Direct Statistical Constraints on the Natal Kick Velocity of a Black Hole in an X-Ray Quiet Binary

Sharan Banagiri; Zoheyr Doctor; Vicky Kalogera; Chase Kimball; Jeff J. Andrews

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad0557

Direct Statistical Constraints on the Natal Kick Velocity of a Black Hole in an X-Ray Quiet Binary

Sharan Banagiri^*, Zoheyr Doctor, Vicky Kalogera, Chase Kimball, Jeff J. Andrews

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

In recent years, a handful of “dark” binaries have been discovered with a nonluminous compact object. Astrometry and radial velocity measurements of the bright companion allow us to measure the post-supernova orbital elements of such a binary. In this paper, we develop a statistical formalism to use such measurements to infer the pre-supernova orbital elements, and the natal kick imparted by the supernova (SN). We apply this formalism to the recent discovery of an X-ray quiet binary with a black hole, VFTS 243, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Assuming an isotropic, Maxwellian distribution on natal kicks and using broad agnostic mass priors, we find that kick velocity can be constrained to V _k < 72 km s⁻¹ at 90% confidence. We find that a Blaauw kick cannot be ruled out, and that at least about 0.6M _⊙ was lost during the supernova with 90% confidence. The pre-SN orbital separation is found to be robustly constrained to be around 0.3 au.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	106
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	959
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0557
State	Published - Dec 1 2023

Funding

We thank Shenar Tomer and Leonardo A. Almeida for providing data from their analysis and useful discussion on the data products. We also are grateful to the anonymous reviewer, whose suggestions improved the quality of the paper. S.B. was supported by National Science Foundation grant PHY-2207945. Z.D. acknowledges support from the CIERA Board of Visitors Research Professorship. V.K. was partially supported through a CIFAR Senior Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant award GBMF8477), and from Northwestern University, including the Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professorship fund. C.K. acknowledges support from Northwestern University. This research was supported in part through the computational resources and staff contributions provided for the Quest High-Performance Computing facility at Northwestern University, which is jointly supported by the Office of the Provost, the Office for Research, and Northwestern University Information Technology.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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title = "Direct Statistical Constraints on the Natal Kick Velocity of a Black Hole in an X-Ray Quiet Binary",

abstract = "In recent years, a handful of “dark” binaries have been discovered with a nonluminous compact object. Astrometry and radial velocity measurements of the bright companion allow us to measure the post-supernova orbital elements of such a binary. In this paper, we develop a statistical formalism to use such measurements to infer the pre-supernova orbital elements, and the natal kick imparted by the supernova (SN). We apply this formalism to the recent discovery of an X-ray quiet binary with a black hole, VFTS 243, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Assuming an isotropic, Maxwellian distribution on natal kicks and using broad agnostic mass priors, we find that kick velocity can be constrained to V k < 72 km s−1 at 90% confidence. We find that a Blaauw kick cannot be ruled out, and that at least about 0.6M ⊙ was lost during the supernova with 90% confidence. The pre-SN orbital separation is found to be robustly constrained to be around 0.3 au.",

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AU - Kimball, Chase

AU - Andrews, Jeff J.

PY - 2023/12/1

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N2 - In recent years, a handful of “dark” binaries have been discovered with a nonluminous compact object. Astrometry and radial velocity measurements of the bright companion allow us to measure the post-supernova orbital elements of such a binary. In this paper, we develop a statistical formalism to use such measurements to infer the pre-supernova orbital elements, and the natal kick imparted by the supernova (SN). We apply this formalism to the recent discovery of an X-ray quiet binary with a black hole, VFTS 243, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Assuming an isotropic, Maxwellian distribution on natal kicks and using broad agnostic mass priors, we find that kick velocity can be constrained to V k < 72 km s−1 at 90% confidence. We find that a Blaauw kick cannot be ruled out, and that at least about 0.6M ⊙ was lost during the supernova with 90% confidence. The pre-SN orbital separation is found to be robustly constrained to be around 0.3 au.

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Direct Statistical Constraints on the Natal Kick Velocity of a Black Hole in an X-Ray Quiet Binary

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