arXiv subjects

Giacomo Fragione

Publications and source records attributed to Giacomo Fragione.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Hypervelocity stars from young stellar clusters in the Galactic Centre

The enormous velocities of the so called hypervelocity stars (HVSs) derive, likely, from close interactions with massive black holes, binary stars encounters or supernova explosions. In this paper, we investigate the origin of hypervelocity stars as consequence of the close interaction between the Milky Way central massive black hole and a passing-by young stellar cluster. We found that both single and binary HVSs may be generated in a burst-like event, as the cluster passes near the orbital pericentre. High velocity stars will move close to the initial cluster orbital plane and in the direction of the cluster orbital motion at the pericentre. The binary fraction of these HVS jets depends on the primordial binary fraction in the young cluster. The level of initial mass segregation determines the value of the average mass of the ejected stars. Some binary stars will merge, continuing their travel across and out of the Galaxy as blue stragglers.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Transits Probabilities Around Hypervelocity and Runaway Stars

In the blooming field of exoplanetary science, NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of exoplanets. Kepler's very precise and long-duration photometry is ideal for detecting planetary transits around Sun-like stars. The forthcoming Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is expected to continue Kepler's legacy. Along with transits, the Doppler technique remains an invaluable tool for discovering planets. The next generation of spectrographs, such as G-CLEF, promises precision radial velocity measurements. In this paper, we explore the possibility of detecting planets around hypervelocity and runaway stars, which should host a very compact system as consequence of their turbulent origin. We find that the probability of a multi-planetary transit is $10^{-3}\lesssim P\lesssim 10^{-1}$. We therefore need to observe $\sim 10-1000$ high-velocity stars to spot a transit. However, even if transits are rare around runaway and hypervelocity stars, the chances of detecting such planets using radial velocity surveys is high. We predict that the European Gaia satellite, along with TESS and the new-generation spectrographs G-CLEF and ESPRESSO, will spot planetary systems orbiting high-velocity stars.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Constraining Milky Way mass with Hypervelocity Stars

Context. Although a variety of techniques have been employed for determining the Milky Way dark matter halo mass distribution, the range of allowed masses spans both light and heavy values. Knowing the precise mass of our Galaxy is important for placing the Milky Way in a cosmological $Λ$CDM context. Aims. We show that hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected from the center of the Milky Way galaxy can be used to constrain the mass of its dark matter halo. Methods. We use the asymmetry in the radial velocity distribution of halo stars due to escaping HVSs, which depends on the halo potential (escape speed) as long as the round trip orbital time is shorter than the stellar lifetime, to discriminate between different models for the Milky Way gravitational potential. Results. Adopting a characteristic HVS travel time of $330$ Myr, which corresponds to the average mass of main sequence HVSs, we find that current data favors a mass for the Milky Way in the range $(1.2$-$1.9)\times 10^{12} \mathrm{M}_\odot$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Star Clusters and Super Massive Black Holes: High Velocity Stars Production

One possible origin of high velocity stars in the Galaxy is that they are the product of the interaction of binary systems and supermassive black holes. We investigate a new production channel of high velocity stars as due to the close interaction between a star cluster and supermassive black holes in galactic centres. The high velocity acquired by some stars of the cluster comes from combined effect of extraction of their gravitational binding energy and from the slingshot due to the interaction with the black holes. Stars could reach a velocity sufficient to travel in the halo and even overcome the galactic potential well, while some of them are just stripped from the cluster and start orbiting around the galactic centre.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

High velocity stars from the interaction of a globular cluster and a massive black hole binary

High velocity stars are stars moving at velocities so high to require an acceleration mechanism involving binary systems or the presence of a massive central black hole. In the frame of a galaxy hosting a supermassive black hole binary (of total mass $10^8$ M$_\odot$), we investigated a mechanism for the production of high velocity stars due to the close interaction between a massive and orbitally decayed globular cluster and the super massive black hole binary. Some stars of the cluster acquire high velocities by conversion of gravitational energy into kinetic energy deriving from their interaction with the black hole binary. After the interaction, few stars reach a velocity sufficient to overcome the galactic gravitational well, while some of them are just stripped from the globular cluster and start orbiting around the galactic centre.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Super Massive Black Holes and the Origin of High-Velocity Stars

The origin of high velocity stars observed in the halo of our Galaxy is still unclear. In this work we test the hypothesis, raised by results of recent high precision $N$-body simulations, of strong acceleration of stars belonging to a massive globular cluster orbitally decayed in the central region of the host galaxy where it suffers of a close interaction with a super massive black hole, which, for these test cases, we assumed $10^8$ M$_\odot$ in mass.

astro-ph.GA↗