Related papers: Investigating stellar-mass black hole kicks
Only a few of the dozen or so stellar-mass black holes have been observed away from the plane of the Galaxy$^1$. Those few could have been ejected from the plane as a result of a ``kick'' received during a supernova explosion, or they could…
Our current understanding of the stellar initial mass function and massive star evolution suggests that young globular clusters may have formed hundreds to thousands of stellar-mass black holes, the remnants of stars with initial masses…
In the Galaxy there are 64 Be X-ray binaries known to-date. Out of those, 42 host a neutron star, and for the reminder the nature of a companion is not known. None, so far, is known to host a black hole. There seems to be no apparent…
We consider the formation of low-mass X-ray binaries containing accreting neutron stars via the helium-star supernova channel. The predicted relative number of short-period transients provides a sensitive test of the input physics in this…
Recent work revealed the existence of a galaxy "millimetre fundamental plane of black hole accretion", a tight correlation between nuclear $1$mm luminosity, intrinsic $2$ - $10$keV X-ray luminosity and supermassive black hole mass,…
We measure the angle between the neutron star (NS) natal kick direction and the inferred direction of jets according to the morphology of 12 core collapse supernova remnants (SNR), and find that the distribution is almost random, but…
Galactic accretion driven stellar X-ray sources can be divided into groups in different ways. An important division, which covers almost all known X-ray binaries, can be made according to the mass of the donor star: high-mass X-ray binaries…
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…
Stellar-mass black holes are the final remnants of stars born with more than 15 solar masses. Billions are expected to reside in the Local Group, yet only few are known, mostly detected through X-rays emitted as they accrete material from a…
We present an analytical method for studying the changes of the orbital characteristics of binary systems with circular orbits due to a kick velocity imparted to the newborn neutron star during a supernova explosion (SN). Assuming a…
We calculate the first dynamical evolutions of merging black hole-neutron star binaries that construct the combined black hole-neutron star spacetime in a general relativistic framework. We treat the metric in the conformal flatness…
The identification of the first confirmed neutron star - black hole (NS-BH) binary mergers by the LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA collaboration provides the opportunity to investigate the properties of the early sample of confirmed and candidate…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with Lx > 10^{39} ergs/s have been discovered in great numbers in external galaxies with ROSAT, Chandra, and XMM. The central question regarding this important class of sources is whether they represent an…
Double neutron stars (DNSs), binary systems consisting of a radio pulsar and a generally undetected second neutron star (NS), have proven to be excellent laboratories for testing the theory of general relativity. The seven systems…
In large and complicated stellar systems like galaxies it is difficult to predict the number and characteristics of a black hole population. Such populations may be modelled as an aggregation of homogeneous (i.e. having uniform star…
The distribution of black hole masses in galaxies is constrained by photometric and kinematic studies of individual galaxies, and by the properties of the quasar population. I review our understanding of these topics, present new results of…
Black holes in binary star systems are vital for understanding the process of pr oducing gravitational wave sources, understanding how supernovae work, and for p roviding fossil evidence for the high mass stars from earlier in the Universe.…
We investigate the distribution of neutron star masses in different populations of binaries, employing Bayesian statistical techniques. In particular, we explore the differences in neutron star masses between sources that have experienced…
We discuss masses of stellar black holes found in binary systems and errors in their determination. The observed mass distribution has a broad shape within the range $4-16 M_\odot$ without visible concentration to some preferred value. On…
The formation histories of compact binary mergers, especially stellar-mass binary-black hole mergers, have recently come under increased scrutiny and revision. In this paper we revisit the question of the dominant formation channel and…