A Trend in the Effective Spin Distribution of LIGO Binary Black Holes with Mass

Abstract

Binary black holes (BBHs) detected by gravitational wave (GW) observations could be broadly divided into two formation channels: those formed through field binary evolution and those assembled dynamically in dense stellar systems. Each of these formation channels, and their subchannels, populate a distinct region in the effective spin–mass ( ) plane. Depending on the branching ratio of different channels, an ensemble of BBHs could show a trend in this plane. Here we fit a mass-dependent distribution for to the GWTC-1 BBHs from the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We find a negative correlation between mass and the mean effective spin ( ), and positive correlation with its dispersion ( ) at 75% and 80% confidence. This trend is robust against the choice of mass variable, but most pronounced when the mass variable is taken to be the chirp mass of the binary. The result is consistent with significant contributions from both dynamically assembled and field binaries in the GWTC-1 catalog. The upcoming LIGO O3a data release will critically test this interpretation.