Open AccessThe Mass Distribution of Stellar Black Holes
Author(s) -
Charles D. Bailyn,
Rajeev Kumar Jain,
P. Coppi,
Jerome A. Orosz
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the astrophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376
H-Index - 489
eISSN - 1538-4357
pISSN - 0004-637X
DOI - 10.1086/305614
Subject(s) - astrophysics , physics , supernova , mass distribution , black hole (networking) , binary number , neutron star , solar mass , binary black hole , distribution (mathematics) , stars , stellar black hole , stellar mass , intermediate mass black hole , astronomy , galaxy , gravitational wave , computer network , mathematical analysis , routing protocol , routing (electronic design automation) , arithmetic , mathematics , star formation , computer science , link state routing protocol
We examine the distribution of masses of black holes in transient low massX-ray binary systems. A Bayesian analysis suggests that it is probable that sixof the seven systems with measured mass functions have black hole massesclustered near seven solar masses. There appears to be a significant gapbetween the masses of these systems and those of the observed neutron stars.The remaining source, V404 Cyg, has a mass significantly larger than theothers, and our analysis suggests that it is probably drawn from a differentdistribution. Selection effects do not appear to play a role in producing theobserved mass distribution, which may be explained by currently unknown detailsof the supernova explosions and of binary evolution prior to the supernova.Comment: 22 pages including figures, submitted to Ap
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