Related papers: A case for Case A: detailed look at binary black h…
The detection of over a hundred gravitational wave signals from double compacts objects have confirmed the existence of such binaries with tight orbits. Two main formation channels are generally considered to explain the formation of these…
We present results on the mass, spin, and redshift distributions with phenomenological population models using the ten binary black hole mergers detected in the first and second observing runs completed by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo.…
We discuss the properties of stellar mass black hole (BH) mergers induced by tidal encounters with a massive BH at galactic centres or potentially in dense star clusters. The tidal disruption of stellar binaries by a massive BH is known to…
Observations of gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts may soon uncover the existence of coalescing compact binary systems formed by a stellar-mass black hole and a neutron star. These mergers result in a remnant black…
Young star clusters are dynamically active stellar systems and are a common birthplace for massive stars. Low-mass star clusters ($\sim{}300-10^3$ M$_\odot$) are more numerous than massive systems and are characterized by a two-body…
New observational facilities are probing astrophysical transients such as stellar explosions and gravitational wave (GW) sources at ever increasing redshifts, while also revealing new features in source property distributions. To interpret…
As gravitational wave detectors improve, observations of black hole (BH) mergers will provide the joint distribution of their masses and spins. This will be a critical benchmark to validate formation scenarios. Merging binary BHs formed…
Binary black hole (BBH) systems detected via gravitational-wave (GW) emission are a recently opened astrophysical frontier with many unknowns and uncertainties. Accurate reconstruction of the binary distribution with as few assumptions as…
Using the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis code BPASS, we have calculated the rates, timescales and mass distributions for binary black hole mergers as a function of metallicity. We consider these in the context of the recently…
The formation channels of compact object binaries are crucial for interpreting gravitational wave observations and enhancing early multi-messenger alerts. Despite the key role of stellar metallicity in progenitor evolution, many models…
The next generation ground-based gravitational wave interferometers will possibly observe mergers of binary black holes (BBHs) and binary neutron stars (BNSs) to redshift $z\gtrsim{}10$ and $z\gtrsim{}2$, respectively. Here, we characterize…
Observations of X-ray binaries indicate a dearth of compact objects in the mass range from $\sim 2-5 M_{\odot}$. The existence of this (first mass) gap has been used to discriminate between proposed engines behind core-collapse supernovae.…
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…
A large number of mergers of binary black holes (BHs) have been discovered by gravitational wave observations since the first detection of gravitational waves 2015. Binary BH mergers are the loudest events in the universe, however their…
Current theoretical models predict a mass gap with a dearth of stellar black holes (BHs) between roughly $50\,M_\odot$ and $100\,M_\odot$, while, above the range accessible through massive star evolution, intermediate-mass BHs (IMBHs) still…
Super-Eddington accretion of neutron stars (NSs) has been suggested both observationally and theoretically. In this paper, we propose that NSs in close-orbit binary systems with companions of helium (He) stars, most of which systems form…
The recent inference of a 70M_sun black hole (BH) in the Galactic, detached binary LB-1 has sparked cross-disciplinary debate since a stellar remnant of such large mass is well above what can be expected from stellar-evolutionary theory,…
One striking feature of binary black hole (BBH) mergers observed in the first decade of gravitational-wave astronomy is an excess of events with component masses around $35\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. Multiple formation channels have been…
Recent observational and theoretical studies have suggested that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) grow mostly through non-merger (`secular') processes. Since galaxy mergers lead to dynamical bulge growth, the only way to observationally…
We perform a first study of the impact of varying two components of the initial conditions in binary population synthesis of compact binary mergers - the initial mass function, which is made metallicity- and star formation rate-dependent,…