Light axion emission and the formation of merging binary black holes

Croon, Djuna; Sakstein, Jeremy

Abstract

We study the impact of stellar cooling due to light axion emission on the formation and evolution of black hole binaries, via stable mass transfer and the common envelope scenario. We find that in
the presence of light axion emission, no binary black hole mergers are formed with black holes in the lower-mass gap (MBH < 4M⊙) via the common envelope formation channel. In some systems, this
happens because axions prevent Roche lobe overflow. In others, they prevent the common envelope from being ejected. Our results apply to axions with couplings gaγ ≳ 10−10 GeV−1 (to photons) or αae ≳ 10−26
(to electrons) and masses ma ≪ 10 keV. Light, weakly coupled particles may therefore apparently produce
a mass gap 2M⊙ < MBH < 4M⊙ in the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA data, when no mass gap is present in the
stellar-remnant population.

Citation

Croon, D., & Sakstein, J. (2023). Light axion emission and the formation of merging binary black holes. Physical Review D, 108, Article 015034. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.015034

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 12, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 31, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 5, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 5, 2024
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Print ISSN: 1550-7998
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 108
• Article Number: 015034
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.015034
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2226711