Related papers: Poking Holes: Looking for Gaps in LIGO/Virgo's Bla…
We analyze the confident binary black hole (BBH) detections from the third Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-3) with an alternative mass population model in order to capture features in the mass distribution beyond the Powerlaw +…
We study the evolution of the binary black hole (BBH) mass distribution across cosmic time. The second gravitational-wave transient catalog (GWTC-2) from LIGO/Virgo contains BBH events out to redshifts $z \sim 1$, with component masses in…
With several dozen binary black hole events detected by LIGO/Virgo to date and many more expected in the next few years, gravitational-wave astronomy is shifting from individual-event analyses to population studies. Using the GWTC-2…
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…
Stellar evolution theory predicts a "gap" in the black hole birth function caused by the pair instability. Presupernova stars that have a core mass below some limiting value, Mlo, after all pulsational activity is finished, collapse to…
We demonstrate the power of the black hole mass gap as a novel probe of fundamental physics. New light particles that couple to the Standard Model can act as an additional source of energy loss in the cores of population-III stars,…
With the growing number of detections of binary black hole mergers, we are beginning to probe structure in the distribution of masses. A recent study by Schneider et al. proposes that isolated binary evolution of stripped stars naturally…
Pair-instability supernovae leave behind no compact remnants, resulting in a predicted gap in the distribution of stellar black-hole masses. Gravitational waves from binary black-hole mergers probe the relevant mass range and analyses of…
Gravitational-wave observations have revealed an excess of binary black hole mergers with primary masses near $\sim 35\,M_\odot$. We show that if this feature originates from dynamical formation in dense stellar systems, and if the…
We pioneer the black hole mass gap as a powerful new tool for constraining modified gravity theories. These theories predict fifth forces that alter the structure and evolution of population-III stars, exacerbating the pair-instability.…
Mergers of two stellar origin black holes are a prime source of gravitational waves and are under intensive investigations. One crucial ingredient in their modeling has so far been neglected. Pair-instability pulsation supernovae with…
By probing the population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by LIGO-Virgo, we can infer properties about the underlying black hole formation channels. A mechanism known as pair-instability (PI) supernova is expected to prevent the…
Gravitational-wave detections are now probing the black hole (BH) mass distribution, including the predicted pair-instability mass gap. These data require robust quantitative predictions, which are challenging to obtain. The most massive BH…
Gravitational-wave observations reveal that the rate of merging black holes drops by $\sim2$ orders of magnitude from component masses $\sim 10\,M_{\odot}$ to $\sim 15\,M_{\odot}$. The increased compactness of the black hole progenitor…
We perform a Bayesian analysis of the mass distribution of stellar-mass black holes using the observed masses of 15 low-mass X-ray binary systems undergoing Roche lobe overflow and five high-mass, wind-fed X-ray binary systems. Using Markov…
The population of the observed gravitational wave events encodes unique information on the formation and evolution of stellar-mass black holes, from the underlying astrophysical processes to the large-scale dynamics of the Universe. We use…
We introduce a population model to analyze the mixing between hypothesised power-law and $\sim 35 M_\odot$ Gaussian bump black hole populations in the latest gravitational wave catalog, GWTC-3, estimating their co-location and separation.…
Gravitational wave detections are starting to allow us to probe the physical processes in the evolution of very massive stars through the imprints they leave on their final remnants. Stellar evolution theory predicts the existence of a gap…
With the release of the fourth LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA gravitational-wave catalog (GWTC-4), we are starting to gain a detailed view of the population of merging binary black holes. The formation channels of these black holes is not clearly…
The occurrence of pair-instability supernovae is predicted to prevent the formation of black holes with masses $\gtrsim 50 M_\odot$. Recent gravitational-wave detections in this mass range require an explanation beyond that of standard…