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1. Multiplicity of Galactic luminous blue variable stars

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202040062  

   Mahy, L. ; Lanthermann, C. ; Hutsemékers, D. ; Kluska, J. ; Lobel, A. ; Manick, R. ; Miszalski, B. ; Reggiani, M. ; Sana, H. ; Gosset, E. ( January 2022 , Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   Context. Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are characterised by strong photometric and spectroscopic variability. They are thought to be in a transitory phase between O-type stars on the main sequence and the Wolf-Rayet stage. Recent studies also evoked the possibility that they might be formed through binary interaction. Only a few are known in binary systems so far, but their multiplicity fraction is still uncertain. Aims. We derive the binary fraction of the Galactic LBV population. We combine multi-epoch spectroscopy and long-baseline interferometry to probe separations from 0.1 to 120 mas around confirmed and candidate LBVs. Methods. We used a cross-correlation technique to measure the radial velocities of these objects. We identified spectroscopic binaries through significant radial velocity variability with an amplitude larger than 35 km s −1 . We also investigated the observational biases to take them into account when we established the intrinsic binary fraction. We used CANDID to detect interferometric companions, derive their flux fractions, and their positions on the sky. Results. From the multi-epoch spectroscopy, we derive an observed spectroscopic binary fraction of 26 −10 +16 %. Considering period and mass ratio ranges from log( P orb ) = 0 − 3 (i.e. from 1 to 1000 days), qmore » = 0.1 − 1.0, and a representative set of orbital parameter distributions, we find a bias-corrected binary fraction of 62 −24 +38 %. Based on data of the interferometric campaign, we detect a binary fraction of 70 ± 9% at projected separations between 1 and 120 mas. Based on the derived primary diameters and considering the distances of these objects, we measure for the first time the exact radii of Galactic LBVs to be between 100 and 650  R ⊙ . This means that it is unlikely that short-period systems are included among LBV-like stars. Conclusions. This analysis shows for the first time that the binary fraction in the Galactic LBV population is large. If they form through single-star evolution, their orbit must be large initially. If they form through a binary channel, the implication is that either massive stars in short binary systems must undergo a phase of fully non-conservative mass transfer to be able to sufficiently widen the orbit to form an LBV, or that LBVs form through merging in initially binary or triple systems. Interferometric follow-up would provide the distributions of orbital parameters at more advanced stages and would serve to quantitatively test the binary evolution in massive stars.« less
2. Successful Common Envelope Ejection and Binary Neutron Star Formation in 3D Hydrodynamics

   Law-Smith, Jamie A. ; Everson, Rosa Wallace ; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico ; de Mink, Selma E. ; van Son, Lieke A. ; Götberg, Ylva ; Zellmann, Stefan ; Vigna-Gómez, Alejandro search ; Renzo, Mathieu ; Wu, Samantha search ; et al ( January 2021 , Astronomical Journal)

   The coalescence of two neutron stars was recently observed in a multi-messenger detection of gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Binary neutron stars that merge within a Hubble time, as well as many other compact binaries, are expected to form via common envelope evolution. Yet five decades of research on common envelope evolution have not yet resulted in a satisfactory understanding of the multi-spatial multi-timescale evolution for the systems that lead to compact binaries. In this paper, we report on the first successful simulations of common envelope ejection leading to binary neutron star formation in 3D hydrodynamics. We simulate the dynamical inspiral phase of the interaction between a 12 M⊙ red supergiant and a 1.4 M⊙ neutron star for different initial separations and initial conditions. For all of our simulations, we find complete envelope ejection and a final orbital separation of ≈1.1 - 2.8R⊙ , leading to a binary neutron star that will merge within 0.01-1 Gyr. We find an αCE -equivalent efficiency of ≈0.1 - 0.4 for the models we study, but this may be specific for these extended progenitors. We fully resolve the core of the star to ≲0.005R⊙ and our 3D hydrodynamics simulations are informed bymore »an adjusted 1D analytic energy formalism and a 2D kinematics study in order to overcome the prohibitive computational cost of simulating these systems. The framework we develop in this paper can be used to simulate a wide variety of interactions between stars, from stellar mergers to common envelope episodes leading to GW sources.« less
3. Massive black hole mergers with orbital information: predictions from the ASTRID simulation

