Binary neutron stars ( BNSs ) are the primary source of gravitational waves for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory ( LIGO ) and its international partners Virgo and KAGRA .
Current BNS searches target field binaries whose orbits will have circularized by radiation reaction before their gravitational waves enter the Advanced LIGO sensitive band at 15 Hz .
It has been suggested that a population of BNSs may form by n -body interactions near supermassive black holes or in globular clusters and that these systems may have non-negligible eccentricity in the Advanced LIGO band .
We show that for BNS systems with total mass of 2.4 M _ { \odot } ( 6 M _ { \odot } ) , the effect of eccentricity e \mathrel { \hbox { \hbox to 0.0 pt { \hbox { \lower 4.0 pt \hbox { $ \sim$ } } } \hbox { $ < $ } } } 0.02 ( 0.05 ) is negligible and a circular search is effectual for these binaries .
For eccentricities up to e = 0.4 , we investigate the selection bias caused by neglecting eccentricity in BNS searches .
If such high eccentricity systems exist , searches that specifically target eccentric binaries will be needed in Advanced LIGO and Virgo .