Related papers: Supernova Kicks and Misaligned Microquasars
The merger of two neutron stars will in general lead to the formation of a torus surrounding a black hole whose rotational energy can be tapped to potentially power a short gamma-ray burst. We have studied the merger of equal-mass binaries…
The absence or presence of extremely wide binaries with a radio pulsar and an optical counterpart imposes a strong constraint on the existence and magnitude of kicks in supernova explosions. We search for such systems by comparing the…
The inspiral and merger of binary black holes will likely involve black holes with both unequal masses and arbitrary spins. The gravitational radiation emitted by these binaries will carry angular as well as linear momentum. A net flux of…
Binary black holes with misaligned spins will generically induce both precession and nutation of the orbital angular momentum $\bf{L}$ about the total angular momentum $\bf{J}$. These phenomena modulate the phase and amplitude of the…
Recent numerical relativity simulations have shown that the final black hole produced in a binary merger can recoil with a velocity as large as 5,000 km/s. Because of enhanced gravitational-wave emission in the so-called "hang-up"…
The compact primary in the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole to be established via dynamical observations. We have recently determined accurate values for its mass and distance, and for the orbital inclination angle of the…
High-frequency twin peak quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) are observed in four microquasars, i.e., Galactic black hole binary systems, with frequency ratio very close to 3:2. In the microquasar GRS 1915+105, the structure of QPOs exhibits…
There remain significant uncertainties in the origin and evolution of black holes in binary systems, in particular regarding their birth sites and the influence of natal kicks. These are long-standing issues, but their debate has been…
We study the long-term orbital evolution of stars around a merging massive or supermassive black-hole (BH) binary, taking into account the general relativistic effect induced by the BH spin. When the BH spin is significant compared to and…
The Galactic Centre (GC) is a unique place to study the extreme dynamical processes occurring near a super-massive black hole (SMBH). Here we investigate the role of supernova (SN) explosions occurring in massive binary systems lying in a…
Using 5 GHz radio luminosity at light-curve maximum as a proxy for jet power and black-hole spin measurements obtained via the continuum-fitting method, Narayan & McClintock (2012) presented the first direct evidence for a relationship…
The gravitational wave signature of a binary black hole (BBH) merger is dependent on its component mass and spin. If such black holes originate from rapidly rotating progenitors, the large angular momentum reserve in the star could drive a…
We consider the explosion of supernovae and the possible production of a variety of high energy transients by delayed black hole formation in massive stars endowed with rotation. Following the launch of a ``successful'' shock by the usual…
The recent discovery by LIGO/Virgo of a merging binary having a $\sim 23 M_\odot$ black hole and a $\sim 2.6 M_\odot$ compact companion has triggered a debate regarding the nature of the secondary, which falls into the so-called mass gap.…
I discuss the effect of the formation of a black hole on a (close) binary and show some of the current constraints that the observed properties of black hole X-ray binaries put on the formation of black holes. In particular I discuss the…
The discovery of the gravitational-wave source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black-hole systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the Universe. Such…
In recent years, an increasing number of proper motions have been measured for Galactic X-ray binaries. When supplemented with accurate determinations of the component masses, orbital period, and donor effective temperature, these…
Asymmetric binary systems radiate linear momentum through gravitational waves, leading to the recoil of the merger remnant. Black-hole kicks have attracted much attention because of their astrophysical implications. However, little…
I argue that black hole low-mass X-ray binaries (BH LMXBs) are very unlikely to be physically associated with supernova remnants (SNRs). The timescales of BH LMXBs are so much longer than those of SNRs, that there is only a 0.2% chance of…
Interactions between a supermassive black hole binary and the surrounding accretion disc can both assist the binary inspiral and align the black hole spins to the disc angular momentum. While binary migration is due to angular-momentum…