![Fabio Antonini](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/4736?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Fabio Antonini
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Fabio Antonini
Senior Lecturer
Gravity Exploration Institute
Astronomy Group
Cardiff Hub for Astrophysics Research and Technology
Overview
I am a theoretical astrophysicist using numerical models to answer fundamental questions about the compact-object binaries detected by LIGO and the astrophysical environment in which they formed. I am interested in computational astrophysics and gravitational dynamics in general, with applications to supermassive black holes, nuclear star clusters and galaxy evolution.
Here at Cardiff I am a senior lecturer and STFC Rutherford fellow in the Gravity Exploration Institute.
Publication
2026
- Antonini, F. et al. 2026. Gravitational-wave constraints on the pair-instability mass gap and nuclear burning in massive stars. Nature Astronomy 10 , pp.1049-1056. (10.1038/s41550-026-02847-0)
- Stegmann, J. et al., 2026. Gravitational-wave observations suggest most black hole mergers form in triples. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 1000 (2) L59. (10.3847/2041-8213/ae52ec)
- Abac, A. et al., 2026. The science of the Einstein Telescope. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2026 (03) 081. (10.1088/1475-7516/2026/03/081)
- Dorozsmai, A. et al., 2026. Hierarchical triples versus globular clusters: binary black hole merger eccentricity distributions compete and evolve with redshift. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 545 (2) staf1938. (10.1093/mnras/staf1938)
2025
- Al-Shammari, S. et al. 2025. GW241011 and GW241110: Exploring binary formation and fundamental physics with asymmetric, high-spin black hole coalescences. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 993 L21. (10.3847/2041-8213/ae0d54)
- Antonini, F. et al. 2025. Inferring the pair-instability mass gap from gravitational wave data. Physical Review D (particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology) 112 (6) 063040. (10.1103/nxnr-pdyx)
- Mahapatra, P. et al. 2025. Possible binary neutron star merger history of the primary of GW230529. Physical Review D (particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology) 111 (12) 123030. (10.1103/c9l3-gw6w)
- Rando Forastier, B. et al., 2025. Binary-single interactions with different mass ratios. Astronomy & Astrophysics 697 A118. (10.1051/0004-6361/202450890)
- Barber, J. and Antonini, F. 2025. Formation and evolution of binary black holes in N-body simulations of star clusters with up to two million stars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 538 (2), pp.639-658. (10.1093/mnras/staf279)
- Kritos, K. et al., 2025. Gravitational wave inference of star cluster properties from intermediate-mass black hole mergers. Physical Review D 111 (6) 063056. (10.1103/PhysRevD.111.063056)
- Fantoccoli, F. et al., 2025. Properties of black hole-star binaries formed in N-body simulations of massive star clusters: implications for Gaia black holes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (10.1093/mnras/staf303)
- Chattopadhyay, D. et al. 2025. The impact of astrophysical priors on parameter inference for GW230529. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 536 (1), pp.L19-L25. (10.1093/mnrasl/slae099)
- Antonini, F. , Romero-Shaw, I. M. and Callister, T. 2025. Star cluster population of high mass black hole mergers in gravitational wave data. Physical Review Letters 134 (1) 011401. (10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.011401)
2024
- Mahapatra, P. et al., 2024. Reconstructing the genealogy of LIGO-Virgo black holes. The Astrophysical Journal 975 (1) 117. (10.3847/1538-4357/ad781b)
- Stegmann, J. et al. 2024. Imprints of massive black-hole binaries on neighbouring decihertz gravitational-wave sources. Nature Astronomy 8 , pp.1321-1331. (10.1038/s41550-024-02338-0)
- Stegmann, J. and Antonini, F. 2024. TSE: A triple stellar evolution code. The Journal of Open Source Software 9 (102) 7102. (10.21105/joss.07102)
- Barber, J. , Chattopadhyay, D. and Antonini, F. 2024. Black hole binary mergers in dense star clusters: the importance of primordial binaries. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 527 (3), pp.7363–7381. (10.1093/mnras/stad3600)
2023
- Chattopadhyay, D. et al. 2023. Double black hole mergers in nuclear star clusters: eccentricities, spins, masses, and the growth of massive seeds. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 526 (4), pp.4908–4928. (10.1093/mnras/stad3048)
- Abbott, R. et al., 2023. Population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3. Physical Review X 13 (1) 011048. (10.1103/PhysRevX.13.011048)
- Antonini, F. et al. 2023. Coalescing black hole binaries from globular clusters: mass distributions and comparison to gravitational wave data from GWTC-3. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 522 (1), pp.466-476. (10.1093/mnras/stad972)
