Flipping spins in mass transferring binaries and origin of spin-orbit misalignment in binary black holes

Abstract

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 equations of motion describing the evolution of the donor rotational angular momentum vector (spin) which accompanies the transfer of mass. We consider: (i) a model in which the mass transfer rate is constant within each orbit and (ii) a phase-dependent rate in which all mass per orbit is lost at periapsis. In both cases, we find that the ejection of $\gtrsim 30$ per cent of the donor's initial mass causes its spin to nearly flip onto the orbital plane of the binary, independently of the initial spin-orbit alignment. Moreover, we show that the spin flip due to mass transfer can easily dominate over tidal synchronisation in any giant stars and main-sequence stars with masses $\sim 1.5$ to $5{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$. Finally, the general equations of motion, including tides, are used to evolve a realistic population of massive binary stars leading to the formation of binary black holes. Assuming that the stellar core and envelope are fully coupled, the resulting tilt of the first-born black hole reduces its spin projection onto the orbit normal by a factor $\sim \mathcal{O}(0.1)$. This result supports previous studies in favour of an insignificant contribution to the effective spin projection, ${\chi }_{\mathrm{eff}}$, in binary black holes formed from the evolution of field binaries.

17 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication by Physical Review D

References in corpus (10)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Cosmic Star Formation History
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• Illuminating Black Hole Binary Formation Channels with Spins in Advanced LIGO
• Analysis of spin precession in binary black hole systems including quadrupole-monopole interaction
• Mass Transfer from Giant Donors
• Interacting Binaries with Eccentric Orbits. Secular Orbital Evolution Due To Conservative Mass Transfer
• Interacting Binaries with Eccentric Orbits II. Secular Orbital Evolution Due To Non-Conservative Mass Transfer
• Eccentricity and Spin-Orbit Misalignment in Short-Period Stellar Binaries as a Signpost of Hidden Tertiary Companions
• You Can't Always Get What You Want: The Impact of Prior Assumptions on Interpreting GW190412

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole coalescences
• Spin misalignment of black hole binaries from young star clusters: implications for the origin of gravitational waves events
• Gravitational waves from the remnants of the first stars in nuclear star clusters
• Formation of the First Two Black Hole-Neutron Star Mergers (GW200115 and GW200105) from Isolated Binary Evolution
• Modelling the formation of the first two neutron star-black hole mergers, GW200105 and GW200115: metallicity, chirp masses and merger remnant spins
• Dynamical double black holes and their host cluster properties