Metallicity-constrained merger rates of binary black holes and the
  stochastic gravitational wave background
  The recent detection of the binary black hole merger GW150914 demonstrates
the existence of black holes more massive than previously observed in X-ray
binaries in our Galaxy. This article explores different scenarios of black hole
formation in the context of self-consistent cosmic chemical evolution models
that simultaneously match observations of the cosmic star formation rate,
optical depth to reionization and metallicity of the interstellar medium. This
framework is used to calculate the mass distribution of merging black hole
binaries and its evolution with redshift. We also study the implications of the
black hole mass distribution for the stochastic gravitational wave background
from mergers and from core collapse events.
