Gravitational Waves from First Star Remnants

We calculated the binary evolution of first stars (Population III stars) and showed that the typical chirp mass of Population III binary black holes is approximately (30,M_\odot), corresponding to a total mass of approximately (60,M_\odot). We also found that the maximum mass of Population III binary black holes can exceed the conventional upper mass limit expected from pair-instability supernovae. Our studies, which predicted gravitational-wave events similar to GW150914 and GW190521 before their detections, suggest that Population III stars could be one of the origins of massive stellar binary black hole mergers. In this talk, I will discuss the binary evolution of Population III stars and the properties of their binary black hole mergers. Gravitational-wave observations may provide an indirect way to probe the existence of massive first stars in the early Universe.

Speaker: 
Tomoya Kinugawa (Shinshu University)
Place: 
KIAA-auditorium
Host: 
Kohei Inayoshi
Time: 
Thursday, June 11, 2026 - 3:30PM to Thursday, June 11, 2026 - 4:30PM
Biography: 
Tomoya Kinugawa is an Associate Professor at Shinshu University. He received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University, where he worked on theoretical predictions of gravitational waves from 30-solar-mass binary black holes before the first LIGO detections. His research focuses on gravitational-wave astrophysics, binary stellar evolution, Population III stars, and compact-object mergers.