Black Hole Formation: A Multi-Messenger, Multi-Band Puzzle

November 10, 2022

When: November 10, 2022 3:30PM

Where: LCO Downstairs Conference Room

Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics

Recent observations of binary black hole and binary neutron star mergers have ignited interest in the formation and evolution of compact-object binaries. One of the most pressing questions is determining the formation environments of these systems which couple strongly to their population characteristics. However, by the time a compact-object binary merges and produces the gravitational-wave signals observed by ground-based detectors, much of the evolutionary history of the system is washed away. By combining binary population synthesis simulations with gravitational-wave and electromagnetic observations, we can constrain uncertain processes that govern the evolution of binary stars from their birth through to compact object formation and merger. In this talk I will highlight recent work which explores novel ways to combine binary population simulations with data from gravitational-wave and electromagnetic surveys to constrain the formation and evolution of binary stars and compact object binaries.

Katelyn Breivik

Katelyn Breivik joined the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics as a Flatiron Research Fellow in September, 2020. Katelyn received her B.S. in Physics with Professional Emphasis from Utah State University, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from Northwestern University. Katelyn is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including: the 2019 Jeffrey L. Bishop Fellowship, the 2018 CITA Fellowship, and the 2017 Blue Apple Award for best student talk at the 27th Midwest Relativity Meeting. Prior to joining CCA, Katelyn was a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA).

Seminar