Research Note

The delay time distribution of massive double compact star mergers

Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
e-mail: nmenneke@vub.ac.be; dvbevere@vub.ac.be

Received: 26 January 2016
Accepted: 8 March 2016

Abstract

To investigate the temporal evolution of binary populations, in general, and double compact-star binaries and mergers, in particular, within a galactic evolution context, a very straightforward method is obviously to implement a detailed binary evolutionary model in a galactic chemical evolution code. To our knowledge, the Brussels galactic chemical evolution code is the only one that fully and consistently accounts for the important effects of interacting binaries on the predictions of chemical evolution. With a galactic code that does not explicitly include binaries, the temporal evolution of the population of double compact star binaries and mergers can be estimated with reasonable accuracy if the delay time distribution (DTD) for these mergers is available. The DTD for supernovae type Ia has been studied extensively in the past decade. In the present paper we present the DTD for merging double neutron-star binaries and mixed systems consisting of a neutron star and a black hole. The latter mergers are very promising sites for producing r-process elements, and the DTDs can be used to study the galactic evolution of these elements with a code that does not explicitly account for binaries.