Related papers: Origin of Spin-Orbit Misalignments: The Microblaza…
In recent years, a handful of ``dark" binaries have been discovered with a non-luminous compact object. Astrometry and radial velocity measurements of the bright companion allow us to measure the post-supernova orbital elements of such a…
We re-examine archival Ginga data for the black hole binary system GS 1124-683, obtained when the system was undergoing its 1991 outburst. Our analysis estimates the dimensionless spin parameter a=cJ/GM^2 by fitting the X-ray continuum…
Spin precession occurs in binary black holes whose spins are misaligned with the orbital angular momentum. Otherwise, the spin configuration is constant and the subsequent binary dynamics and gravitational-wave emission are much simpler. We…
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 report on the results of spectral fits made to a NuSTAR observation of the black hole GRS 1915+105 in a "plateau" state. This state is of special interest because it is similar to the "low/hard" state seen in other black holes,…
We model the asymmetry of the KOI-13.01 transit lightcurve assuming a gravity-darkened rapidly-rotating host star in order to constrain the system's spin-orbit alignment and transit parameters. We find that our model can reproduce the…
Multiple pieces of evidence suggest that neutron stars receive large kicks when formed from the remnant of a collapsing star. However, the evidence for whether black holes (BH) receive natal kicks is less clear, reliant on weak constraints…
Binary black-hole systems with spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum are of special interest, as studies indicate that this configuration is preferred in nature. If the spins of the two bodies differ, there can be a prominent…
Supernova explosion and the associated neutron star natal kicks are important events on a pathway of a binary to become a gravitational wave source, an X-ray binary or a millisecond radio pulsar. Weak natal kicks often lead to binary…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are spun up during their accretion phase in a binary system. The exchange of angular momentum between the accretion disk and the star tends to align the spin and orbital angular momenta on a very short time scale…
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…
The IRAS01425+2902 wide binary system was recently reported to have both a young planet and a puzzling geometric arrangement, where the planet and binary both orbit edge-on, but misaligned by 60 deg to the circumprimary disc. This is the…
The low-inclination component of the Classical Kuiper Belt is host to a population of extremely widely-separated binaries. These systems are similar to other Trans-Neptunian binaries (TNBs) in that the primary and secondary components of…
We discuss precessing compact binaries on eccentric orbit with gravastar, black hole, neutron star, or boson star components. We derive secular evolution equations to second post-Newtonian--order accuracy, with leading-order spin-orbit,…
Gravitational waves emitted from a generic binary black-hole merger carry away linear momentum anisotropically, resulting in a gravitational recoil, or "kick", of the center of mass. For certain merger configurations the time evolution of…
The formation of stellar mass black holes is still very uncertain. Two main uncertainties are the amount of mass ejected in the supernova event (if any) and the magnitude of the natal kick the black hole receives at birth (if any). Repetto…
The accuracy of gravitational-wave models of compact binaries has traditionally been addressed by the mismatch between the model and numerical-relativity simulations. This is a measure of the overall agreement between the two waveforms.…
Using stellar kinematic data from Gaia DR3, we revisit constraints on black hole (BH) natal kicks from observed accreting and detached BH binaries. We compare the space velocities and Galactic orbits of a sample of 12 BHs in the Galactic…
We study the dynamical signatures of black hole (BH) and neutron star (NS) binary mergers via Lidov-Kozai oscillations induced by tertiary companions in hierarchical triple systems. For each type of binaries (BH-BH and BH-NS), we explore a…
In this work, we test for gravitational parity violation in the PSR J1141-6545 system by analyzing the orbital plane inclination precession induced by the misalignment between the white dwarf's spin axis and the system's total angular…