Related papers: Relativistic Binary Pulsars with Black-Hole Compan…
In the Galaxy there are 64 Be X-ray binaries known to-date. Out of those, 42 host a neutron star, and for the reminder the nature of a companion is not known. None, so far, is known to host a black hole. There seems to be no apparent…
Binary and Millisecond pulsars have a great deal to teach us about stellar evolution and are invaluable tools for tests of relativistic theories of gravity. Our understanding of these objects has been transformed by large-scale surveys that…
We consider the information that can be derived about massive black-hole binary populations and their formation history solely from current and possible future pulsar timing array (PTA) results. We use models of the stochastic…
Binaries occur in many astrophysical systems, from young protostellar binaries in star forming regions to supermassive black hole binaries in galaxy centers. In many cases, a circumbinary disk of gas forms around the binary with an orbit…
We assess the effects of super-massive black hole (SMBH) environments on the gravitational-wave (GW) signal from binary SMBHs. To date, searches with pulsar timing arrays for GWs from binary SMBHs, in the frequency band $\sim1-100$\,nHz,…
If binaries consisting of two 100 Msun black holes exist they would serve as extraordinarily powerful gravitational-wave sources, detectable to redshifts of z=2 with the advanced LIGO/Virgo ground-based detectors. Large uncertainties about…
We investigate the detectability of single-event coalescing black hole binaries with total mass of $100-600 M_{\odot}$ at cosmological distances ($5 \lesssim z \lesssim 20$) with the next generation of terrestrial gravitational wave…
Distinguishing the photon output of an accreting supermassive black hole binary system from that of a single supermassive black hole accreting at the same rate is intrinsically difficult because the majority of the light emerges from near…
Coalescence of binary supermassive black holes (SBHs) would constitute the strongest sources of gravitational waves to be observed by LISA. While the formation of binary SBHs during galaxy mergers is almost inevitable, coalescence requires…
From considerations of spin evolution and kinematics in the galactic potential, we argue that the pulsars B1913+16, B1534+12, and B2127+11C may be younger than previously assumed, and we find that a lower bound on the formation and merger…
The vast majority of massive binary systems in the universe is evidently unsuited to produce merging binary black holes. However, several narrow evolutionary paths of isolated massive binaries towards this goal have recently been…
Neutron stars receive velocity kicks at birth in supernovae. Those formed in electron-capture supernovae from super asymptotic giant branch stars -- the lowest mass stars to end their lives in supernovae -- may receive significantly lower…
Stellar black hole (BH) binaries are one of the most promising gravitational wave (GW) sources for GW detection by the ground-based detectors. Nuclear star clusters (NCs) located at the centre of galaxies are known to harbour massive black…
We study the Galactic field population of double compact objects (NS-NS, BH-NS, BH-BH binaries) to investigate the number (if any) of these systems that can potentially be detected with LISA at low gravitational-wave frequencies. We…
We explore the properties of dense star clusters that are likely to be the nurseries of stellar black holes pairing in close binaries. We combine a cosmological model of globular cluster formation with analytic prescriptions for the…
Binary black holes can form efficiently in dense young stellar clusters, such as the progenitors of globular clusters, via a combination of gravitational segregation and cluster evaporation. We use simple analytic arguments supported by…
The recent detections of GW150914 and GW151226 imply an abundance of stellar-mass binary-black-hole mergers in the local universe. While ground-based gravitational-wave detectors are limited to observing the final moments before a binary…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are the oldest but fastest pulsars known to date. In the 1980s, to explain how these pulsars could be formed, a new hypothesis was formulated: the recycling of pulsars, i.e the fact that a pulsar could accrete…
We use dynamical mass measurements of 16 black holes in transient low-mass X-ray binaries to infer the stellar black hole mass distribution in the parent population. We find that the observations are best described by a narrow mass…
The growing population of binary black holes (BBHs) observed by gravitational wave detectors is a potential Rosetta stone for understanding their formation channels. Here, we use an upgraded version of our semi-analytic codes {\sc…