arXiv subjects

J. J. Eldridge

Publications and source records attributed to J. J. Eldridge.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The progenitors and circumstellar environments of stripped-envelope interacting supernovae from BPASS

Understanding the progenitors of stripped-envelope interacting supernovae (SEISNe) is crucial for probing the final stages of massive star evolution. Despite this, their rarity means the nature of their progenitors remains poorly constrained. We investigate the progenitors of SEISNe, using the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis stellar evolution models. The 30,153 stellar models that result in hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae (SN) includes both binary and single stars, spanning 13 metallicities ($Z=10^{-5}$ to $0.04$). Circumstellar material (CSM) formation during their last 100\,kyr is reconstructed from line-driven and Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) mass loss using three scenarios for the CSM, one looking at a wind only distribution for the CSM, and two involving the formation of a circum-binary disc (CBD). Light curve parameters from each scenario are calculated using an analytical model and fiducial SN explosion parameters. We find only the two CBD scenarios, and consequently no single star models, reproduce the luminosities and rise times of observed SEISNe. The inferred rates are comparable to observations. Expected progenitors were only found in models with ZAMS masses of $14-40\,$M$_{\odot}$ at $\geq Z_\odot$ and $30-40\,$M$_{\odot}$ at $< Z_\odot$. Modelling the radio emissions shows that early ($\leq8\,$days) and high frequency ($\geq70\,$GHz) observations are required to constrain the nature of CBDs in these systems. These results indicate that, without phenomena such as eruptive mass loss, SEISNe require massive stars in binary systems in order to produce sufficient masses of CSM and confine them close to the progenitor.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Galaxy UV Legacy Project: Survey Description and First Insights Into NGC 4449 Recent History of Star Formation

The Galaxy UV Legacy Project (GULP) is a Cycle 28 Treasury program with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) designed to characterize resolved massive stars, OB associations, and young star clusters (YSCs) in 26 nearby star-forming galaxies. Utilizing the ACS/SBC F150LP and WFC3/UVIS F218W filters, combined with extensive archival observations, GULP provides an unprecedented panchromatic 8-band view from the Far-UV to the I-band. The target galaxies were carefully selected to span a broad range of metallicities, masses, morphological types, and star formation rates, thereby enabling detailed studies of star formation processes across different galactic environments. This paper introduces the GULP survey, detailing its observational strategy, data processing, and initial scientific results for the irregular barred starburst dwarf galaxy NGC 4449, used as a test case. We derived the physical parameters and ages for thousands of stars using the Binary Populations And Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) models, and found that the younger stars and clusters are predominantly concentrated along the galaxy's central bar, and that over the past <50 Myr star formation progressively migrated from northeast to southwest. We used the F150LP, F218W, and F275W filters to investigate how the UV-bump at lambda 2175 A correlates with the intensity of the UV radiation. The UV-bump is detected in many areas of the galaxy, but is absent in the regions of most intense and recent star formation. This strongly supports the scenario where UV radiation from young, massive stars effectively destroys the small dust grains responsible for the UV-bump.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

X-BPASS : Self-consistent modelling of stellar populations and their associated X-ray Binary emission in a binary stellar evolution framework

X-ray binaries play a significant role in the thermal and ionization history of galaxies. Their X-ray luminosity can shed light on galactic star formation rates and histories. Compact objects are also crucial in the evolution of gravitational wave progenitors. Here we present the results from our work to extend the binary population and spectral synthesis (BPASS) code suite to incorporate X-ray emission onto compact remnants in binary systems. We self-consistently model the accretion disc for each interacting binary system in a grid of stellar evolution models and then combine these to obtain the total X-ray spectra for stellar populations over a range of ages and metallicities. Crucially, these are estimated using the same stellar models as those used for modelling the stellar spectral energy distribution. We utilise first principle equations to calculate the X-ray binary (XRB) evolution, luminosity and spectral energy densities of individual accreting compact objects. Population synthesis using observationally motivated values for R_inner (the accretion disc inner truncation radius) reproduces the observed X-ray number evolution in the Small Magellanic Cloud and the inferred X-ray flux evolution for M51, validating our models. Using these models, we explore the implications of a self-consistent stellar and XRB emission population synthesis for ionizing photon production, the XRB dependence on metallicity and, for XRBs as a potential source of nebular He II emission seen in the spectra of high redshift galaxies. We conclude that XRBs contribute towards powering nebular He II emission without causing significant overestimates of hydrogen ionization.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

