Speaker
Description
In gravitational-wave astrophysics, the chirp mass is one of the two primary quantities directly inferred from detected signals. This combination of component masses exhibits a non-uniform distribution with distinct features, most notably a peak around 30 solar masses whose origin remains heavily debated. Reconstructing the systems contributing to this peak provides surprising results: nearly equal-mass binaries with an extremely specific component mass range of 33 to 34 solar masses. Understanding if and why this combination of features is preferred will address an unresolved challenge in our picture of stellar death and black hole populations.
While population synthesis studies have widely investigated such systems, they often rely on approximations in stellar and binary physics. Furthermore, many models used to calibrate these codes evolve stars only until carbon depletion, well before core collapse, thus limiting the accuracy of remnant mass predictions. We address these limitations by investigating the formation of black holes in this mass range using detailed stellar evolution models. Our approach introduces two main innovations: evolving models up to core-collapse and adopting an Eddington-limit-induced mass-loss prescription, which may extend the range of initial stellar masses capable of producing black holes at these masses.
A distinctive aspect of this work is the opportunity to compare our results against observations. In particular, we compare our models to Gaia BH3, a unique 33 solar mass black hole located within the Galaxy. By providing a physics-informed model, we discuss the implications of this approach for the formation of high-mass black holes as a function of metallicity, bridging the gap between theoretical stellar evolution and the growing catalog of gravitational-wave observations.
| Talk category | NOVA Network 2 |
|---|---|
| Second preference | NOVA Network 3 |
| PhD relevance | 1st |
