Related papers: Gravitational waves from binary axionic black hole…
Several models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of new ultralight bosons. This thesis investigates a way to discover such particles through observations of gravitational waves from binary black holes. This is…
The formation of compact stellar-mass binaries is a difficult, but interesting problem in astrophysics. There are two main formation channels: In the field via binary star evolution, or in dense stellar systems via dynamical interactions.…
Space-born gravitational-wave interferometers such as {\it LISA} will detect the gravitational wave (GW) signal from the inspiral, plunge and ringdown phases of massive black hole binary mergers at cosmological distances. From the inspiral…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) in the mass range $(30$--$100)~M_{\odot}$ are interesting candidates for dark matter, as they sit in a narrow window between microlensing and cosmic microwave background constraints. There are however tight…
As gravitational wave astronomy has entered an era of routine detections, it becomes increasingly important to precisely measure the physical parameters of individual events and infer population properties. Eccentricity is a key observable,…
Supermassive black holes are investigated as possible sources for low-frequency bursts of gravity waves. The event rate for `known' supermassive black holes at intermediate and high redshifts, inferred from the quasar luminosity function,…
The detection of a gravitational capture of a stellar-mass compact object by a massive black hole (MBH) will allow us to test gravity in the strong regime. These sources form via two-body relaxation, by exchanging energy and angular…
Next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors are expected to detect millions of binary black hole mergers during their operation period. A small fraction ($\sim 0.1 - 1\%$) of them will be strongly lensed by intervening…
Dark matter could be composed of compact dark objects (CDOs). A close binary of CDOs orbiting in the interior of solar system bodies can be a loud source of gravitational waves (GWs) for the LIGO and VIRGO detectors. We perform the first…
If the symmetry breaking responsible for axion dark matter production occurs during the radiation-dominated epoch in the early Universe, then this produces large amplitude perturbations that collapse into dense objects known as axion…
Gravitational wave observations of eccentric binary black hole mergers will provide unequivocal evidence for the formation of these systems through dynamical assembly in dense stellar environments. The study of these astrophysically…
We present new constraints on the merging rates of planetary-mass and asteroid-mass primordial black hole binaries using limits on continuous waves(quasi-monochromatic, quasi-infinite duration signals) derived from an all-sky search for…
We study whether binary black hole template banks can be used to search for the gravitational waves emitted by general binary coalescences. To recover binary signals from noisy data, matched-filtering techniques are typically required. This…
Particles in a yet unexplored dark sector with sufficiently large mass and small gauge coupling may form purely gravitational atoms (quantum gravitational bound states) with a rich phenomenology. In particular, we investigate the…
Gravitational wave observations have recently revealed with high significance, and high precision, the existence of $\mathcal{O}(100) \, M_\odot$ rapidly rotating black holes, allowing gravitational wave events to be used for the first time…
We consider the physical conditions under which supermassive black holes could have formed inside the first galaxies. Our SPH simulations indicate that metal-free galaxies with a virial temperature ~10^4 K and with suppressed H2 formation…
Ultralight bosons can form clouds around rotating black holes if their Compton wavelength is comparable to the black hole size. The boson cloud spins down the black hole through a process called superradiance, lowering the black hole spin…
The recent detection of gravitational waves from a binary merger involving a potential low-mass gap black hole (LMBH) by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration motivates investigations into mechanisms beyond conventional stellar evolution…
We consider the possibility that the black-hole (BH) binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of dark matter. Interestingly enough, there remains a window for masses $20\,M_\odot \lesssim M_{\rm bh} \lesssim 100\, M_\odot$ where…
Recent studies show that an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) may develop a dark matter (DM) mini-halo according to some BH formation scenarios. We consider a binary system composed of an IMBH surrounded by a DM mini-spike and a stellar…