AUTHOR=Mapelli Michela 

TITLE=Binary Black Hole Mergers: Formation and Populations

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2020.00038

DOI=10.3389/fspas.2020.00038

ISSN=2296-987X

ABSTRACT=<p>We review the main physical processes that lead to the formation of stellar binary black holes (BBHs) and to their merger. BBHs can form from the isolated evolution of massive binary stars. The physics of core-collapse supernovae and the process of common envelope are two of the main sources of uncertainty about this formation channel. Alternatively, two black holes can form a binary by dynamical encounters in a dense star cluster. The dynamical formation channel leaves several imprints on the mass, spin and orbital properties of BBHs.</p>