On the likelihood of detecting gravitational waves from Population III compact object binaries

We study the contribution of binary black hole (BH-BH) mergers from the first, metal-free stars in the Universe (Pop III) to gravitational wave detection rates. Our study combines initial conditions for the formation of Pop III stars based on N-body simulations of binary formation (including rates, binary fraction, initial mass function, orbital separation and eccentricity distributions) with an updated model of stellar evolution specific for Pop III stars. We find that the merger rate of these Pop III BH-BH systems is relatively small ( 1 per cent) contribution of these stars to low-redshift BH-BH mergers. However, it remains to be tested whether (and at what level) rapidly spinning Pop III stars (homogeneous evolution) can contribute to BH-BH mergers in the local Universe.

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