arxiv: 2604.18676 · v1 · submitted 2026-04-20 · 🌌 astro-ph.HE · astro-ph.SR

Recognition: unknown

Binary Evolution Can Mimic the Pair-Instability Mass Gap in Black Hole Mergers

Aleksandra Olejak

Authors on Pith no claims yet

Pith reviewed 2026-05-10 03:36 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification 🌌 astro-ph.HE astro-ph.SR

keywords black hole mergerspair-instabilitymass transferbinary evolutiongravitational wavesmass gapRoche-lobe overflow

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The pith

Binary evolution through mass transfer can produce a cutoff in black hole masses that mimics the pair-instability gap.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper investigates whether binary star evolution can explain the observed drop in black hole numbers above 45 solar masses in gravitational wave data, rather than pair-instability supernovae. It demonstrates that when more than half the mass is transferred efficiently in the first Roche-lobe overflow and the second phase is highly non-conservative, the first-born black hole's mass is capped by the stripped star's mass. This makes systems with both black holes above 45 solar masses rare, creating an apparent mass gap. A reader would care because this alternative mechanism means the gap does not necessarily indicate the pair-instability process, changing interpretations of LIGO observations. The models show the more massive black hole can still reach higher masses via accretion, up to the pair-instability limit.

Core claim

Efficient mass transfer over 50% during the first Roche-lobe overflow, followed by a highly non-conservative second mass transfer phase, naturally limits the mass of the first-born black hole to the stripped primary mass while the second-born black hole can accrete and grow, resulting in a negligible fraction of mergers where the less massive black hole exceeds 45 solar masses and thus mimicking the pair-instability mass gap.

What carries the argument

Mass transfer efficiency in the two phases of Roche-lobe overflow in binary systems, with the first phase being efficient and the second highly non-conservative.

Load-bearing premise

That the mass transfer efficiency exceeds 50 percent in the first Roche-lobe overflow and that the second phase is highly non-conservative, with these values treated as inputs rather than calculated from physics.

What would settle it

A large number of observed black hole mergers with the smaller component above 45 solar masses and positive effective spins would indicate that the binary mass transfer mechanism does not produce the gap as described.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2604.18676 by Aleksandra Olejak.

**Figure 2.** Figure 2: Intrinsic mass distribution of BBH components merging [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p003_2.png] view at source ↗

read the original abstract

The recent O4a release from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, which significantly increased the number of gravitational-wave (GW) detections, reveals features with potentially important astrophysical implications. One notable example is a hint of the so-called pair-instability mass gap. In particular, the observed decline in the number of black holes (BHs) with mass above 45 Msun, together with indications of possibly higher spins for BHs above this threshold, has been interpreted by Antonini et al. and Tong et al. as evidence for pair-instability supernovae. In this work, we investigate whether mass transfer in binary systems can produce BH components' mass distribution that mimics the pair-instability limit. We use both the population synthesis code StarTrack and a simple semi-analytical framework to highlight the impact of mass transfer efficiency on the BH masses. We find that efficient mass transfer (over 50%) during the first Roche-lobe overflow, followed by a highly non-conservative second mass transfer phase, naturally limits the mass of the first-born BH and produces a cutoff that mimics a mass gap. While the upper mass limit for the more massive BH is increased through accretion during the first mass-transfer phase and is ultimately set by the pair-instability limit, the less massive BH is limited to the stripped primary mass. As a result, the fraction of systems in which the less massive BH exceeds 45 Msun is negligible. While the pair-instability mass gap is a plausible interpretation of current GW data, similar features can naturally arise from binary evolution. Future detections will help distinguish between these scenarios. In particular, a predominance of positive effective spins or low-spin events within the gap would challenge the pair-instability interpretation and instead support a binary-interaction origin for high-mass BHs.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

Binary evolution can reproduce the 45 solar-mass cutoff with chosen mass-transfer efficiencies, but those choices are inputs rather than derived outcomes.

read the letter

The main takeaway is that this paper shows a specific binary-evolution setup can generate a black-hole mass distribution that cuts off around 45 solar masses, mimicking the feature some have attributed to pair-instability supernovae. Efficient first Roche-lobe overflow followed by highly non-conservative second transfer keeps the lighter black hole below the threshold while allowing the heavier one to grow via accretion, and the work ties this directly to the recent O4a hints including possible spin differences above the cutoff. It uses both StarTrack population synthesis and a semi-analytic model to illustrate the effect, which is a straightforward and relevant application to current gravitational-wave data. The comparison to the Antonini and Tong interpretations is clear and useful for anyone thinking about how to interpret the growing catalog. The soft spot is exactly what the stress test flags: the efficiencies are free parameters set to produce the desired cutoff rather than emerging from stellar-structure calculations or calibrated against other observations. The paper demonstrates that the mimicry is possible under those assumptions, but it does not show the cutoff is a generic or required result of binary evolution. That makes the claim more of a viable alternative than a replacement for the pair-instability picture. This is for people working on gravitational-wave population studies and binary-evolution modeling. Anyone running merger-rate calculations or fitting LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA data should see it, because it adds a channel that needs to be tested or included. The thinking is coherent and the engagement with the literature is direct. I would bring it to a reading group to walk through the parameter choices and compare them to other binary studies. I would cite it if the efficiencies can be anchored elsewhere. It deserves peer review because the alternative explanation is concrete enough to evaluate against future detections.

