Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Investigating Black Hole Kicks

Repetto, Serena LU (2011) In Lund Observatory Examensarbeten ASTX01 20111
Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization
Abstract
It has been known for some time that neutron stars receive kicks (so-called natal kicks) when they are formed in core-collapse supernovae. Whether black holes receive these kicks too is still a matter of debate. We study Galactic low-mass X-ray binaries containing a black hole as the accreting object and look at their position within the Galaxy: some systems are almost coplanar, while others are found in the halo. Starting from sensible guesses on the initial binary properties and assuming the objects to be originated in the plane of the Galaxy, we perform a series of Monte Carlo simulations in which we calculate the trajectories of low-mass X-ray binary systems that receive a kick when the progenitor of the black hole explodes as a... (More)
It has been known for some time that neutron stars receive kicks (so-called natal kicks) when they are formed in core-collapse supernovae. Whether black holes receive these kicks too is still a matter of debate. We study Galactic low-mass X-ray binaries containing a black hole as the accreting object and look at their position within the Galaxy: some systems are almost coplanar, while others are found in the halo. Starting from sensible guesses on the initial binary properties and assuming the objects to be originated in the plane of the Galaxy, we perform a series of Monte Carlo simulations in which we calculate the trajectories of low-mass X-ray binary systems that receive a kick when the progenitor of the black hole explodes as a supernova, and determine their resulting location in the Galaxy. The comparison between the simulated distribution and the observed one leads us to conclude that a natal kick is indeed required for the formation of the systems. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Repetto, Serena LU
supervisor
organization
course
ASTX01 20111
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
publication/series
Lund Observatory Examensarbeten
report number
2011-EXA52
language
English
id
1940237
date added to LUP
2011-05-09 13:40:35
date last changed
2011-07-08 10:51:10
@misc{1940237,
  abstract     = {{It has been known for some time that neutron stars receive kicks (so-called natal kicks) when they are formed in core-collapse supernovae. Whether black holes receive these kicks too is still a matter of debate. We study Galactic low-mass X-ray binaries containing a black hole as the accreting object and look at their position within the Galaxy: some systems are almost coplanar, while others are found in the halo. Starting from sensible guesses on the initial binary properties and assuming the objects to be originated in the plane of the Galaxy, we perform a series of Monte Carlo simulations in which we calculate the trajectories of low-mass X-ray binary systems that receive a kick when the progenitor of the black hole explodes as a supernova, and determine their resulting location in the Galaxy. The comparison between the simulated distribution and the observed one leads us to conclude that a natal kick is indeed required for the formation of the systems.}},
  author       = {{Repetto, Serena}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Lund Observatory Examensarbeten}},
  title        = {{Investigating Black Hole Kicks}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}