2025/10/20 by Cristiano Ugolini, Ugolini, Cristiano
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.17987
openalex publication_date 2025/10/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
After the third LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA observing run, the number of detected binary black hole (BBH) mergers became sufficient to identify statistical features of the population. We explore how different prescriptions for the final fate of massive stars and key binary-evolution processes shape isolated binaries and their remnants. Using sevn, we evolved 107 binaries across 15 metallicities, 3 core-collapse supernova models, 4 PPISN models, and 6 common-envelope (CE) prescriptions, for a total of 990 runs (9.9 × 109 systems). Both single- and binary-star physics shape the BH mass distribution: single-star processes control the high-mass tail (M\rm BH ≥ 45M\odot), while binary evolution produces pile-ups in specific intervals. In particular, the bump at ∼ 35 M\odot, often attributed to PPISNe, also emerges from binaries evolving only through stable mass transfer, without CE. Finally, we test a top-heavy IMF, finding it boosts merger numbers and alters the abundance of systems with a given primary BH mass.