The coalescence rates of double black holes

Understand

We present the summary of the recent investigations of double black hole binaries in context of their formation and merger rates.

• In particular we discuss the spectrum of black hole masses, the formation scenarios in the local Universe and the estimates of detection rates for gravitational radiation detectors like LIGO and VIRGO.
• Our study is based on observed properties of known Galactic and extra-galactic stellar mass black holes and evolutionary predictions.
• We argue that the binary black holes are the most promising source of gravitational radiation.