Related papers: Theoretical Black Hole Mass Distributions
The compact remnants of core collapse supernovae - neutron stars and black holes - have properties that reflect both the structure of their stellar progenitors and the physics of the explosion. In particular, the masses of these remnants…
We investigate whether stellar-mass black holes have to receive natal kicks in order to explain the observed distribution of low-mass X-ray binaries containing black holes within our Galaxy. Such binaries are the product of binary…
Close stellar binaries are prone to undergo a phase of stable mass transfer in which a star loses mass to its companion. Assuming that the donor star loses mass along the instantaneous interstellar axis, we derive the orbit-averaged…
Determining the final result of black hole-neutron star mergers, and in particular the amount of matter remaining outside the black hole at late times and its properties, has been one of the main motivations behind the numerical simulation…
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…
In binary black-hole mergers from isolated binary-star evolution, both black holes are from progenitor stars that have lost their hydrogen-rich envelopes by binary mass transfer. Envelope stripping is known to affect the pre-supernova core…
The inspiral and merger of two black holes produces a remnant black hole with mass and spin determined by the properties of its parent black holes. Using the inferred population properties of component black holes from the first two and a…
The gravitational wave signature of a binary black hole (BBH) merger is dependent on its component mass and spin. If such black holes originate from rapidly rotating progenitors, the large angular momentum reserve in the star could drive a…
The mass distribution of binary black holes inferred from gravitational wave measurements is expected to shed light on their formation scenarios. An emerging structure in the mass distribution indicates the presence of multiple peaks around…
The mass function for black holes and neutron stars at birth is explored for mass-losing helium stars. These should resemble, more closely than similar studies of single hydrogen-rich stars, the results of evolution in close binary systems.…
We calculate the formation rates of low-mass X-ray binaries with a black hole. Both a semi-analytic and a more detailed model predict formation rates two orders of magnitude lower than derived from the observations. Solution of this…
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…
It is firmly established that the stellar mass distribution is smooth, covering the range 0.1-100 Msun. It is to be expected that the masses of the ensuing compact remnants correlate with the masses of their progenitor stars, and thus it is…
The distribution of black hole masses in galaxies is constrained by photometric and kinematic studies of individual galaxies, and by the properties of the quasar population. I review our understanding of these topics, present new results of…
One proposed black hole formation channel involves hierarchical mergers, where black holes form through repeated binary mergers. Previous studies have shown that such black holes follow a near-universal spin distribution centered around…
Black hole - neutron star $(BH/NS)$ binaries are of interest in many ways: they are intrinsically multi-messenger systems, highly transient, radiate gravitational waves detectable by LIGO, and may produce $\gamma$-ray bursts. Although it…
The explosion of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) is an extremely challenging problem, and there are still large uncertainties regarding which stars lead to successful explosions that leave behind a neutron star, and which ones will form a…
We have performed an extensive numerical study of coalescing black-hole binaries to understand the gravitational-wave spectrum of quasi-normal modes excited in the merged black hole. Remarkably, we find that the masses and spins of the…
Up to now several gravitational-wave events from the coalescences of black hole binaries have been reported by LIGO/VIRGO, and imply that black holes should have an extended mass function. We work out the merger rate distribution of…
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…