Constraining massive binary formation and evolution from compact object mergers

Compact object binaries that merge within a Hubble time are a rare outcome from massive binary evolution. Gravitational radiation is a relatively inefficient means of shrinking an orbit, and thus any compact binaries that do merge within a Hubble time must have already been in a tight enough orbit after the second supernova. This outcome of binary evolution generally requires particular formation channels, involving various combinations of “lucky” supernova kicks, single- or double-core common envelope evolution, stable mass transfer and wind or pulsational mass loss. Recent work in binary population synthesis has continuously imposed stronger constraints on the most common formation channels, and started to delineate patterns in the compact mergers they lead to, such as typical masses and coalescence times. This opens the prospect that, with an increasingly larger catalog of gravitational-wave observations of compact mergers, we will be able to place constraints on theoretical models for massive binary formation and evolution by comparing synthetic populations to observations. In this talk, I will present an overview of current such constraints, including the prospect of extending them to the process of binary formation.