- Amaro-Seoane, P. et al., 2023. Astrophysics with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Living Reviews in Relativity 26 (1) 2. (10.1007/s41114-022-00041-y)
2022
- Fairhurst, S. et al. 2022. All-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars using Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo O3 data. Physical Review D 106 (10)(10.1103/PhysRevD.106.102008)
- Stegmann, J. , Antonini, F. and Moe, M. 2022. Evolution of massive stellar triples and implications for compact object binary formation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 516 (1), pp.1406-1427. (10.1093/mnras/stac2192)
- Chattopadhyay, D. et al. 2022. Modelling the formation of the first two neutron star-black hole mergers, GW200105 and GW200115: metallicity, chirp masses, and merger remnant spins. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 513 (4), pp.5780–5789. (10.1093/mnras/stac1283)
- Stegmann, J. et al. 2022. Binary black hole mergers from merged stars in the Galactic field. Physical Review D 106 (2) 023014. (10.1103/PhysRevD.106.023014)
2021
- Geiles, M. et al., 2021. A supra-massive population of stellar-mass black holes in the globular cluster Palomar 5. Nature Astronomy 5 , pp.957-966. (10.1038/s41550-021-01392-2)
- Nasim, I. et al., 2021. Formation of counter-rotating and highly eccentric massive black hole binaries in galaxy mergers. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 503 (1), pp.498-510. (10.1093/mnras/stab351)
- Nasim, I. T. et al., 2021. Formation of the largest galactic cores through binary scouring and gravitational wave recoil. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 502 (4), pp.4794–4814. (10.1093/mnras/stab435)
- Zevin, M. et al., 2021. One channel to rule them all? Constraining the origins of binary black holes using multiple formation pathways. Astrophysical Journal 910 (2) 152. (10.3847/1538-4357/abe40e)
- Stegmann, J. and Antonini, F. 2021. Flipping spins in mass transferring binaries and origin of spin-orbit misalignment in binary black holes. Physical Review D 103 063007. (10.1103/PhysRevD.103.063007)
2020
- Antonini, F. and Gieles, M. 2020. Merger rate of black hole binaries from globular clusters: theoretical error bars and comparison to gravitational wave data from GWTC-2. Physical Review D 102 (12) 123016. (10.1103/PhysRevD.102.123016)
- Nasim, I. et al., 2020. Defeating stochasticity: coalescence timescales of massive black holes in galaxy mergers. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 497 (1), pp.739-746. (10.1093/mnras/staa1896)
- Antonini, F. and Gieles, M. 2020. Population synthesis of black hole binary mergers from star clusters. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 492 (2), pp.2936-2954. (10.1093/mnras/stz3584)
2018
- Rodriguez, C. L. and Antonini, F. 2018. A triple origin for the heavy and low-spin binary black holes detected by LIGO/VIRGO. Astrophysical Journal 863 (1) 7. (10.3847/1538-4357/aacea4)
2017
- Antonini, F. , Toonen, S. and Hamers, A. S. 2017. Binary black hole mergers from field triples: properties, rates, and the impact of stellar evolution. Astrophysical Journal 841 (2) 77. (10.3847/1538-4357/aa6f5e)
- Dosopoulou, F. and Antonini, F. 2017. Dynamical friction and the evolution of supermassive black hole binaries: the final hundred-parsec problem. Astrophysical Journal 840 (1) 31. (10.3847/1538-4357/aa6b58)
2016
- Antonini, F. and Rasio, F. A. 2016. Merging black hole binaries in galactic nuclei: implications for Advanced-LIGO detections. Astrophysical Journal 831 (2) 187. (10.3847/0004-637X/831/2/187)
- Antonini, F. et al. 2016. Black hole mergers and blue stragglers from hierarchical triples formed in globular clusters. Astrophysical Journal 816 (2) 65. (10.3847/0004-637X/816/2/65)
2015
- Antonini, F. , Barausse, E. and Silk, J. 2015. The coevolution of nuclear star clusters, massive black holes, and their host galaxies. Astrophysical Journal 812 (1) 72. (10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/72)
- Vasiliev, E. , Antonini, F. and Merritt, D. 2015. The final-parsec problem in the collisionless limit. Astrophysical Journal 810 (1) 49. (10.1088/0004-637X/810/1/49)
2014
- Antonini, F. 2014. On the distribution of stellar remnants around massive black holes: slow mass segregation, star cluster inspirals, and correlated orbits. Astrophysical Journal 794 (2) 106. (10.1088/0004-637X/794/2/106)
2011
- Antonini, F. and Merritt, D. 2011. Dynamical friction around supermassive black holes. Astrophysical Journal 745 (83)(10.1088/0004-637X/745/1/83)
Articles
- Antonini, F. et al. 2026. Gravitational-wave constraints on the pair-instability mass gap and nuclear burning in massive stars. Nature Astronomy 10 , pp.1049-1056. (10.1038/s41550-026-02847-0)