White dwarf-neutron star binaries: a plausible pathway for long-duration gamma-ray bursts from compact object mergers?

Two long-duration gamma-ray bursts were recently discovered with kilonovae, the signature of r-process element production in a compact binary merger, rather than supernovae. This has forced a re-evaluation of the long-established dichotomy between short bursts (< 2s, arising from compact binary mergers) and long bursts (> 2s, a class of massive star core-collapse event). We aim to determine whether white dwarf-neutron star (WDNS) and white dwarf-black hole (WDBH) mergers are plausible explanations for long-duration compact merger GRBs, in terms of their galactocentric merger offsets and cosmological rates. We model the host galaxies of GRBs 211211A and 230307A, and employ binary population synthesis, to predict the offset distributions of compact mergers. We compare with the observed offsets, investigate evolutionary pathways, predict their cosmological rates, and compare with volumetric GRB rates. We find that WDNS mergers occur at lower host offsets than binary NS mergers, but that in the specific cases of GRBs 211211A and 230307A, the observed offsets are consistent with either scenario. We predict that WDNS mergers occur at a similar rate to binary NS mergers and long GRBs, and that WDBH mergers are a factor of ten rarer, with the caveat that these rates currently carry uncertainties at the order of magnitude level. We have demonstrated, solely in terms of galactocentric offsets and event rates, that WDNS mergers are a plausible explanation for GRBs 211211A and 230307A, and long GRBs from compact object mergers more generally. WDNS binaries have lower systemic velocities than binary neutron stars, but longer delay times, and ultimately merge with an offset distribution that is not measurably different without large samples. Therefore, offsets and rates alone cannot currently distinguish between compact binary progenitor models for supernova-less long duration GRBs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Intergalactic Medium Tomography with the Sunburst Arc

Gravitational lensing has transformed the field of gas tomography in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM). Here we use the brightest lensed galaxy identified to date, the Sunburst Arc ($z$$\approx$2.37), to constrain the physical size of foreground absorbers at $z$$\approx$2 in 2D. This galaxy is a confirmed Lyman continuum leaker, where its single leaking region is imaged 12 times over four separate arcs. The separations between the arcs allows for large scale tomography, while the distances between the images along an arc allow for small scale tomography. Using HST/WFC3 UVIS G280 grism observations, we extracted the spectra of the leaking region and fit for absorbers detected along these lines of sight using a binary population and spectral synthesis (BPASS) model for the galaxy. We identified two partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs) and one Lyman limit system (LLS) across the different spectra and measured their physical sizes. We find consistent HI column densities across $\lesssim$2 kpc and an average HI mass of $\approx$10$^3$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ for the absorbers. Given the strong CIV lines associated with two of the absorbers, they are likely located within the CGM of foreground galaxies. The third absorber has no associated metal lines, so it is most likely within the IGM. This study provides the first tomography measurements of pLLSs/LLSs in the CGM and IGM at $z$$\approx$2.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Precursor Activity Preceding Interacting Supernovae I: Bridging the Gap with SN 2022mop

