Hunting for Black Holes in High-Mass X-ray Binaries

Not only are black holes fascinating objects in and of themselves because of their extreme gravitational fields, but they are also important pieces in the puzzles of how massive stars and whole galaxies evolve.  A better understanding of the stellar black hole population can shed light on key outstanding questions about stellar and galaxy evolution, such as:  How much material do massive stars lose before exploding as supernovae?  What fraction of massive stars that explode leave behind a black hole?  When and how quickly did early galaxies re-ionize the hydrogen gas in the intergalactic medium?  What factors determine how many stars a galaxy produces over time? I will discuss my ongoing work to find and study black holes in high-mass X-ray binaries, binary systems consisting of a black hole or neutron star accreting matter from a massive stellar companion, and how this work will help answer some of these broader questions.

Speaker: Francesca Fornasini