Do high-spin high mass X-ray binaries contribute to the population of merging binary black holes?

Gallegos-Garcia, M., Fishbach, M., Kalogera, V., Berry, C. P.L. and Doctor, Z. (2022) Do high-spin high mass X-ray binaries contribute to the population of merging binary black holes? Astrophysical Journal Letters, 938, L19. (doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac96ef)

Abstract

Gravitational-wave observations of binary black hole (BBH) systems point to black hole spin magnitudes being relatively low. These measurements appear in tension with high spin measurements for high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). We use grids of MESA simulations combined with the rapid population-synthesis code COSMIC to examine the origin of these two binary populations. It has been suggested that Case-A mass transfer while both stars are on the main sequence can form high-spin BHs in HMXBs. Assuming this formation channel, we show that depending on critical mass ratios for the stability of mass transfer, 48-100% of these Case-A HMXBs merge during the common-envelope phase and up to 42% result in binaries too wide to merge within a Hubble time. Both MESA and COSMIC show that high-spin HMXBs formed through Case-A mass transfer can only form merging BBHs within a small parameter space where mass transfer can lead to enough orbital shrinkage to merge within a Hubble time. We find that only up to 11% of these Case-A HMXBs result in BBH mergers, and at most 20% of BBH mergers came from Case-A HMXBs. Therefore, it is not surprising that these two spin distributions are observed to be different.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Berry, Dr Christopher
• Authors: Gallegos-Garcia, M., Fishbach, M., Kalogera, V., Berry, C. P.L., and Doctor, Z.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Research Centre: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research
• Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• ISSN: 2041-8205
• ISSN (Online): 2041-8213
• Published Online: 18 October 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022. The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Astrophysical Journal Letters 938:L19
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license

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