%0 Generic %1 gerosa2021exclusion %A Gerosa, Davide %A Giacobbo, Nicola %A Vecchio, Alberto %D 2021 %K library %T High mass but low spin: an exclusion region to rule out hierarchical black-hole mergers as a mechanism to populate the pair-instability mass gap %U http://arxiv.org/abs/2104.11247 %X The occurrence of pair-instability supernovae is predicted to prevent the formation of black holes with masses $50 M_ødot$. Recent gravitational-wave detections in this mass range require an explanation beyond that of standard stellar collapse. Current modeling strategies include the hierarchical assembly of previous generations of black-hole mergers as well as other mechanisms of astrophysical nature (lowered nuclear-reaction rates, envelope retention, stellar mergers, accretion, dredge-up episodes). In this paper, we point out the occurrence of an exclusion region that cannot be easily populated by hierarchical black-hole mergers. A future gravitational-wave detection of a black hole with mass $50M_ødot$ and spin $0.2$ will indicate that the pair-instability mass gap is polluted in some other way. Such a putative outlier can be explained using hierarchical mergers only with considerable fine-tuning of both mass ratio and spins of the preceding black-hole merger --an assumption that can then be cross-checked against the bulk of the gravitational-wave catalog.

@misc{gerosa2021exclusion, abstract = {The occurrence of pair-instability supernovae is predicted to prevent the formation of black holes with masses $\gtrsim 50 M_\odot$. Recent gravitational-wave detections in this mass range require an explanation beyond that of standard stellar collapse. Current modeling strategies include the hierarchical assembly of previous generations of black-hole mergers as well as other mechanisms of astrophysical nature (lowered nuclear-reaction rates, envelope retention, stellar mergers, accretion, dredge-up episodes). In this paper, we point out the occurrence of an exclusion region that cannot be easily populated by hierarchical black-hole mergers. A future gravitational-wave detection of a black hole with mass $\gtrsim 50M_\odot$ and spin $\lesssim 0.2$ will indicate that the pair-instability mass gap is polluted in some other way. Such a putative outlier can be explained using hierarchical mergers only with considerable fine-tuning of both mass ratio and spins of the preceding black-hole merger --an assumption that can then be cross-checked against the bulk of the gravitational-wave catalog.}, added-at = {2021-04-26T06:16:23.000+0200}, author = {Gerosa, Davide and Giacobbo, Nicola and Vecchio, Alberto}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2908347638c59cbf8860a36614b04efee/gpkulkarni}, description = {High mass but low spin: an exclusion region to rule out hierarchical black-hole mergers as a mechanism to populate the pair-instability mass gap}, interhash = {e090485f12e810edc80a6ad99d72a703}, intrahash = {908347638c59cbf8860a36614b04efee}, keywords = {library}, note = {cite arxiv:2104.11247Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures}, timestamp = {2021-04-26T06:16:23.000+0200}, title = {High mass but low spin: an exclusion region to rule out hierarchical black-hole mergers as a mechanism to populate the pair-instability mass gap}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2104.11247}, year = 2021 }