http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.01447
The lack of objects between $2\,M_{\odot}$ and $5\,M_{\odot}$ in the joint mass distribution of compact objects has been termed “mass gap”, and attributed mainly to the characteristics of the supernova mechanism precluding their birth. However, recent observations show that a number of candidates reported to lie inside the “gap” may fill it, suggesting instead a paucity that may be real or largely a result of small number statistics. We quantify in this work the individual candidates and evaluate the joint probability of a mass gap. Our results show that an absolute mass gap is not present, to a very high confidence level. It remains to be seen if a relative paucity of objects stands in the future, and how this population can be related to the formation processes, which may include neutron star mergers, collapse of a neutron star to a black hole and others.
L. Sá, A. Bernardo, R. Bachega, et. al.
Fri, 4 Nov 22
67/84
Comments: 20 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ
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