THE DEATH OF COMPACT BINARY STARS

Merging rates for compact binaries (double neutron stars or black hole s) are calculated based on modern concepts of binary star evolution. I t is found that the first laser interferometers, with rms sensitivitie s of 10(-21) at a frequency of 100 Hz, can detect 10-700 black holes a nd only similar to 1 neutron star coalescences in a 1-year integration time. The implications of evolutionary effects for the cosmological o rigin of gamma ray bursts are also discussed.