Related papers: Compact object mergers driven by gas fallback
The recent detection of the binary black hole merger GW150914 demonstrates the existence of black holes more massive than previously observed in X-ray binaries in our Galaxy. This article explores different scenarios of black hole formation…
We discuss the different signals, in gravitational and electromagnetic waves, emitted during the merger of two compact stars. We will focus in particular on the possible contraints that those signals can provide on the equation of state of…
Given the stellar density near the galactic center, close encounters between compact object binaries and the supermassive black hole are a plausible occurrence. We present results from a numerical study of close to 13 million such…
An accretion disk can be formed around a secondary star in a binary system when the primary companion leaves the Main sequence and starts to lose mass at an enhanced rate. We study the accretion disk evolution and planetary migration in…
The shrinking of a binary orbit driven by the interaction with a gaseous circumbinary disc, initially advocated as a potential way to catalyze the binary merger, has been recently debated in the case of geometrically thick (i.e. with…
Coalescing massive black hole binaries are produced by the mergers of galaxies. The final stages of the black hole coalescence produce strong gravitational radiation that can be detected by the space-borne LISA. In cases where the black…
We review the dramatic progress in the simulations of compact objects and compact-object binaries that has taken place in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. This includes simulations of the inspirals and violent mergers of…
When the primary star in a close binary system evolves into a giant and engulfs its companion, its core and the companion temporarily orbit each other inside a common envelope. Drag forces transfer orbital energy and angular momentum to the…
The formation of massive stars is one of the major unsolved problems in stellar astrophysics. However, only few if any of these are found as single stars, on average massive stars have more than one companion. Many of them are born in dense…
Binary star systems containing a neutron star or a black hole with an evolved, massive star are dynamically perturbed when the latter undergoes a supernova explosion. It is possible that the natal kick received by the newly-formed neutron…
Modeling the late inspiral and merger of supermassive black holes is central to understanding accretion processes and the conditions under which electromagnetic emission accompanies gravitational waves. We use fully general relativistic,…
Simulations of binary neutron stars have seen great advances in terms of physical detail and numerical quality. However, the spin of the neutron stars, one of the simplest global parameters of binaries, remains mostly unstudied. We present…
Using high-resolution SPH numerical simulations, we investigate the effects of gas on the inspiral and merger of a massive black hole binary. This study is motivated by both observational and theoretical work that indicate the presence of…
Three-dimensional simulations usually fail to cover the entire dynamical common-envelope phase of gravitational wave progenitor systems due to the vast range of spatial and temporal scales involved. We investigated the common-envelope…
Compact binaries are within the reach of gravitational and electromagnetic wave detectors, and are important for our understanding of astrophysical environments and the composition of compact objects. There is a vast body of work devoted to…
The astrophysical origin of the over 90 compact binary mergers discovered by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories is an open question. While the unusual mass and spin of some of the discovered objects constrain progenitor…
Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes are the remnants of massive stars, which ended their lives in supernova explosions. These exotic objects can only be studied in relatively rare cases. If they are interacting with close companions…
A Keplerian binary immersed in a bath of lighter particles hardens by ejecting them through gravitational slingshots. This process drives, for example, the evolution of supermassive black hole binaries following galaxy mergers, and has long…
Motivated by the increasing number of detections of merging black holes by LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA, black hole (BH) binary mergers in the discs of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is investigated as a possible merger channel. In this pathway, BH…
Recent detections of gravitational waves from mergers of neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs) in the low and high-end mass gap regimes pose a puzzle to standard stellar and binary evolution theory. Mass-gap mergers may originate from…