Over the past two decades, an increasing number of transients have shown luminous activity at their explosion sites weeks to years before an interacting supernova (SN) is observed. For some objects, this pre-SN activity is typically linked to large-scale mass-loss events preceding core collapse, yet its triggering mechanism and the underlying explosion process remain uncertain. We present SN 2022mop, which was initially observed in August 2022, exhibiting nebular emission, including [O I], Mg I], and [Ca II], resembling the late-time (~200 days post-explosion) spectrum of a stripped-envelope SN (SESN) from a progenitor with M[ZAMS] < 18 Msun. SN 2022mop shows strong (~ 1 mag) repeating undulations in its light curve, suggesting late-time interaction. In mid-2024, the transient re-brightened for several months before a Type IIn SN (r[peak] = -18.2 mag) was observed in December 2024, closely resembling the evolution of SN 2009ip. By triangulating both transients using Pan-STARRS images, we determine that both transients are coincident within approximately 3 parsecs. Given the environment, the chance alignment of two isolated SNe is unlikely. We propose a merger-burst scenario: a compact object formed in 2022, is kicked into an eccentric orbit, interacts with its hydrogen-rich companion over subsequent months, and ultimately merges, triggering a Type IIn SN-like transient.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

The effect of stellar rotation on black hole mass and spin

The gravitational wave signature of a binary black hole (BBH) merger is dependent on its component mass and spin. If such black holes originate from rapidly rotating progenitors, the large angular momentum reserve in the star could drive a collapsar-like supernova explosion, hence substantially impacting these characteristics of the black holes in the binary. To examine the effect of stellar rotation on the resulting black hole mass and spin, we conduct a 1D general relativistic study of the end phase of the collapse. We find that the resulting black hole mass at times differs significantly from the previously assumed values. We quantify the dependence of the black hole spin magnitude on the hydrodynamics of the accretion flow, providing analytical relations for calculating the mass and spin based on the progenitor's pre-collapse properties. Depending on the nature of the accretion flow, our findings have implications for the black hole upper mass gap resulting from pair-instability supernovae, the maximum mass of a maximally rotating stellar black hole, and the maximum effective spin of a BBH formed in tidally locked helium star - black hole binary.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Gravitational wave spectral synthesis

We study the LISA sources that arise from isolated binary evolution, and how these depend on age and metallicity, using model stellar populations from BPASS. We model these as single-aged populations which are analogous to star clusters. We calculate the combined GW spectrum of all the binaries within these model clusters, including all types of compact binaries as well as those with living stars. These results allow us to evaluate the detectability of star clusters with LISA. We find at late times the dominant sources are WD-WD binaries by factors of 50-200, but at times between $10^8$ and $10^9$ years we find a significant population of NS-WD and BH-WD binaries (2-40 per $10^6$ M$_{\odot}$), which is related to the treatment of mass transfer and common envelope events in BPASS, wherein mass transfer is relatively likely to be stable. Metallicity also has an effect on the GW spectrum and on the relative dominance of different types of binaries. Using the information about known star clusters will aid the identification of sky locations where one could expect LISA to find GW sources.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Observational implications of cosmologically coupled black holes

It was recently suggested that "cosmologically coupled" black holes with masses that increase in proportion to the volume of the Universe might constitute the physical basis of dark energy. We take this claim at face value and discuss its potential astrophysical implications. We show that the gravitational wave emission in binary systems would be significantly enhanced so that the number of black hole mergers would exceed the observed rate by orders of magnitude, with typical masses much larger than those seen by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA network. Separately, if the mass growth happens at fixed angular momentum, the supermassive black holes in matter-deficient elliptical galaxies should be slowly rotating. Finally, cosmological coupling would stabilize small black holes against Hawking radiation-induced evaporation.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Sustained super-Eddington accretion around neutron stars & black holes

