Joint constraints on the field-cluster mixing fraction, common envelope efficiency, and globular cluster radii from a population of binary hole mergers via deep learning

Understand

The recent release of the second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-2) has increased significantly the number of known GW events, enabling unprecedented constraints on formation models of compact binaries.

• One pressing question is to understand the fraction of binaries originating from different formation channels, such as isolated field formation versus dynamical formation in dense stellar clusters.
• In this paper, we combine the $\texttt{COSMIC}$ binary population synthesis suite and the $\texttt{CMC}$ code for globular cluster evolution to create a mixture model for black hole binary formation under both formation scenarios.
• For the first time, these code bodies are combined self-consistently, with $\texttt{CMC}$ itself employing $\texttt{COSMIC}$ to track stellar evolution.