#  ITC Colloquium - Maya Fishbach (Northwestern) 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **February 18, 2021** 

 11:00AM - 12:00PM EST 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Zoom**  



 

 



 

"LIGO-Virgo’s Biggest Black Holes and the Mass Gap"   
Abstract: Models for black hole formation from stellar evolution robustly predict the existence of  
a pair-instability supernova mass gap in the range ~50 to ~120 solar masses. The binary  
black holes of LIGO-Virgo's first two observing runs supported this prediction, showing evidence  
for a dearth of component black hole masses above 45 solar masses. Meanwhile, among the  
30+ new observations from the third observing run, there are several black holes that appear to  
sit above the 45 solar mass limit. I will discuss how these unexpectedly massive black holes fit  
into our understanding of the binary black hole population. The data are consistent with several  
scenarios, including a mass distribution that evolves with redshift and the possibility that the  
most massive binary black hole, GW190521, straddles the mass gap, containing an  
intermediate-mass black hole heavier than 120 solar masses.



 

 



 

 See also:- [ 2020-21 ](/academic-year/2020-2021)
- [ Colloquium ](/event-type/colloquium)
 
 

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