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Inferring the Intermediate Mass Black Hole Number Density from Gravitational Wave Lensing Statistics

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arxiv 2201.01817 v2 pith:FG4BWBZE submitted 2022-01-05 gr-qc

Inferring the Intermediate Mass Black Hole Number Density from Gravitational Wave Lensing Statistics

classification gr-qc
keywords blackgravitationalholesmassdensityinjectedintermediatemathrm
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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The population properties of intermediate mass black holes remain largely unknown, and understanding their distribution could provide a missing link in the formation of supermassive black holes and galaxies. Gravitational wave observations can help fill in the gap from stellar mass black holes to supermassive black holes. In our work, we propose a new method for probing lens populations through lensing statistics of gravitational waves, here focusing on inferring the number density of intermediate mass black holes. Using hierarchical Bayesian inference of injected lensed gravitational waves, we find that existing gravitational wave observatories at design sensitivity could either identify an injected number density of $10^6 \mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}$ or place an upper bound of $\lesssim 10^4 \mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}$ for an injected $10^3 \mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}$. More broadly, our method could be applied to probe other forms of compact matter as well.

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Cited by 5 Pith papers

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