Related papers: Properties of OB star-black hole systems derived f…

The LIGO/Virgo gravitational--wave observatories have detected 50 BH-BH coalescences. This sample is large enough to have allowed several recent studies to draw conclusions about the branching ratios between isolated binaries versus dense…

Binary black holes (BBHs) are one of the endpoints of isolated binary evolution, and their mergers a leading channel for gravitational wave events. Here, using the evolutionary code \textsc{StarTrack}, we study the statistical properties of…

The majority of massive stars are found in close binaries which: (i) are prone to merge and (ii) are accompanied by another distant tertiary star (triples). Here, we study the evolution of the stellar post-merger binaries composed of the…

The recent discovery of GW150914, the binary black hole merger detected by Advanced LIGO, has the potential to revolutionize observational astrophysics. But to fully utilize this new window into the universe, we must compare these new…

We construct evolutionary tracks for massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) embedded in a surrounding distribution of stars. The dynamics of the binary is evolved by taking into account the erosion of the central stellar cusp bound to the…

Currently, there are 24 black hole (BH) X-ray binary systems that have been dynamically confirmed in the Galaxy. Most of them are low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) comprised of a stellar-mass BH and a low-mass donor star. Although the…

With nearly a hundred gravitational wave detections, the origin of black hole mergers has become a key question. Here, we focus on understanding the typical galactic environment in which binary black hole mergers arise. To this end, we…

Star clusters can interact and merge in galactic discs, halos, or centers. We present direct N-body simulations of binary mergers of star clusters with $M_{\star} = 2.7 \times 10^4 \: \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ each, using the N-body code BIFROST…

Recent detections of gravitational waves from merging binary black holes opened new possibilities to study the evolution of massive stars and black hole formation. In particular, stellar evolution models may be constrained on the basis of…

The existence of massive stellar black hole binaries (MBHBs), with primary black hole (BH) masses $\ge 31 \, M_\odot$, was proven by the detection of the gravitational wave (GW) event GW150914 during the first LIGO/Virgo observing run (O1),…

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…

We study theoretically the formation of black-hole (BH) X-ray binaries. Consistency of the models with the observed relative numbers of systems with low-mass (<2 M_sun) and intermediate-mass (~2 M_sun - M_{BH}) donors leads to severe…

The population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers observed by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration offers a window into the cosmic evolution of compact binaries and their formation. We employ the semi-analytic population-synthesis code…

Nearby companions alter the evolution of massive stars in binary systems. Using a sample of Galactic massive stars in nearby young clusters, we simultaneously measure all intrinsic binary characteristics relevant to quantify the frequency…

Context. Recent astrometric and spectroscopic surveys of OB stars have revealed a few stellar-mass black holes (BHs) with orbital periods as low as 10 days. No X-ray counterpart has been detected, due to the absence of a radiatively…

Our understanding of the formation and evolution of binary black holes (BBHs) is significantly impacted by the recent discoveries made by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. Of utmost importance is the detection of the most massive BBH system,…

The maximum mass of black holes formed in isolated binaries is determined by stellar winds and the interactions between the binary components. We consider for the first time fully self-consistent detailed stellar structure and binary…

The percentage of massive main sequence OB stars in binary systems is thought to be as high as 100%. However, very few Galactic binary red supergiants (RSGs) have been identified, despite the fact that these stars are the evolved…

Stellar models indicate that the core compactness of a star, which is a common proxy for its explodability in a supernova, does not increase monotonically with the star's mass. Rather, the core compactness dips sharply over a range of…

The majority of close massive binary stars with initial periods of a few days experience a contact phase, in which both stars overflow their Roche lobes simultaneously. We perform the first dedicated study of the evolution of massive…