Related papers: Multi-Generational Black Hole Population Analysis …
When modeling the population of merging binary black holes, analyses have generally focused on characterizing the distribution of primary (i.e. more massive) black holes in the binary, while simplistic prescriptions are used for the…
We analyze a sample of 32 galaxies for which a dynamical estimate of the mass of the hot stellar component, M_bulge, is available. For each of these galaxies, we calculate the mass of the central black hole, M_BH, using the tight empirical…
Measurements of the binary black hole spin distribution from the growing catalog of gravitational-wave observations can help elucidate the astrophysical processes shaping the formation and evolution of these systems. Spin-orbit resonances…
Stellar evolution theories predict a gap in the black hole birth mass spectrum as the result of pair instability processes in the cores of massive stars.This gap, however, is not seen in the binary black hole masses inferred from…
The growing catalog of gravitational-wave detections from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration reveals structure in the binary black hole (BBH) mass distribution, including peaks near m1 = 10 solar masses and m1 = 35 solar masses, a…
We construct evolutionary models of the populations of AGN and supermassive black holes, in which the black hole mass function grows at the rate implied by the observed luminosity function, given assumptions about the radiative efficiency…
We perform a binary population synthesis calculation incorporating very massive population (Pop.) III stars up to 1500 $M_\odot$, and investigate the nature of binary black hole (BBH) mergers. Above the pair-instability mass gap, we find…
The population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers observed by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration offers a window into the cosmic evolution of compact binaries and their formation. We employ the semi-analytic population-synthesis code…
Population III stars, born from the primordial gas in the Universe, lose a negligible fraction of their mass via stellar winds and possibly follow a top-heavy mass function. Hence, they have often been regarded as the ideal progenitors of…
Gravitational-wave measurements of the binary black hole population provide insights into the evolution of merging binaries. We explore potential correlation between mass and mass ratio with phenomenological population models where the…
The growing number of gravitational-wave (GW) observations allows for constraints to be placed on the underlying population of black holes; current estimates show that black hole spins are small, with binaries more likely to have comparable…
Gravitational-wave black-hole spectroscopy provides a unique opportunity to test the strong-field regime of gravity and the nature of the final object formed in the aftermath of a merger. Here we investigate the prospects for black-hole…
In modified gravity models that allow for additional non-compact spacetime dimensions, energy from gravitational waves can leak into these extra spacetime dimensions, leading to a reduction in the amplitude of the observed gravitational…
The inspiral and merger of two black holes produces a remnant black hole with mass and spin determined by the properties of its parent black holes. Using the inferred population properties of component black holes from the first two and a…
Gravitational-wave observations of massive, rapidly spinning binary black holes mergers provide increasing evidence for the dynamical origin of some mergers. Previous studies have interpreted the mergers with primary mass…
Some analyses of the third gravitational wave catalogue released by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration (LVK) suggest an excess of black holes around $15-20 M_{\odot}$. In order to investigate this feature, we introduce two flexible…
Gravitational waves from extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) will enable sub-percent measurements of massive black hole parameters and provide access to the demographics of compact objects in galactic nuclei. During the LISA mission,…
We study the population properties of merging binary black holes in the second LIGO--Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog assuming they were all formed dynamically in gravitationally bound clusters. Using a phenomenological population…
This is the first paper in a series aimed at modeling the black hole (BH) mass function, from the stellar to the intermediate to the (super)massive regime. In the present work we focus on stellar BHs and provide an ab-initio computation of…
Motivated by recent detections of black hole binary systems through gravitational waves, in this thesis we discuss two complementary channels for the observation of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) with masses between a few and a hundred solar…