Recently, it was shown that the formation of a photon-trapping surface might not be sufficient to ensure unimpeded super-Eddington (SE) accretion. In light of this finding, here we derive a condition such that sustained and unimpeded SE accretion could be achieved in optically thick slim accretion disks surrounding neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). For this, we calculate a semi-analytic approximation of the self-similar global radial velocity expression for an advection-dominated flow. Neglecting the influence of relativistic jets on the accretion flow, we find that for Eddington fraction $\dot{m} \gtrsim 1.5 (ε/0.1)^{3/5}$ ($ε$ being the accretion efficiency) sustained SE accretion might be possible in slim disks around BHs irrespective of their spin. The same condition holds for NSs when $ε> 0.03$. The presence of a surface magnetic field might truncate the disk at the magnetosphere of the NS, resulting in lower efficiencies and consequently changing the condition to $\dot{m} > 0.013 ε^{-19/31}$. Our approach suggests that sustained SE accretion might almost always be possible around NSs and BHs hosting accretion disks.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Exploring the impact of IMF and binary parameter stochasticity with a binary population synthesis code

Low mass star formation regions are unlikely to fully populate their initial mass functions, leading to a deficit of massive stars. In binary stellar populations, the full range of binary separations and mass ratios will also be underpopulated. To explore the effects of stochastic sampling in the integrated light of stellar clusters, we calculate models at a broad range of cluster masses, from 10^2 to 10^7 M_sun, using a binary stellar population synthesis code. For clusters with stellar masses less than 10^5 M_sun, observable quantities show substantial scatter and their mean properties reflect the expected deficit of massive stars. In common with previous work, we find that purely stochastic sampling of the initial mass function appears to underestimate the mass of the most massive star in known clusters. However, even with this constraint, the majority of clusters likely inject sufficient kinetic energy to clear their birth clusters of gas. For quantities which directly measure the impact of the most massive stars, such as N_{ion}, xi_{ion} and beta_{UV}, uncertainties due to stochastic sampling dominate over those from the IMF shape or distribution of binary parameters, while stochastic sampling has a negligible effect on the stellar continuum luminosity density.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Searching for ejected supernova companions in the era of precise proper motion and radial velocity measurements

The majority of massive stars are born in binaries, and most unbind upon the first supernova. With precise proper motion surveys such as Gaia, it is possible to trace back the motion of stars in the vicinity of young remnants to search for ejected companions. Establishing the fraction of remnants with an ejected companion, and the photometric and kinematic properties of these stars, offers unique insight into supernova progenitor systems. In this paper, we employ binary population synthesis to produce kinematic and photometric predictions for ejected secondary stars. We demonstrate that the unbound neutron star velocity distribution from supernovae in binaries closely traces the input kicks. Therefore, the observed distribution of neutron star velocities should be representative of their natal kicks. We evaluate the probability for any given filter, magnitude limit, minimum measurable proper motion (as a function of magnitude), temporal baseline, distance and extinction that an unbound companion can be associated with a remnant. We compare our predictions with results from previous companion searches, and demonstrate that the current sample of stars ejected by the supernova of their companion can be increased by a factor of 5-10 with Gaia data release 3. Further progress in this area is achievable by leveraging the absolute astrometric precision of Gaia, and by obtaining multiple epochs of deep, high resolution near-infrared imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST and next-generation wide-field near-infrared observatories such as Euclid or the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

New constraints on the Bray conservation-of-momentum natal kick model from multiple distinct observations

Natal supernova kicks, the linear momentum compact remnants receive during their formation, are an essential part of binary population synthesis (BPS) models. Although these kicks are well-supported by evidence, their underlying distributions and incorporation into BPS models is uncertain. In this work, we investigate the nature of natal kicks using a previously proposed analytical prescription where the strength of the kick is given by $v_\text{k}=α\frac{m_\text{ejecta}}{m_\text{remnant}}+β~\text{km s}^{-1}$, for free parameters $α$ and $β$. We vary the free parameters over large ranges of possible values, comparing these synthetic populations simultaneously against four constraints: the merger rate of compact binary neutron star (BNS) systems, the period-eccentricity distribution of galactic BNSs, the velocity distribution of single-star pulsars, and the likelihood for low-ejecta mass supernovae to produce low-velocity kicks. We find that different samples of the parameter space satisfy each tests, and only 1 per cent of the models satisfy all four constraints simultaneously. Although we cannot identify a single best kick model, we report $α=115^{+40}_{-55}~\text{km s}^{-1}, β=15^{+10}_{-15}~\text{km s}^{-1}$ as the center of the region of the parameter space that fulfils all of our constraints, and expect $β\geq0~\text{km s}^{-1}$ as a further constraint. We also suggest further observations that will enable future refinement of the kick model. A sensitive test for the kick model will be the redshift evolution of the BNS merger rate since this is effectively a direct measure of the delay-time distribution for mergers. For our best fitting values, we find that the peak of the BNS merger rate is the present-day.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The IACOB project VIII. Searching for empirical signatures of binarity in fast-rotating O-type stars

