Gravitational Wave Sources from Pop III Stars are Preferentially Located within the Cores of their Host Galaxies

Abstract

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) generated by merging black holes has recently opened up a new observational window into the Universe. The mass of the black holes in the first and third LIGO detections, ($36-29 \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ and $32-19 \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$), suggests low-metallicity stars as their most likely progenitors. Based on high-resolution N-body simulations, coupled with state-of-the-art metal enrichment models, we find that the remnants of Pop III stars are preferentially located within the cores of galaxies. The probability of a GW signal to be generated by Pop III stars reaches $\sim 90\%$ at $\sim 0.5 \, \mathrm{kpc}$ from the galaxy center, compared to a benchmark value of $\sim 5\%$ outside the core. The predicted merger rates inside bulges is $\sim 60 \times \beta_{III} \, \mathrm{Gpc^{-3} \, yr^{-1}}$ ($\beta_{III}$ is the Pop III binarity fraction). To match the $90\%$ credible range of LIGO merger rates, we obtain: $0.03 < \beta_{III} < 0.88$. Future advances in GW observatories and the discovery of possible electromagnetic counterparts could allow the localization of such sources within their host galaxies. The preferential concentration of GW events within the bulge of galaxies would then provide an indirect proof for the existence of Pop III stars.