We present results from numerical relativity simulations of equal-mass, nonspinning binary-black-hole inspirals and mergers with initial eccentricities $e\le 0.8$ and coordinate separations $D\ge 12M$ of up to 9 orbits (18 gravitational wave cycles). We extract the mass $M_{\mathrm{f}}$ and spin $a_{\mathrm{f}}$ of the final black hole and find, for eccentricities $e\lesssim 0.4$, that $a_{\mathrm{f}}/M_{\mathrm{f}}\approx 0.69$ and $M_{\mathrm{f}}/M_{\mathrm{adm}}\approx 0.96$ are independent of the initial eccentricity, suggesting that the binary has circularized by the merger time. For $e\gtrsim 0.5$, the black holes plunge rather than orbit, and we obtain a maximum spin parameter $a_{\mathrm{f}}/M_{\mathrm{f}}\approx 0.72$ around $e=0.5$.

• Received 31 October 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.77.081502