{
  "abstract": "Binaries composed of a luminous OB star and a black hole (BH) are a key evolutionary link between massive stellar binaries and merging compact-object binaries, but only a handful are known and their occurrence fraction remains poorly constrained. We use multi-epoch spectroscopy from the SDSS-V Milky Way Mapper to place a first rigorous empirical upper limit on the fraction of Galactic massive ($\\geq 10\\,\\mathrm{M}_\\odot$) OB stars with a close BH companion, $f_\\mathrm{BH}$. Radial-velocity (RV) variability alone cannot distinguish BH companions from the far more numerous luminous binaries. We therefore combine the SDSS-V RV variability measurements of 3130 massive OB stars with high-resolution follow-up and literature information to identify luminous companions among the RV-variable subset. Forward-modelling the detectability of OB+BH systems using BH masses and orbital parameters from binary-evolution models, we find $f_\\mathrm{BH} \\lesssim 3\\%$ at 95% credibility. This empirical upper limit approaches, but does not exclude, theoretical predictions for the OB+BH fraction. The constraint is primarily limited by the number of RV-variable systems that can be decisively classified, highlighting the importance of complete, high-quality follow-up for future searches.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.17253",
  "author_total": 17,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "J. Müller-Horn"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. -W. Rix"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Shahaf"
    },
    {
      "name": "B. Pennell"
    },
    {
      "name": "E. Zari"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. C. Ramírez-Tannus"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Farah"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. Essick"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. I. Villaseñor"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. R. Blanton"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. G. Fernández-Trincado"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. A. Kollmeier"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Lam"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Maltsev"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Roman-Lopes"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. P. Schneider"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Tkachenko"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/28h3h1q6wvmsd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.17253",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "28h3h1q6wvmsd",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17253",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.GA"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.SR"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221820855",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.17253",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-12",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/28h3h1q6wvmsd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:06Z",
      "native_id": "2610.17253",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17253"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.GA",
      "subfield": "galaxies"
    },
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    },
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.SR",
      "subfield": "stellar"
    }
  ],
  "title": "An upper limit on Galactic OB+black hole binaries from SDSS-V",
  "title_text": "An upper limit on Galactic OB+black hole binaries from SDSS-V",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:06Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/28h3h1q6wvmsd",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}