- Stegmann, J. et al., 2026. Gravitational-wave observations suggest most black hole mergers form in triples. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 1000 (2) L59. (10.3847/2041-8213/ae52ec)
- Abac, A. et al., 2026. The science of the Einstein Telescope. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2026 (03) 081. (10.1088/1475-7516/2026/03/081)
- Dorozsmai, A. et al., 2026. Hierarchical triples versus globular clusters: binary black hole merger eccentricity distributions compete and evolve with redshift. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 545 (2) staf1938. (10.1093/mnras/staf1938)
- Al-Shammari, S. et al. 2025. GW241011 and GW241110: Exploring binary formation and fundamental physics with asymmetric, high-spin black hole coalescences. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 993 L21. (10.3847/2041-8213/ae0d54)
- Antonini, F. et al. 2025. Inferring the pair-instability mass gap from gravitational wave data. Physical Review D (particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology) 112 (6) 063040. (10.1103/nxnr-pdyx)
- Mahapatra, P. et al. 2025. Possible binary neutron star merger history of the primary of GW230529. Physical Review D (particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology) 111 (12) 123030. (10.1103/c9l3-gw6w)
- Rando Forastier, B. et al., 2025. Binary-single interactions with different mass ratios. Astronomy & Astrophysics 697 A118. (10.1051/0004-6361/202450890)
- Barber, J. and Antonini, F. 2025. Formation and evolution of binary black holes in N-body simulations of star clusters with up to two million stars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 538 (2), pp.639-658. (10.1093/mnras/staf279)
- Kritos, K. et al., 2025. Gravitational wave inference of star cluster properties from intermediate-mass black hole mergers. Physical Review D 111 (6) 063056. (10.1103/PhysRevD.111.063056)
- Fantoccoli, F. et al., 2025. Properties of black hole-star binaries formed in N-body simulations of massive star clusters: implications for Gaia black holes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (10.1093/mnras/staf303)
- Chattopadhyay, D. et al. 2025. The impact of astrophysical priors on parameter inference for GW230529. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 536 (1), pp.L19-L25. (10.1093/mnrasl/slae099)
- Antonini, F. , Romero-Shaw, I. M. and Callister, T. 2025. Star cluster population of high mass black hole mergers in gravitational wave data. Physical Review Letters 134 (1) 011401. (10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.011401)
- Mahapatra, P. et al., 2024. Reconstructing the genealogy of LIGO-Virgo black holes. The Astrophysical Journal 975 (1) 117. (10.3847/1538-4357/ad781b)
- Stegmann, J. et al. 2024. Imprints of massive black-hole binaries on neighbouring decihertz gravitational-wave sources. Nature Astronomy 8 , pp.1321-1331. (10.1038/s41550-024-02338-0)
- Stegmann, J. and Antonini, F. 2024. TSE: A triple stellar evolution code. The Journal of Open Source Software 9 (102) 7102. (10.21105/joss.07102)
- Barber, J. , Chattopadhyay, D. and Antonini, F. 2024. Black hole binary mergers in dense star clusters: the importance of primordial binaries. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 527 (3), pp.7363–7381. (10.1093/mnras/stad3600)
- Chattopadhyay, D. et al. 2023. Double black hole mergers in nuclear star clusters: eccentricities, spins, masses, and the growth of massive seeds. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 526 (4), pp.4908–4928. (10.1093/mnras/stad3048)
- Abbott, R. et al., 2023. Population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3. Physical Review X 13 (1) 011048. (10.1103/PhysRevX.13.011048)
- Antonini, F. et al. 2023. Coalescing black hole binaries from globular clusters: mass distributions and comparison to gravitational wave data from GWTC-3. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 522 (1), pp.466-476. (10.1093/mnras/stad972)
- Amaro-Seoane, P. et al., 2023. Astrophysics with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Living Reviews in Relativity 26 (1) 2. (10.1007/s41114-022-00041-y)
- Fairhurst, S. et al. 2022. All-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars using Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo O3 data. Physical Review D 106 (10)(10.1103/PhysRevD.106.102008)
- Stegmann, J. , Antonini, F. and Moe, M. 2022. Evolution of massive stellar triples and implications for compact object binary formation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 516 (1), pp.1406-1427. (10.1093/mnras/stac2192)
- Chattopadhyay, D. et al. 2022. Modelling the formation of the first two neutron star-black hole mergers, GW200105 and GW200115: metallicity, chirp masses, and merger remnant spins. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 513 (4), pp.5780–5789. (10.1093/mnras/stac1283)
