Modeling gravitational wave sources in the MillenniumTNG simulations

We introduce a flexible framework for building gravitational wave (GW) event catalogs in hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation. Our framework couples the state-of-the-art binary population synthesis code <ns0:sc>SEVN</ns0:sc> with A<ns0:sc>REPO</ns0:sc>-GW – a module fully integrated into the moving-mesh code A<ns0:sc>REPO</ns0:sc> – to assign merger events of binary compact objects to stellar particles in simulations by stochastically sampling merger tables generated with <ns0:sc>SEVN</ns0:sc>. A<ns0:sc>REPO</ns0:sc>-GW supports both on-the-fly operation, producing event catalogs during simulations, and post-processing, using snapshots from existing runs. The algorithm is fully parallel and can be readily adapted to outputs from simulation codes beyond A<ns0:sc>REPO</ns0:sc>. To demonstrate the capabilities of our new framework, we applied A<ns0:sc>REPO</ns0:sc>-GW in post-processing to simulations from the MillenniumTNG suite, including its flagship box – one of the largest full-physics cosmological simulations to date. We investigate key properties of the resulting GW event catalog, built on <ns0:sc>SEVN</ns0:sc> predictions, focusing on comoving merger rates, formation efficiencies, delay-time distributions, and progenitor mass and metallicity distributions. We also examine how these properties vary with simulated volume. We find that GW progenitor rates closely track simulated star formation histories and are generally consistent with current observational constraints at low redshift, aside from an excess – by a factor of ∼4.5 – in binary black hole mergers, in line with trends reported in the literature. Moreover, our binary black hole merger rates decline more slowly with redshift than current observational estimates for z ≲ 1. Finally, the analysis of progenitor mass functions across different formation channels reveals only mild redshift evolution, in agreement with earlier studies, while the binary black hole mass function displays features compatible with current observational determinations. These findings highlight the potential of our novel framework to enable detailed predictions for upcoming GW surveys within a full cosmological context.