370 citations · 2.2k across the 40 of their papers we have counts for
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The accuracy of merger times in hierarchical black hole triples
Giulia Fumagalli, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez
Orbit-averaged equations are widely used to model the gravitational-wave-driven evolution of compact binaries. Their validity relies on the radiation-reaction timescale being much…
Non-conservative Mass Transfer as a Formation Channel for Gaia Black Hole System
Aleksandra Olejak, Jakub Klencki, Alejandro Vigna-Gomez +6
The detected Gaia systems hosting compact objects challenge standard models of binary star evolution. In particular, if the observed black hole (BH) systems evolved in isolation, t…
Identifying Thorne-Żytkow Objects through Neutrinos
Pablo Martínez-Miravé, Irene Tamborra, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez
Thorne-Żytkow Objects (TŻOs) have been predicted to form when a neutron star is engulfed by a diffuse, convective giant envelope. Accretion onto a neutron star at a rate that is la…
Rethinking Thorne-Żytkow Object Formation: The Fate of X-ray Binary LMC X-4 and Implications for Ultra-long Gamma-ray Bursts
Tenley Hutchinson-Smith, Rosa Wallace Everson, Angela A. Twum +5
We present a start-to-end simulation aimed at studying the long-term fate of high-mass X-ray binaries and whether a Thorne-Żytkow object (TŻO) might ultimately be assembled. We ana…
Rethinking Thorne-Żytkow Object Formation: Assembly via Common Envelope in Field Binaries
Rosa Wallace Everson, Tenley Hutchinson-Smith, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez +1
Thorne-Żytkow objects (TŻOs), hypothetical merger products in which a neutron star is embedded in a stellar core, are traditionally considered steady-state configurations. Their as…
Constraints on neutrino natal kicks from black-hole binary VFTS 243
Alejandro Vigna-Gómez, Reinhold Willcox, Irene Tamborra +8
The recently reported observation of VFTS 243 is the first example of a massive black-hole binary system with negligible binary interaction following black-hole formation. The blac…
Wide binary pulsars from electron-capture supernovae
Simon Stevenson, Reinhold Willcox, Alejandro Vigna-Gomez +1
Neutron stars receive velocity kicks at birth in supernovae. Those formed in electron-capture supernovae from super asymptotic giant branch stars -- the lowest mass stars to end th…
Impact of Massive Binary Star and Cosmic Evolution on Gravitational Wave Observations II: Double Compact Object Rates and Properties
Floor S. Broekgaarden, Edo Berger, Simon Stevenson +9
Making the most of the rapidly increasing population of gravitational-wave detections of black hole (BH) and neutron star (NS) mergers requires comparing observations with populati…
Multi-Messenger Constraints on Magnetic Fields in Merging Black Hole-Neutron Star Binaries
Daniel J. D'Orazio, Zoltan Haiman, Janna Levin +2
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration recently detected gravitational waves (GWs) from the merger of black-hole-neutron-star (BHNS) binary systems GW200105 and GW200115. No coincident…
Constraints on Weak Supernova Kicks from Observed Pulsar Velocities
Reinhold Willcox, Ilya Mandel, Eric Thrane +3
Observations of binary pulsars and pulsars in globular clusters suggest that at least some pulsars must receive weak natal kicks at birth. If all pulsars received strong natal kick…
Fallback supernova assembly of heavy binary neutron stars and light black hole-neutron star pairs and the common stellar ancestry of GW190425 and GW200115
Alejandro Vigna-Gómez, Sophie L. Schrøder, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz +4
The detection of the unusually heavy binary neutron star merger GW190425 marked a stark contrast to the mass distribution from known Galactic pulsars in double neutron star binarie…
Impact of Massive Binary Star and Cosmic Evolution on Gravitational Wave Observations I: Black Hole-Neutron Star Mergers
Floor S. Broekgaarden, Edo Berger, Coenraad J. Neijssel +7
Mergers of black hole-neutron star (BHNS) binaries have now been observed by GW detectors with the recent announcement of GW200105 and GW200115. Such observations not only provide…
Massive Stellar Triples Leading to Sequential Binary Black-Hole Mergers in the Field
Alejandro Vigna-Gómez, Silvia Toonen, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz +3
Stellar triples with massive stellar components are common, and can lead to sequential binary black-hole mergers. Here, we outline the evolution towards these sequential mergers, a…
Binary population synthesis with probabilistic remnant mass and kick prescriptions
Ilya Mandel, Bernhard Mueller, Jeff Riley +3
We report on the impact of a probabilistic prescription for compact remnant masses and kicks on massive binary population synthesis. We find that this prescription populates the pu…
Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory: A kilohertz-band gravitational-wave detector in the global network
K. Ackley, V. B. Adya, P. Agrawal +160
Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influen…
An extremely energetic supernova from a very massive star in a dense medium
Matt Nicholl, Peter K. Blanchard, Edo Berger +14
The interaction of a supernova with a circumstellar medium (CSM) can dramatically increase the emitted luminosity by converting kinetic energy to thermal energy. In 'superluminous'…
Be X-ray binaries in the SMC as indicators of mass transfer efficiency
Serena Vinciguerra, Coenraad J. Neijssel, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez +7
Be X-ray binaries (BeXRBs) consist of rapidly rotating Be stars with neutron star companions accreting from the circumstellar emission disk. We compare the observed population of B…
Luminous Red Novae: population models and future prospects
George Howitt, Simon Stevenson, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez +5
A class of optical transients known as Luminous Red Novae (LRNe) have recently been associated with mass ejections from binary stars undergoing common-envelope evolution. We use th…
Detecting Double Neutron Stars with LISA
Mike Y. M. Lau, Ilya Mandel, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez +3
We estimate the properties of the double neutron star (DNS) population that will be observable by the planned space-based interferometer LISA. By following the gravitational radiat…
Explosions Driven by the Coalescence of a Compact Object with the Core of a Massive-Star Companion Inside a Common Envelope: Circumstellar Properties, Light Curves, and Population Statistics
Sophie Lund Schrøder, Morgan MacLeod, Abraham Loeb +2
We model explosions driven by the coalescence of a black hole or neutron star with the core of its massive-star companion. Upon entering a common envelope phase, a compact object m…
STROOPWAFEL: Simulating rare outcomes from astrophysical populations, with application to gravitational-wave sources
Floor S. Broekgaarden, Stephen Justham, Selma E. de Mink +6
Gravitational-wave observations of double compact object (DCO) mergers are providing new insights into the physics of massive stars and the evolution of binary systems. Making the…
Massive Stellar Mergers as Precursors of Hydrogen-rich Pulsational Pair Instability Supernovae
Alejandro Vigna-Gómez, Stephen Justham, Ilya Mandel +2
Interactions between massive stars in binaries are thought to be responsible for much of the observed diversity of supernovae. As surveys probe rarer populations of events, we shou…
The impact of pair-instability mass loss on the binary black hole mass distribution
Simon Stevenson, Matthew Sampson, Jade Powell +4
A population of binary black hole mergers has now been observed in gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO and Virgo. The masses of these black holes appear to show evidence for a pil…
Exploring the Parameter Space of Compact Binary Population Synthesis
Jim W. Barrett, Ilya Mandel, Coenraad J. Neijssel +2
As we enter the era of gravitational wave astronomy, we are beginning to collect observations which will enable us to explore aspects of astrophysics of massive stellar binaries wh…