The empirical distribution of projected rotational velocities (vsini) in massive O-type stars is characterized by a dominant slow velocity component and a tail of fast rotators. Binary interaction has been proposed to play a dominant role in the formation of this tail. We perform a complete and homogeneous search for empirical signatures of binarity in a sample of 54 fast-rotating stars with the aim of evaluating this hypothesis. This working sample has been extracted from a larger sample of 415 Galactic O-type stars which covers the full range of vsini values. We use new and archival multi-epoch spectra in order to detect spectroscopic binary systems. We complement this information with Gaia proper motions and TESS photometric data to aid in the identification of runaway stars and eclipsing binaries, respectively. The identified fraction of single-lined spectroscopic binary (SB1) systems and apparently single stars among the fast-rotating sample is $\sim$18% and $\sim$70%, respectively. When comparing these percentages with those corresponding to the slow-rotating sample we find that our sample of fast rotators is characterized by a slightly larger percentage of SB1 systems ($\sim$18% vs. $\sim$13%) and a considerably smaller fraction of clearly detected SB2 systems (8% vs. 33%). Overall, there seems to be a clear deficit of spectroscopic binaries (SB1+SB2) among fast-rotating O-type stars ($\sim$26% vs. $\sim$46%). On the contrary, the fraction of runaway stars is significantly higher in the fast-rotating domain ($\sim$33-50%) than among those stars with vsini < 200 km/s. Lastly, almost 65% of the apparently single fast-rotating stars are runaways. Our empirical results seem to be in good agreement with the idea that the tail of fast-rotating O-type stars (with vsini > 200 km/s) is mostly populated by post-interaction binary products.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

VFTS 243 as predicted by the BPASS fiducial models

The recent discovery of an unambiguous quiescent BH and main sequence O star companion in VFTS 243 opens the door to new constraints on theoretical stellar evolution and population models looking to reproduce the progenitors of black hole - black hole binaries. Here we show that the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis fiducial models (BPASSv2.2.1) natively predict VFTS243-like systems: We find that VFTS 243 likely originated from a binary system in a about 15 day orbit with primary mass ranging from 40 to 50 M$_{\odot}$ and secondary star with initial mass 24-25M$_{\odot}$. Additionally we find that the death of the primary star must have resulted in a low energy explosion E < 10$^{50}$ ergs.With a uniform prior we find that the kick velocity of the new-born black hole was <10 km/s. The very low eccentricity reported for VFTS 243 and the subsequent conclusion by the authors that the SN kick must have been very small is in line with the peak in the posterior distribution between 0 and 5 km/s found from our numerical simulations performed with a uniform prior. Finally, the reduced Hobbs kick distribution commonly used in black hole population synthesis is strongly disfavoured.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

