Stellar-mass binary black hole mergers are poised to represent the majorityof gravitational-wave (GW) observations by Advanced LIGO and Virgo. Probingtheir origin will be difficult due to the expected lack of electromagneticemission and limited localization accuracy. Associations with rare host galaxytypes -- such as active galactic nuclei (AGN) -- can nevertheless be identifiedstatistically through spatial correlation. We show that (i) fractionalcontributions $f_{\rm agn}=50-100\%$ from AGN hosts to the total BBH mergerrate can be statistically established with 70-300 detected events (expected in0.5-2 years of observation with Advanced LIGO-Virgo at design sensitivity andcurrent rate estimates); (ii) fractional contributions as low as $f_{\rmagn}=25\%$ can be tested with 1000 events ($\sim$ 5\,years of observation);(iii) the $\sim5\%$ best localized GWs drive these constraints. The presentedmethod and results are generally applicable to binary formation channels withrare host populations.
展开▼
