The Mass Distribution of Neutron Stars in Gravitational-wave Binaries

Abstract The discovery of two neutron star–black hole coalescences by LIGO and Virgo brings the total number of likely neutron stars observed in gravitational waves to six. We perform the first inference of the mass distribution of this extragalactic population of neutron stars. In contrast to the b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAstrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 921; no. 2; p. L25
Main Authors Landry, Philippe, Read, Jocelyn S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Austin The American Astronomical Society 01.11.2021
IOP Publishing
Subjects
Bayesian statistics
Binary stars
Black holes
Compact objects
Galaxies
Gravitational waves
Mass distribution
Neutron stars
Neutrons
Pulsars
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Summary:Abstract The discovery of two neutron star–black hole coalescences by LIGO and Virgo brings the total number of likely neutron stars observed in gravitational waves to six. We perform the first inference of the mass distribution of this extragalactic population of neutron stars. In contrast to the bimodal Galactic population detected primarily as radio pulsars, the masses of neutron stars in gravitational-wave binaries are thus far consistent with a uniform distribution, with a greater prevalence of high-mass neutron stars. The maximum mass in the gravitational-wave population agrees with that inferred from the neutron stars in our Galaxy and with expectations from dense matter.
Bibliography:AAS33500
High-Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8213/ac2f3e