- Stegmann, J. et al. 2022. Binary black hole mergers from merged stars in the Galactic field. Physical Review D 106 (2) 023014. (10.1103/PhysRevD.106.023014)
- Geiles, M. et al., 2021. A supra-massive population of stellar-mass black holes in the globular cluster Palomar 5. Nature Astronomy 5 , pp.957-966. (10.1038/s41550-021-01392-2)
- Nasim, I. et al., 2021. Formation of counter-rotating and highly eccentric massive black hole binaries in galaxy mergers. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 503 (1), pp.498-510. (10.1093/mnras/stab351)
- Nasim, I. T. et al., 2021. Formation of the largest galactic cores through binary scouring and gravitational wave recoil. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 502 (4), pp.4794–4814. (10.1093/mnras/stab435)
- Zevin, M. et al., 2021. One channel to rule them all? Constraining the origins of binary black holes using multiple formation pathways. Astrophysical Journal 910 (2) 152. (10.3847/1538-4357/abe40e)
- Stegmann, J. and Antonini, F. 2021. Flipping spins in mass transferring binaries and origin of spin-orbit misalignment in binary black holes. Physical Review D 103 063007. (10.1103/PhysRevD.103.063007)
- Antonini, F. and Gieles, M. 2020. Merger rate of black hole binaries from globular clusters: theoretical error bars and comparison to gravitational wave data from GWTC-2. Physical Review D 102 (12) 123016. (10.1103/PhysRevD.102.123016)
- Nasim, I. et al., 2020. Defeating stochasticity: coalescence timescales of massive black holes in galaxy mergers. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 497 (1), pp.739-746. (10.1093/mnras/staa1896)
- Antonini, F. and Gieles, M. 2020. Population synthesis of black hole binary mergers from star clusters. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 492 (2), pp.2936-2954. (10.1093/mnras/stz3584)
- Rodriguez, C. L. and Antonini, F. 2018. A triple origin for the heavy and low-spin binary black holes detected by LIGO/VIRGO. Astrophysical Journal 863 (1) 7. (10.3847/1538-4357/aacea4)
- Antonini, F. , Toonen, S. and Hamers, A. S. 2017. Binary black hole mergers from field triples: properties, rates, and the impact of stellar evolution. Astrophysical Journal 841 (2) 77. (10.3847/1538-4357/aa6f5e)
- Dosopoulou, F. and Antonini, F. 2017. Dynamical friction and the evolution of supermassive black hole binaries: the final hundred-parsec problem. Astrophysical Journal 840 (1) 31. (10.3847/1538-4357/aa6b58)
- Antonini, F. and Rasio, F. A. 2016. Merging black hole binaries in galactic nuclei: implications for Advanced-LIGO detections. Astrophysical Journal 831 (2) 187. (10.3847/0004-637X/831/2/187)
- Antonini, F. et al. 2016. Black hole mergers and blue stragglers from hierarchical triples formed in globular clusters. Astrophysical Journal 816 (2) 65. (10.3847/0004-637X/816/2/65)
- Antonini, F. , Barausse, E. and Silk, J. 2015. The coevolution of nuclear star clusters, massive black holes, and their host galaxies. Astrophysical Journal 812 (1) 72. (10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/72)
- Vasiliev, E. , Antonini, F. and Merritt, D. 2015. The final-parsec problem in the collisionless limit. Astrophysical Journal 810 (1) 49. (10.1088/0004-637X/810/1/49)
- Antonini, F. 2014. On the distribution of stellar remnants around massive black holes: slow mass segregation, star cluster inspirals, and correlated orbits. Astrophysical Journal 794 (2) 106. (10.1088/0004-637X/794/2/106)
- Antonini, F. and Merritt, D. 2011. Dynamical friction around supermassive black holes. Astrophysical Journal 745 (83)(10.1088/0004-637X/745/1/83)
Research
Interests: Stellar dynamics. Black holes and gravitational wave astrophysics.
I am a theoretical astrophysicist using numerical models to answer fundamental questions about the compact-object binaries detected by LIGO and the astrophysical environment in which they formed. Using relativistic analytical calculations and numerical models of dense star clusters I study the formation of black hole mergers and gravitational waves in these systems. I am interested in computational astrophysics and gravitational dynamics in general, with applications to supermassive black holes, nuclear star clusters and galaxy evolution.
Biography
I am a Senior lecturer in the Gravity Exploration Institute. Previously, I was a STFC Rutherford fellow, a CIERA postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics. Prior to that, I received a PhD in Astrophysical Sciences and Technologies at the Rochester Institute of Technology (with prof. David Merritt), and a Master degree in astrophysics from the university of Rome La Sapienza.
Supervisions
Current supervision
Jordan Barber
News articles
Contact Details
[email protected]
Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room Room N1.12, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
Queen's Buildings - North Building, Room Room N1.12, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