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1432  

   Chen, Nianyi ; Ni, Yueying ; Holgado, A Miguel ; Matteo, Tiziana Di ; Tremmel, Michael ; DeGraf, Colin ; Bird, Simeon ; Croft, Rupert ; Feng, Yu ( June 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We examine massive black hole (MBH) mergers and their associated gravitational wave signals from the large-volume cosmological simulation Astrid . Astrid includes galaxy formation and black hole models recently updated with an MBH seed population between 3 × 104h−1M⊙ and 3 × 105h−1M⊙ and a sub-grid dynamical friction (DF) model to follow the MBH dynamics down to 1.5 ckpc h−1. We calculate the initial eccentricities of MBH orbits directly from the simulation at kpc-scales, and find orbital eccentricities above 0.7 for most MBH pairs before the numerical merger. After approximating unresolved evolution on scales below ${\sim 200\, \text{pc}}$, we find that the in-simulation DF on large scales accounts for more than half of the total orbital decay time ($\sim 500\, \text{Myr}$) due to DF. The binary hardening time is an order of magnitude longer than the DF time, especially for the seed-mass binaries (MBH < 2Mseed). As a result, only $\lesssim 20{{\rm per \,cent}}$ of seed MBH pairs merge at z > 3 after considering both unresolved DF evolution and binary hardening. These z > 3 seed-mass mergers are hosted in a biased population of galaxies with the highest stellar masses of $\gt 10^9\, {\rm M}_\odot$. With the higher initial eccentricity prediction from Astrid , we estimate anmore »expected merger rate of 0.3−0.7 per year from the z > 3 MBH population. This is a factor of ∼7 higher than the prediction using the circular orbit assumption. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna events are expected at a similar rate, and comprise $\gtrsim 60\,{\rm{per\,cent}}$ seed-seed mergers, $\sim 30\,{\rm{per\,cent}}$ involving only one seed-mass MBH, and $\sim 10\,{\rm{per\,cent}}$ mergers of non-seed MBHs.« less
4. Impact of massive binary star and cosmic evolution on gravitational wave observations – II. Double compact object rates and properties

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1677  

   Broekgaarden, Floor S. ; Berger, Edo ; Stevenson, Simon ; Justham, Stephen ; Mandel, Ilya ; Chruślińska, Martyna ; van Son, Lieke A. C. ; Wagg, Tom ; Vigna-Gómez, Alejandro ; de Mink, Selma E. ; et al ( July 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   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 population synthesis predictions. In this work, we investigate the combined impact from the key uncertainties in population synthesis modelling of the isolated binary evolution channel: the physical processes in massive binary-star evolution and the star formation history as a function of metallicity, Z, and redshift z, $\mathcal {S}(Z,z)$. Considering these uncertainties, we create 560 different publicly available model realizations and calculate the rate and distribution characteristics of detectable BHBH, BHNS, and NSNS mergers. We find that our stellar evolution and $\mathcal {S}(Z,z)$ variations can combined impact the predicted intrinsic and detectable merger rates by factors in the range 102–104. We find that BHBH rates are dominantly impacted by $\mathcal {S}(Z,z)$ variations, NSNS rates by stellar evolution variations and BHNS rates by both. We then consider the combined impact from all uncertainties considered in this work on the detectable mass distribution shapes (chirp mass, individual masses, and mass ratio). We find that the BHNS mass distributions are predominantly impacted by massive binary-star evolution changes. For BHBH and NSNS, we find that both uncertainties are important. Wemore »also find that the shape of the delay time and birth metallicity distributions are typically dominated by the choice of $\mathcal {S}(Z,z)$ for BHBH, BHNS, and NSNS. We identify several examples of robust features in the mass distributions predicted by all 560 models, such that we expect more than 95 per cent of BHBH detections to contain a BH $\gtrsim 8\, \rm {M}_{\odot }$ and have mass ratios ≲ 4. Our work demonstrates that it is essential to consider a wide range of allowed models to study double compact object merger rates and properties. Conversely, larger observed samples could allow us to decipher currently unconstrained stages of stellar and binary evolution.

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5. Repeated Mergers, Mass-gap Black Holes, and Formation of Intermediate-mass Black Holes in Dense Massive Star Clusters

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac5026  

   Fragione, Giacomo ; Kocsis, Bence ; Rasio, Frederic A. ; Silk, Joseph ( March 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract Current theoretical models predict a mass gap with a dearth of stellar black holes (BHs) between roughly 50 M ⊙ and 100 M ⊙ , while above the range accessible through massive star evolution, intermediate-mass BHs (IMBHs) still remain elusive. Repeated mergers of binary BHs, detectable via gravitational-wave emission with the current LIGO/Virgo/Kagra interferometers and future detectors such as LISA or the Einstein Telescope, can form both mass-gap BHs and IMBHs. Here we explore the possibility that mass-gap BHs and IMBHs are born as a result of successive BH mergers in dense star clusters. In particular, nuclear star clusters at the centers of galaxies have deep enough potential wells to retain most of the BH merger products after they receive significant recoil kicks due to anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation. Using for the first time simulations that include full stellar evolution, we show that a massive stellar BH seed can easily grow to ∼10 3 –10 4 M ⊙ as a result of repeated mergers with other smaller BHs. We find that lowering the cluster metallicity leads to larger final BH masses. We also show that the growing BH spin tends to decrease in magnitude with the number ofmore »mergers so that a negative correlation exists between the final mass and spin of the resulting IMBHs. Assumptions about the birth spins of stellar BHs affect our results significantly, with low birth spins leading to the production of a larger population of massive BHs.« less