A Possible Triple Formation Scenario of Binary Black Hole Merge With One In Pair-instability Supernova Mass Gap

Avatar
Poster
Voice is AI-generated
Connected to paperThis paper is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review

A Possible Triple Formation Scenario of Binary Black Hole Merge With One In Pair-instability Supernova Mass Gap

Authors

Tian Huang, Xizhen Lu, Guoliang Lü, Chunhua Zhu, Sufen Guo, Helei Liu, Zhuowen Li, Zhijun Wang, Lei Li, Wei-Min Gu, Nurzada Beissen

Abstract

Observations of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by LIGO -- such as GW170729, GW190620, GW190706, GW230107, GW230820, and GW230928 -- feature high effective spins and primary black holes that fall squarely into the pair-instability supernova (PISN) mass gap ($\sim 45-130 \, M_{\odot}$). These events pose a significant challenge to standard stellar and binary evolution theories. To address this, we propose an isolated hierarchical triple stellar evolution channel. In this framework, tidal synchronization in tight inner binaries drives chemically homogeneous evolution (CHE), entirely bypassing giant expansion. A subsequent triple common envelope (TCE) evolution, triggered by the tertiary companion, rapidly drives the inner BBH to coalescence. Our model can provide a detailed evolutionary pathway that elegantly reproduces the properties of these GWs, such as GW190706. Assuming a low-metallicity environment ($Z = 0.001$), our framework predicts a volumetric merger rate of approximately $0.011 \, \mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ at $z \approx 0.68$, accounting for $22\%$ of the empirical rate for this mass regime in the GWTC-4 catalog. This study demonstrates that primordial triple interactions are a highly efficient avenue for populating the PISN mass gap.

Follow Us on

0 comments

Add comment