Mixed Origins: Strong Natal Kicks for Some Black Holes and None for Others

Abstract Using stellar kinematic data from Gaia DR3, we revisit constraints on black hole (BH) natal kicks from observed accreting and detached BH binaries. We compare the space velocities and Galactic orbits of a sample of 12 BHs in the Galactic disk with well-constrained distances to their local stellar populations, for which we obtain proper motions and radial velocities from Gaia DR3. Compared to most previous studies, we infer lower minimum kick velocities, because our modeling accounts for the fact that most BH binaries are old and have likely been kinematically heated by processes other than kicks. Nevertheless, we find that half of the BHs have at least weak evidence for a kick, being kinematically hotter than at least 68% of their local stellar populations. At least 4 BHs are kinematically hotter than 90% of their local stellar populations, suggesting they were born with kicks of ≳100 km s −1 . On the other hand, 6 BHs have kinematics typical of their local populations, disfavoring kicks of ≳50 km s −1 . For two BHs, V404 Cyg and VFTS 243, there is strong independent evidence for a very weak kick ≲10 km s −1 . Our analysis implies that while some BHs must form with very weak kicks, it would be wrong to conclude that most BHs do, particularly given that selection biases favor weak kicks. Although the uncertainties on most individual BHs’ kicks are still too large to assess whether the kick distribution is bimodal, the data are consistent with a scenario where some BHs form by direct collapse and receive weak kicks, and others form in supernovae and receive strong kicks.