Gravitational-wave Astrophysics: BH-BH/NS-NS mergers with LIGO/Virgo

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

• Chris Belczynski (Copernicus Center, Warsaw, Poland)
• Monday 16 April 2018, 11:00-12:00
• Physics West 117.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Ilya Mandel.

I will discuss the astrophysical importance of the recent LIGO /Virgo direct detections of gravitational-waves. Despite the fact that massive BH-BH dominance in gravitational-wave signal was predicted prior the detections, it is not at all clear which one of the several formation scenarios produces these massive mergers. This inhibits astrophysical information inference from LIGO /Virgo observations, as conclusions are different within each formation scenario. There is quite an opposite problem with the recent detection of NS-NS merger in an old elliptical host galaxy. None of the formation channels that can reproduce basic properties of the detected BH-BH mergers, can recover the NS-NS merger rate estimated by LIGO /Virgo. Despite the fact that the exact origin of LIGO /Virgo sources is not yet known, several astrophysical implications are beginning to emerge.

This talk is part of the Astrophysics Talks Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Astrophysics Talks Series
• Bham Talks
• Physics West 117
• What's on in Physics?

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.