Bayesian analysis of LIGO-Virgo mergers: Primordial versus astrophysical black hole populations
@article{Hall2020BayesianAO, title={Bayesian analysis of LIGO-Virgo mergers: Primordial versus astrophysical black hole populations}, author={Alex Hall and Andrew D. Gow and Christian T. Byrnes}, journal={Physical Review D}, year={2020} }
We conduct a thorough Bayesian analysis of the possibility that the black hole merger events seen in gravitational waves are primordial black hole (PBH) mergers. Using the latest merger rate models for PBH binaries drawn from a lognormal mass function we compute posterior parameter constraints and Bayesian evidences using data from the first two observing runs of LIGO-Virgo. We account for theoretical uncertainty due to possible disruption of the binary by surrounding PBHs, which can suppress…
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