmic origin. Many models associate FRBs with high-energy astrophysical objects such as magnetars. In this attempt to find counterparts to FRBs, we explore gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) from the Swift and Fermi missions. We first search for spatial correlations between FRB and GRB populations as a whole and then search for a one-by-one correlation between each of the FRBs and GRBs investigated. Temporal coincidences are not considered. To evaluate the significance of any correlation found, we generate background realizations that take into account instrumentally induced anisotropies in the distribution of the sources. Neither study yields any significant counterpart detection. We estimate that less than 4\% of the FRBs are associated with GRBs in the studied samples

astro-ph.HE↗