Circularization and final spin in eccentric binary-black-hole inspirals

We present results from numerical relativity simulations of equal-mass, nonspinning binary-black-hole inspirals and mergers with initial eccentricities e{ =}12M of up to 9 orbits (18 gravitational wave cycles). We extract the mass M{sub f} and spin a{sub f} of the final black hole and find, for eccentricities e or approx. 0.5, the black holes plunge rather than orbit, and we obtain a maximum spin parameter a{sub f}/M{sub f}{approx_equal}0.72 around e=0.5.