相关论文: Missing in Axion: where are XENON1T's big black ho…
We demonstrate the power of the black hole mass gap as a novel probe of fundamental physics. New light particles that couple to the Standard Model can act as an additional source of energy loss in the cores of population-III stars,…
New particles coupled to the Standard Model can equilibrate in stellar cores if they are sufficiently heavy and strongly coupled. In this work, we investigate the astrophysical consequences of such a scenario for massive stars by…
We suggest that high-mass black holes; i.e., black holes of several solar masses, can be formed in binaries with low-mass main-sequence companions, provided that the hydrogen envelope of the massive star is removed in common envelope…
Mass distribution of black holes in low-mass X-ray binaries previously suggested the existence of a $ \sim 2-5M_{\odot} $ mass gap between the most massive neutron stars and the least massive black holes, while some recent evidence appears…
In a recent paper we pointed out that supermassive black holes, with masses ranging from $10^5$ to $10^{10} M_\odot$ form naturally at cosmic dawn if the dark matter is QCD axions or axion-like particles with mass $m > 10^{-16}\,…
We pioneer the black hole mass gap as a powerful new tool for constraining modified gravity theories. These theories predict fifth forces that alter the structure and evolution of population-III stars, exacerbating the pair-instability.…
Stars with an initial mass more than ~25 Msun are thought to ultimately become black holes. Then stellar-mass black holes should be ubiquitous but fewer than 20 have been found in our Galaxy to date, all of which have been found through…
This article reviews the current status of black hole astrophysics, focusing on topics of interest to a physics audience. Astronomers have discovered dozens of compact objects with masses greater than 3 solar masses, the likely maximum mass…
We explore possible systematic errors in the mass measurements of stellar mass black holes. We find that significant errors can arise from the assumption of zero or constant emission from the accretion flow, which is commonly used when…
The evolution of massive stars is influenced by the mass lost to stellar winds over their lifetimes. These winds limit the masses of the stellar remnants (such as black holes) that the stars ultimately produce. We use radio astrometry to…
We analyze the dynamics and observational signatures of axion clouds formed via the superradiant instability around primordial black holes, focusing on the mass range $10^{14}-10^{18}$ kg where the latter may account for all the dark…
The mass density of massive black holes observed locally is consistent with the hard X-ray Background provided that most of the radiation produced during their growth was absorbed by surrounding gas. A simple model is proposed here for the…
Black holes in binaries with other compact objects can provide natural venues for indirect detection of axions or other ultralight fields. The superradiant instability associated with a rapidly spinning black hole leads to the creation of…
Standard stellar evolution models predict that black holes in the range of approximately $50 - 140 M_\odot$ should not exist directly from stellar evolution. This gap appears because stars with masses between 100 and 240 $M_\odot$ are…
Black holes with masses $\approx 1\, M_{\odot}$ cannot be produced via stellar evolution. A popular scenario of their formation involves transmutation of neutron stars - by accumulation of dark matter triggering gravitational collapse in…
We examine the distribution of masses of black holes in transient low mass X-ray binary systems. A Bayesian analysis suggests that it is probable that six of the seven systems with measured mass functions have black hole masses clustered…
In the QCD axion scenario, a network of domain walls bounded by cosmic strings fragments into pieces. As these fragments collapse, some of them will form black holes. With standard QCD axion parameters, the black holes will have lunar…
A recent revision of black hole scaling relations (Kormendy & Ho 2013), indicates that the local mass density in black holes should be increased by up to a factor of five with respect to previously determined values. The local black hole…
The existence of black holes remains open to doubt until other conceivable options are excluded. With this motivation, we consider a model of a compact star in which most of the mass consists of dark particles of some kind, and a small…
Supermassive black holes with masses of millions to billions of solar masses are commonly found in the centers of galaxies. Astronomers seek to image jet formation using radio interferometry, but still suffer from insufficient angular…