Circularization and final spin in eccentric binary-black-hole inspirals

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