JWST/NIRCam Probes Young Star Clusters in the Reionization Era Sunrise Arc

Star cluster formation in the early universe and their contribution to reionization remains to date largely unconstrained. Here we present JWST/NIRCam imaging of the most highly magnified galaxy known at z ~ 6, the Sunrise arc. We identify six young massive star clusters (YMCs) with measured radii spanning ~ 20 pc down to ~ 1 pc (corrected for lensing magnification), estimated stellar masses of ~ $10^{(6-7)}$ Msun, and with ages 1-30 Myr based on SED fitting to photometry measured in 8 filters extending to rest-frame 7000A. The resulting stellar mass surface densities are higher than 1000 Msun pc$^{-2}$ (up to a few $10^5$ Msun pc$^{-2}$) and their inferred dynamical ages qualify the majority of these systems as gravitationally-bound stellar clusters. The star cluster ages map the progression of star formation along the arc, with to evolved systems (>~ 10 Myr old) followed by very young clusters. The youngest stellar clusters (< 5 Myr) show evidence of prominent Hbeta + [OIII]4959,5007 emission, based on photometry, with equivalent widths larger than 1000 A rest-frame, and are hosted in a 200 pc sized star-forming complex. Such a region dominates the ionizing photon production, with a high efficiency log($ξ_{ion}$ [Hz erg$^{-1}$]) ~ 25.7. A significant fraction of the recently formed stellar mass of the galaxy (> 10-30 %) occurred in these YMCs. We speculate that such sources of ionizing radiation boost the ionizing photon production efficiency which eventually carve ionized channels that might favor the escape of Lyman continuum radiation. The survival of some of the clusters would make them the progenitors of massive and relatively metal-poor globular clusters in the local Universe.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Evaluating chemically homogeneous evolution in stellar binaries: Electromagnetic implications -- Ionizing photons, SLSN-I, GRB, Ic-BL

We investigate the occurrence of rapid-rotation induced chemically homogeneous evolution (CHE) due to strong tides and mass accretion in binaries. To this end, we generalize the relation in Packet (1981) to calculate the minimum angular momentum (AM) accretion required by a secondary star to experience accretion-induced CHE. Contrary to traditionally assumed 5-10 percent accretion of initial mass ($Z \lesssim 0.004$, $M \gtrsim$ 20 M$_{\odot}$) for spinning up the accretor (resulting in CHE) this value can drop to $\sim$ 2 percent for efficient AM accretion while for certain systems it could be substantially larger. We conduct a population study using \textsc{bpass} by evolving stars under the influence of strong tides in short-period binaries and also account for the updated effect of accretion-induced spin-up. We find accretion CHE (compared to tidal CHE) to be the dominant means of producing homogeneous stars even at 10 percent AM accretion efficiency during mass transfer. Unlike tidal CHE, it is seen that CH stars arising due to accretion can retain a larger fraction of their AM till core collapse. Thus we show that accretion CHE could be an important formation channel for energetic electromagnetic transients like GRBs, Ic-BL (SLSN-I, Ic-BL) under the collapsar (magnetar) formalism and a single CH star could lead to both the transients under their respective formation scenario. Lastly, we show that under the current treatment of CHE, the emission rate of ionizing photons by such stars decreases more rapidly at higher metallicities than previously predicted.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2022

Understanding the high-mass binary black hole population from stable mass transfer and super-Eddington accretion in BPASS

With the remarkable success of the LVK consortium in detecting binary black hole mergers, it has become possible to use the population properties to constrain our understanding of the progenitor stars' evolution. The most striking features of the observed primary black hole mass distributions are the extended tail up to 100M$_\odot$ and an excess of masses at 35M$_\odot$. Currently, isolated binary population synthesis have difficulty explaining these features. Using the well-tested BPASS detailed stellar binary evolution models to determine mass transfer stability, accretion rates, and remnant masses, we postulate that stable mass transfer with super-Eddington accretion is responsible for the extended tail. Furthermore, that the excess is not due to pulsation-pair instability, as previously thought, but due to stable mass transfer. These systems are able to merge within the Hubble time due to more stable mass transfer with extreme mass ratios that allows the orbits to shrink sufficiently to allow for a merger. These finding are at odds with those from other population synthesis codes but in agreement with other recent studies using detailed binary evolution models.

astro-ph.HE↗