364 citations · 1.1k across the 33 of their papers we have counts for
28 papers · 1 filter
Dynamical pairing in gravitational wave populations
Fabio Antonini, Aleksandra Olejak, Isobel Romero-Shaw +1
Binary black holes formed dynamically in star clusters are often associated with nearly equal-mass pairing. We show that this expectation is incomplete. The more general prediction…
Mass and spin properties of black-hole mergers reveal formation in triples
Jakob Stegmann, Aleksandra Olejak
Deciphering the formation channels of the observed binary black hole mergers remains a central open problem in gravitational-wave astronomy. With hundreds of detections, the inferr…
Evolution of Main Sequence Stars Transferring Mass to a Supermassive Black Hole
Andrey Sandomirsky, Re'em Sari, Aleksandra Olejak +1
We consider main-sequence stars orbiting close to a supermassive black hole (SMBH), which are potential gravitational wave (GW) sources for LISA if their orbital periods are of the…
Distinct spin properties and astrophysical origin of low mass binary black holes in gravitational wave data
Elizabeth Flanagan, Jakob Stegmann, Isobel Romero-Shaw +3
We analyze the effective-spin distribution of binary black hole mergers in GWTC-5.0 as a function of primary black hole mass using hierarchical Bayesian inference. We model the pop…
Binary Evolution Can Mimic the Pair-Instability Mass Gap in Black Hole Mergers
Aleksandra Olejak, Jakob Stegmann
The recent O4 catalogs from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, which significantly increased the number of gravitational-wave (GW) detections, reveal features with potentially imp…
Remnant recoil and host environments of GWTC-4.0 binary black-hole mergers
Joan Llobera-Querol, Eleanor Hamilton, Neha Singh +8
Determining the astrophysical origin of binary black holes and whether merger remnants are retained in their birth environments is essential for understanding hierarchical mergers…
Gravitational-wave Observations Suggest Most Black Hole Mergers Form in Triples
Jakob Stegmann, Fabio Antonini, Aleksandra Olejak +4
The spin-orbit tilt angles of merging stellar-mass black holes provide key insights into their astrophysical origin. Non-parametric population modelling of The LIGO, Vir…
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…
Self-lensing binaries as probes of Supernova physics
Grzegorz Wiktorowicz, Matthew Middleton, Aleksandra Olejak +3
Self-lensing (SL) in binary systems has the potential to provide a unique observational window into the Galactic population of compact objects. Using the and C…
Resolving Black Hole Family Issues Among the Massive Ancestors of Very High-Spin Gravitational-Wave Events Like GW231123
Jakob Stegmann, Aleksandra Olejak, Selma E. de Mink
The latest detection of GW231123, a binary black hole (BH) merger with exceptionally large masses and high spins for the incoming components, has been suggested as a smoking gun fo…
Spins of Black Holes in X-ray Binaries and the Tension with the Gravitational Wave Measurements
Andrzej A. Zdziarski, Gregoire Marcel, Alexandra Veledina +2
We review current challenges in understanding the values and origin of the spins of black holes in binaries. Thanks to recent advances in astrophysical instrumentation, the spins c…
Estimating the binary neutron star merger rate density evolution with Einstein Telescope
Neha Singh, Tomasz Bulik, Aleksandra Olejak
The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a proposed third-generation, wide-band gravitational wave (GW) detector which will have an improved detection sensitivity in low frequencies, leading…
A fundamental limit to how close binary systems can get via stable mass transfer shapes the properties of binary black hole mergers
Jakub Klencki, Philipp Podsiadlowski, Norbert Langer +4
Mass transfer in binary systems is the key process in the formation of various classes of objects, including merging binary black holes (BBHs) and neutron stars. Orbital evolution…
Supermassive black holes stripping a subgiant star down to its helium core: a new type of multi-messenger source for LISA
Aleksandra Olejak, Jakob Stegmann, Selma E. de Mink +3
Some stars orbiting supermassive black holes (SMBH) are expected to undergo a gravitational-wave (GW)-driven inspiral and initiate mass transfer on nearly circular orbits. However,…
X-ray emission from helium star+black hole binaries as probes of tidally induced spin-up of second-born black holes
Koushik Sen, Aleksandra Olejak, Sambaran Banerjee
Tidally induced spin-up of stripped helium stars in short-period (<\,1\,d) binaries with black holes has been presented as one of the possible mechanisms to reproduce the high-spin…
On the effective spin-mass ratio relation of binary black hole mergers that evolved in isolation
Sambaran Banerjee, Aleksandra Olejak
The ground-based measurement of gravitational waves (GW) from merging binary black holes (BBH) allows independent determination of spins of stellar-remnant black holes (BH). The ob…
Residual eccentricity as a systematic uncertainty on the formation channels of binary black holes
Giulia Fumagalli, Isobel Romero-Shaw, Davide Gerosa +3
Resolving the formation channel(s) of merging binary black holes is a key goal in gravitational-wave astronomy. The orbital eccentricity is believed to be a precious tracer of the…
Unequal-mass, highly-spinning binary black hole mergers in the stable mass transfer formation channel
Aleksandra Olejak, Jakub Klencki, Xiao-Tian Xu +3
The growing database of gravitational-wave (GW) detections with the binary black holes (BHs) merging in the distant Universe contains subtle insights into their formation scenarios…
Symmetry breaking in merging binary black holes from young massive clusters and isolated binaries
Sambaran Banerjee, Aleksandra Olejak, Krzysztof Belczynski
Properties of the to-date-observed binary black hole (BBH) merger events suggest a preference towards spin-orbit aligned mergers. Naturally, this has caused widespread interest and…
The Effect of Supernova Convection On Neutron Star and Black Hole Masses
Chris L. Fryer, Aleksandra Olejak, Krzysztof Belczynski
Our understanding of the convective-engine paradigm driving core-collapse supernovae has been used for 2 decades to predict the remnant mass distribution from stellar collapse. The…
Black hole - black hole total merger mass and the origin of LIGO/Virgo sources
K. Belczynski, Z. Doctor, M. Zevin +3
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has reported nearly 100 BH-BH mergers. The LVK provides estimates of rates, masses, effective spins, and redshifts for these mergers. Yet,…
The role of supernova convection for the lower mass gap in the isolated binary formation of gravitational wave sources
Aleksandra Olejak, Chris L. Fryer, Krzysztof Belczynski +1
Understanding astrophysical phenomena involving compact objects requires an insight about the engine behind core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and the fate of the stellar collapse of m…
The implications of high BH spins on the origin of BH-BH mergers
Aleksandra Olejak, Krzysztof Belczynski
The LIGO/Virgo collaboration has reported 50 black hole-black hole (BH-BH) mergers and 8 candidates recovered from digging deeper into the detectors noise. The majority of these me…
The Uncertain Future of Massive Binaries Obscures the Origin of LIGO/Virgo Sources
K. Belczynski, A. Romagnolo, A. Olejak +6
The LIGO/Virgo gravitational--wave observatories have detected 50 BH-BH coalescences. This sample is large enough to have allowed several recent studies to draw conclusions about t…