Referee Report

2 major / 2 minor

Summary. The paper claims that binary evolution, specifically efficient mass transfer (>50%) during the first Roche-lobe overflow followed by a highly non-conservative second mass-transfer phase, can produce a sharp cutoff in the mass of the less-massive black hole around 45 solar masses. This mimics the pair-instability mass gap feature hinted at in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA O4a data. The result is demonstrated using both the StarTrack population-synthesis code and a semi-analytical model, with the upper mass limit for the primary BH still set by pair instability while the secondary is limited by the stripped primary mass. The authors argue this provides a viable alternative explanation and suggest spin distributions (positive effective spins or low-spin events in the gap) as a future discriminator.

Significance. If the central result holds under broader assumptions, the work provides a concrete alternative astrophysical channel that can reproduce an observed feature in GW mass distributions without invoking pair-instability supernovae. The combination of population synthesis and semi-analytic modeling is a strength, as is the explicit prediction for spin observables that can be tested with future detections. This underscores the need to marginalize over binary-evolution uncertainties when interpreting mass-gap features.

major comments (2)

[Abstract and semi-analytical framework] The central claim that the cutoff 'naturally' arises from binary evolution rests on the specific choice of mass-transfer efficiency >50% for the first RLOF and highly non-conservative second phase. These efficiencies are imposed as inputs in both the StarTrack runs and the semi-analytical framework rather than emerging from the stellar-structure equations or independent calibration; the location and sharpness of the resulting BH-mass cutoff are direct functions of these two free parameters (see abstract and the description of the semi-analytical model).
[Results section (StarTrack and semi-analytic comparisons)] It is not shown whether the mimicry of the 45 Msun cutoff persists across a plausible range of efficiencies or requires tuning to match the observed threshold. The paper does not report a systematic exploration or sensitivity study of the efficiency parameters, which are the load-bearing assumptions for the reproduced feature.

minor comments (2)

[Introduction] The abstract cites Antonini et al. and Tong et al. for the pair-instability interpretation; full bibliographic details and a brief summary of their specific claims should be included in the introduction for context.
[Figures and captions] Figure captions (or the relevant results figures) should explicitly state the exact efficiency values adopted in the StarTrack runs and the semi-analytic model to allow direct comparison.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the detailed and constructive report. The comments highlight important points about the framing of our assumptions and the robustness of the results. We address each major comment below and will make corresponding revisions to improve clarity and strengthen the analysis.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: [Abstract and semi-analytical framework] The central claim that the cutoff 'naturally' arises from binary evolution rests on the specific choice of mass-transfer efficiency >50% for the first RLOF and highly non-conservative second phase. These efficiencies are imposed as inputs in both the StarTrack runs and the semi-analytical framework rather than emerging from the stellar-structure equations or independent calibration; the location and sharpness of the resulting BH-mass cutoff are direct functions of these two free parameters (see abstract and the description of the semi-analytical model).

Authors: We agree that the efficiencies are input parameters, as is standard in binary population synthesis. Our use of >50% for the first RLOF is motivated by observational indications of relatively efficient mass transfer in massive binaries and by prior theoretical work on stable Roche-lobe overflow. The highly non-conservative second phase is likewise motivated by the expectation of significant mass loss during the subsequent evolution of the secondary. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that the word 'naturally' in the abstract and introduction may overstate the case when these values are chosen rather than self-consistently derived. We will revise the abstract, introduction, and semi-analytical model description to state explicitly that the cutoff appears under the assumption of efficient first mass transfer followed by a non-conservative second phase, and we will add references to the literature supporting these efficiency ranges. This change will be made without altering the underlying calculations. revision: partial
Referee: [Results section (StarTrack and semi-analytic comparisons)] It is not shown whether the mimicry of the 45 Msun cutoff persists across a plausible range of efficiencies or requires tuning to match the observed threshold. The paper does not report a systematic exploration or sensitivity study of the efficiency parameters, which are the load-bearing assumptions for the reproduced feature.

Authors: We accept this criticism. The present manuscript demonstrates the effect for our fiducial choice of parameters but does not explore the dependence on efficiency. We will add a new subsection (or appendix) that varies the first RLOF efficiency from 30% to 70% and the degree of non-conservativeness in the second phase. For each combination we will show the resulting distribution of the less-massive black-hole mass and quantify how the location and sharpness of the cutoff change. This will clarify the range of efficiencies for which the 45 solar-mass feature is reproduced and will demonstrate that the result does not require extreme fine-tuning within the range of values commonly considered in the literature. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity; result is conditional on stated model inputs

full rationale

The paper demonstrates via StarTrack population synthesis and a semi-analytical model that binary evolution under specific mass-transfer assumptions (efficient first RLOF >50%, highly non-conservative second phase) can produce a BH mass cutoff mimicking the pair-instability gap. This is presented as a possibility ('can mimic', 'naturally limits' under the chosen efficiencies), not as a first-principles derivation or generic outcome. No equations reduce the cutoff to the inputs by construction, no parameters are fitted then relabeled as predictions, and no self-citation chains or uniqueness theorems are invoked to force the result. The assumptions are explicit inputs, and the finding is self-contained as a conditional simulation outcome without circular reduction.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

2 free parameters · 1 axioms · 0 invented entities

The central claim depends on two tunable efficiencies for mass transfer whose values are not derived from the paper's own equations or from external constraints cited in the abstract.

free parameters (2)

first_RLOF_efficiency
Set above 50% to limit the primary's final mass; value chosen to reproduce the observed cutoff.
second_RLOF_nonconservativeness
Assumed highly non-conservative to prevent the secondary from growing too much.

axioms (1)

domain assumption Standard assumptions of binary stellar evolution and common-envelope physics as implemented in StarTrack
Invoked to justify the population-synthesis results.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5639 in / 1411 out tokens · 31513 ms · 2026-05-10T03:36:12.650167+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Reference graph

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