Related papers: First Stellar Binary Black Holes: Strongest Gravit…
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration has detected over 150 confirmed gravitational wave events through O4a. Binary black hole (BBH) systems represent the overwhelming majority of these observations. We construct a model for the…
Binaries containing a stellar-mass black hole and a recycled radio pulsar have so far eluded detection. We present a focused investigation of the formation and evolution of these systems in the Galactic disk, highlighting the factors that…
Gravitational waves are a prediction of general relativity, and with ground-based detectors now running in their advanced configuration, we will soon be able to measure them directly for the first time. Binaries of stellar-mass black holes…
By definition, Population III stars are metal-free, and their protostellar collapse is driven by molecular hydrogen cooling in the gas-phase, leading to large characteristic masses. Population II stars with lower characteristic masses form…
Stellar-mass black holes ($3$ $M_\odot \lesssim M_{\rm BH} \lesssim 150$ $M_\odot$) are the natural product of the evolution of heavy stars ($M_{\rm star} \gtrsim 20$ $M_\odot$). In our Galaxy, we expect $10^8$-$10^9$ stellar-mass black…
Black holes formed in dense star clusters, where dynamical interactions are frequent, may have fundamentally different properties than those formed through isolated stellar evolution. Theoretical models for single star evolution predict a…
The coalescence of compact binaries containing neutron stars or black holes is one of the most promising signals for advanced ground-based laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors, with the first direct detections expected over the…
The LIGO and Virgo detectors have directly observed gravitational waves from mergers of pairs of stellar-mass black holes, along with a smaller number of mergers involving neutron stars. These observations raise the hope that compact object…
The first gravitational wave detections of mergers between black holes and neutron stars represent a remarkable new regime of high-energy transient astrophysics. The signals observed with LIGO-Virgo detectors come from mergers of extreme…
Massive binary black holes form at the centre of galaxies that experience a merger episode. They are expected to coalesce into a larger black hole, following the emission of gravitational waves. Coalescing massive binary black holes are…
The binary black hole mergers observed by LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave detectors pose two major challenges: (i) how to produce these massive black holes from stellar processes; and (ii) how to bring them close enough to merge within the…
In large and complicated stellar systems like galaxies it is difficult to predict the number and characteristics of a black hole population. Such populations may be modelled as an aggregation of homogeneous (i.e. having uniform star…
Stellar mass black holes are formed in the field, and are observed in binaries. Population synthesis estimates for the formation of BH-PSR binaries suggest these may be observed, but with very large formal uncertainties in the formation…
The mass of stellar black holes (BHs) is currently thought to be in the 3-20 Msun range, but is highly uncertain: recent observations indicate the existence of at least one BH with mass >20 Msun. The metallicity of the progenitor star…
If supermassive black holes (BHs) are generically present in galaxy centers, and if galaxies are built up through hierarchical merging, BH binaries are at least temporary features of most galactic bulges. Observations suggest, however, that…
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…
Black holes with hundreds to thousands of solar masses are more massive than can be formed from a single star in the current universe, yet the best candidates for these objects are not located in gas-rich environments where gradual…
While there are a number of proposed formation channels for subsolar mass compact objects, including black holes formed primordially, or neutron stars that form in collapsar disks, there have yet to be any conclusive observations of such…
Using state-of-the-art dynamical simulations of globular clusters, including radiation reaction during black hole encounters and a cosmological model of star cluster formation, we create a realistic population of dynamically-formed binary…
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.…