Related papers: Black Hole Spin-Orbit Misalignment in Galactic X-r…
There are few observed high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) that harbor massive black holes, and none are likely to result in a binary black hole (BBH) that merges within a Hubble time; however, we know that massive merging BBHs exist from…
We analyze the dynamical evolution of binary stars that interact with a static background of single stars in the environment of a massive black hole (MBH). All stars are considered to be single mass, Newtonian point particles. We follow the…
Determining the final spin of a black-hole (BH) binary is a question of key importance in astrophysics. Modelling this quantity in general is made difficult by the fact that it depends on the 7-dimensional space of parameters characterizing…
Using recent results from numerical relativity simulations of black hole mergers, we revisit previous studies of cosmological black hole spin evolution. We show that mergers are very unlikely to yield large spins, unless alignment of the…
We review the properties and behavior X-ray binaries that contain an accreting black hole. The larger majority of such systems are X-ray transients, and many of them were observed in daily pointings with RXTE throughout the course of their…
The population-level distributions of the masses, spins, and redshifts of binary black holes (BBHs) observed using gravitational waves can shed light on how these systems form and evolve. Because of the complex astrophysical processes…
Recent calculations of the recoil velocity in black-hole binary mergers have found kick velocities of $\approx2500 $km/s for equal-mass binaries with anti-aligned initial spins in the orbital plane. In general the dynamics of spinning black…
If massive black holes (BHs) are ubiquitous in galaxies and galaxies experience multiple mergers during their cosmic assembly, then BH binaries should be common albeit temporary features of most galactic bulges. Observationally, the paucity…
The majority of known Galactic black holes reside in low-mass X-ray binaries. They are rare and fascinating objects, providing unique information on strong gravity, accretion disc physics, and stellar and binary evolution. There is no doubt…
Accretion discs around black holes in X-ray binary stars are warped if the spin axis of the black hole is not perpendicular to the binary orbital plane. They can also become eccentric through an instability involving a resonance with the…
We perform binary population synthesis calculations to investigate the incidence of low-mass X-ray binaries and their birth rate in the Galaxy. We use a binary evolution algorithm that models all the relevant processes including tidal…
We use dynamical mass measurements of 16 black holes in transient low-mass X-ray binaries to infer the stellar black hole mass distribution in the parent population. We find that the observations are best described by a narrow mass…
Binary black holes on quasicircular orbits with spins aligned with their orbital angular momentum have been testbeds for analytic and numerical relativity for decades, not least because symmetry ensures that such configurations are…
We perform a systematic study of merging black hole (BH) binaries with compact star (CS) companions, including black hole--white dwarf (BH--WD), black hole--neutron star (BH--NS) and black hole--black hole (BH--BH) systems. Previous studies…
In this Letter we propose a formation channel for low-mass X-ray binaries with black hole accretors and non-degenerate donors via grazing tidal encounters with subgiants. We estimate that in a typically dense globular cluster with the core…
A small group of X-ray binaries currently provides the best evidence for the existence of stellar-mass black holes. These objects are interacting binary systems where the X-rays arise from accretion of material onto a compact object (i.e.…
The Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) is the total emission from past accretion activity onto supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN) and peaks in the hard X-ray band (30 keV). In this paper, we identify a significant selection…
We study the formation of low-mass X-ray binaries with a black hole as accreting object. The performed semi-analytic analysis reveals that the formation rate of black holes in low-mass X-ray binaries is about two orders of magnitude smaller…
We report on advances to interpret current and future gravitational-wave events in light of astrophysical simulations. A machine-learning emulator is trained on numerical population-synthesis predictions and inserted into a Bayesian…
The black hole (BH) binaries in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are expected to form mainly through scattering encounters in the ambient gaseous medium. Recent simulations, including our own, have confirmed this formation pathway is highly…