Do High-spin High-mass X-Ray Binaries Contribute to the Population of Merging Binary Black Holes?

Gallegos-Garcia, Monica; Fishbach, M.; Kalogera, V.; Berry, C. P. L.; Doctor, Z.

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac96ef

“…The distribution of BH spins can be used to construct a unified view of stellar-mass BH formation and evolution in binary systems. While high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) systems are ideal candidates to link the population of XBs to that of BBHs, as they contain a BH and a massive star that could also evolve to produce a secondary BH, Gallegos-Garcia et al (2022) find that only up to 11% of HMXBs that experience an accretion episode while both stars are still on the main sequence (case A mass transfer) can evolve to eventually form a merging BBH system, and that at most 20% of merging BBH systems originate from case A HMXBs. Additionally, Liotine et al (2023) find that observational selection effects can further divide the link between HMXBs and BBHs through the fact that only around 0.6% of detectable HMXBs could produce a BBH system that would merge in a Hubble time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Extreme Black Hole in the Recurrent X-Ray Transient XTE J2012+381

Draghis,

Miller,

Brumback

et al. 2023

ApJ

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The black hole (BH) candidate XTE J2012+381 underwent an outburst at the end of 2022. We analyzed 105 NICER observations and two NuSTAR observations of the source during the outburst. The NuSTAR observations of the M ∼ 10 M ⊙ BH indicate clear signs of relativistic disk reflection, which we modeled to measure a BH spin of a = 0.988 − 0.030 + 0.008 and an inclination of θ = 68 − 11 + 6 deg (1σ statistical errors). In our analysis, we test an array of models and examine the effect of fitting NuSTAR spectra alone versus fitting simultaneously with NICER. We find that when the underlying continuum emission is properly accounted for, the reflected emission is similarly characterized by multiple models. We combined 52 NICER spectra to obtain a spectrum with an effective exposure of 190 ks in order to probe the presence of absorption lines that would be suggestive of disk winds, but the resulting features were not statistically significant. We discuss the implications of this measurement in relation to the overall BH spin distribution in X-ray binary systems.

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“…find that based on the existing sample of GW measurements, at most 26% of the underlying BBH population originates from "hierarchical mergers" (repeated mergers of smaller BHs). While works such as Olejak & Belczynski (2021) argue that the observed distribution of BBHs is consistent with formation from isolated binaries, Gallegos-Garcia et al (2022) find that at most 20% of BBHs originate from HMXB systems formed through Case-A mass transfer and that at most 11% of Case-A HMXB systems evolve into BBHs and XBs are not only observed to be different , but are intrinsically different. In the future, expanding and comparing the two spin samples will allow placing better constraints on BH formation and evolution mechanisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

A Systematic View of Ten New Black Hole Spins

Draghis

¹

,

Miller

²

,

Zoghbi

³

et al. 2023

ApJ

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The launch of NuSTAR and the increasing number of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected through gravitational wave observations have exponentially advanced our understanding of BHs. Despite the simplicity owed to being fully described by their mass and angular momentum, BHs have remained mysterious laboratories that probe the most extreme environments in the universe. While significant progress has been made in the recent decade, the distribution of spin in BHs has not yet been understood. In this work, we provide a systematic analysis of all known BHs in X-ray binary systems (XBs) that have previously been observed by NuSTAR, but have not yet had a spin measurement made using the “relativistic reflection” method obtained from those data. By looking at all the available archival NuSTAR data of these sources, we measure 10 new BH spins: IGR J17454-2919 − a = 0.97 − 0.17 + 0.03 ; GRS 1758-258 − a = 0.991 − 0.019 + 0.007 ; MAXI J1727-203 − a = 0.986 − 0.159 + 0.012 ; MAXI J0637-430 − a = 0.97 ± 0.02; Swift J1753.5-0127 − a = 0.997 − 0.003 + 0.001 ; V4641 Sgr − a = 0.86 − 0.06 + 0.04 ; 4U 1543-47 − a = 0.98 − 0.02 + 0.01 ; 4U 1957+11 − a = 0.95 − 0.04 + 0.02 ; H 1743-322 − a = 0.98 − 0.02 + 0.01 ; and MAXI J1820+070 − a = 0.988 − 0.028 + 0.006 (all uncertainties are at the 1σ confidence level). We discuss the implications of our measurements on the entire distribution of stellar-mass BH spins in XBs, and we compare them with the spin distribution in BBHs, finding that the two distributions are clearly in disagreement. Additionally, we discuss the implications of this work on our understanding of how the “relativistic reflection” spin measurement technique works, and discuss possible sources of systematic uncertainty that can bias our measurements.

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“…The importance of natal kicks for merging the asymmetric CEB systems is evident in Figure 3, which shows the difference in second kick magnitudes received by merging systems (top panel) compared to those received by non-merging systems (bottom panel). The role of natal kicks in merging binary NSs was recently highlighted by Gallegos-Garcia et al (2022). In general, natal kicks tend to be smaller for larger m 2 , a consequence of the assumed supernova prescription in which smaller compact objects are born from more explosive supernovae that impart larger kicks (Fryer et al 2012).…”

Section: Impact Of Natal Kicksmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Role of Natal Kicks in Forming Asymmetric Compact Binary Mergers

Oh

¹

,

Fishbach

²

,

Kimball

³

et al. 2023

ApJ

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In their most recent observing run, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration observed gravitational waves from compact binary mergers with highly asymmetric mass ratios, including both binary black holes (BBHs) and neutron star-black holes (NSBHs). It appears that NSBHs with mass ratios q ≃ 0.2 are more common than equally asymmetric BBHs, but the reason for this remains unclear. We use the binary population synthesis code cosmic to investigate the evolutionary pathways leading to the formation and merger of asymmetric compact binaries. We find that within the context of isolated binary stellar evolution, most asymmetric mergers start off as asymmetric stellar binaries. Because of the initial asymmetry, these systems tend to first undergo a dynamically unstable mass transfer phase. However, after the first star collapses into a compact object, the mass ratio is close to unity and the second phase of mass transfer is usually stable. According to our simulations, this stable mass transfer fails to shrink the orbit enough on its own for the system to merge. Instead, the natal kick received by the second-born compact object during its collapse is key in determining how many of these systems can merge. For the most asymmetric systems with mass ratios of q ≤ 0.1, the merging systems in our models receive an average kick magnitude of 255 km s−1 during the second collapse, while the average kick for non-merging systems is 59 km s−1. Because lower mass compact objects, like neutron stars, are expected to receive larger natal kicks than higher mass BHs, this may explain why asymmetric NSBH systems merge more frequently than asymmetric BBH systems.

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Do High-spin High-mass X-Ray Binaries Contribute to the Population of Merging Binary Black Holes?

Cited by 17 publications

References 88 publications

An Extreme Black Hole in the Recurrent X-Ray Transient XTE J2012+381

An Extreme Black Hole in the Recurrent X-Ray Transient XTE J2012+381

A Systematic View of Ten New Black Hole Spins

The Role of Natal Kicks in Forming Asymmetric Compact Binary Mergers

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