Speaker
Description
Gravitational waves (GW) are providing a new way to study the properties of compact objects. In this context, understanding what determines the final fate of stars, the role of binary interactions, and which signatures to expect in GW observations is becoming increasingly important. The formation of black holes (BHs) or neutron stars (NS) is not a simple function of the initial mass of a massive star. Instead, it depends on the hearts of stars, i.e. their core structures at the onset of core collapse. Using detailed stellar models, we investigate the origin of variations in final core structure as a function of mass and show that these are determined by stellar physics, i.e., the timing and energetics of the latest burning phases. We demonstrate how binary mass transfer modifies the core structure of stars and thus their fate. Our results imply that binary-stripped stars produce universal BH masses across metallicity. We predict that these lead to features in the chirp-mass distribution of binary BH mergers that can explain the observed gap at 10-12 solar masses and peaks at 8 and 12 solar masses found in GW observations. We discuss the implications of these findings for constraining uncertain stellar and supernova physics.
| Talk category | NOVA Network 2 |
|---|---|
| Preference for a talk or poster | Talk |
