Related papers: Understanding the progenitor formation galaxies of…
The growing number of binary black hole mergers detected through gravitational waves offers unprecedented insight into their underlying population, yet their astrophysical formation channels remain unresolved. We present a new method to…
We consider the formation of binary black hole mergers through the evolution of field massive triple stars. In this scenario, favorable conditions for the inspiral of a black hole binary are initiated by its gravitational interaction with a…
Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are thought to be associated with the core-collapse of massive, rapidly spinning stars and the formation of black holes. However, efficient angular momentum transport in stellar interiors, currently supported…
The cosmological evolution of the binary black hole (BH) merger rate and the energy density of the gravitational-wave (GW) background are investigated. To evaluate the redshift dependence of the BH formation rate, BHs are assumed to…
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…
Dense stellar clusters are expected to house the ideal conditions for binary black hole (BBH) formation, both through binary stellar evolution and through dynamical encounters. We use theoretical arguments as well as $N$-body simulations to…
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…
The detection of gravitational waves from merging black holes with masses $\sim\,80-150\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ suggests that some proportion of black hole binary systems form hierarchically in dense astrophysical environments, as most stellar…
The advent of gravitational-wave astronomy is now allowing for the study of compact binary merger demographics throughout the Universe. This information can be leveraged as tools for understanding massive stars, their environments, and…
Several binary black holes (BBHs) have been observed using gravitational wave detectors. For the formation mechanism of BBHs, two main mechanisms, isolated binary evolution and dynamical formation in dense star clusters, have been…
By employing N-body simulations, we inestigate the formation of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) through the sinking of two massive black holes (MBHs) during galaxy mergers. With different impact parameters and different central stellar…
Binary black holes (BBHs) are thought to form in different environments, including the galactic field and (globular, nuclear, young and open) star clusters. Here, we propose a method to estimate the fingerprints of the main BBH formation…
The merger of two massive 30 Msun black holes has been detected in gravitational waves (1,GW150914). This discovery validates recent predictions (2-4) that massive binary black holes would constitute the first detection. However, previous…
Among the four black hole binary merger events detected by LIGO, six progenitor black holes have masses greater than 20\,$M_\odot$. The existence of such massive BHs calls for extreme metal-poor stars as the progenitors. An alternative…
Using numerical models for star clusters spanning a wide range in ages and metallicities (Z) we study the masses of binary black holes (BBHs) produced dynamically and merging in the local universe ($z\lesssim0.2$). After taking into account…
The predicted rate of binary black hole mergers from galactic fields can vary over several orders of magnitude and is extremely sensitive to the assumptions of stellar evolution. But in dense stellar environments such as globular clusters,…
In dense stellar environments, the merger products of binary black hole mergers may undergo additional mergers. These hierarchical mergers are predicted to have higher masses than the first generation of black holes made from stars. The…
Understanding binary black hole (BBH) dynamics in dense star clusters is key to interpreting the gravitational wave detections by LIGO and Virgo. Here, we perform $N$-body simulations of star clusters, focusing on BBH formation mechanisms,…
We explore a newly proposed channel to create binary black holes of stellar origin. This scenario applies to massive, tight binaries where mixing induced by rotation and tides transports the products of hydrogen burning throughout the…
Observations of black hole-neutron star (BH-NS) mergers via gravitational waves (GWs) are of great interest for their electromagnetic counterparts, such as short gamma-ray bursts, and could provide crucial information on the nature of BHs…