Related papers: Reconstructing the origin of black hole mergers us…
Statistical analyses based on the spatial correlation between the sky maps of Gravitational Wave (GW) events and the positions of potential host environments are a powerful tool to infer the origin of the black hole binary mergers that have…
Maximizing the number of detections in matched filter searches for compact binary coalescence (CBC) gravitational wave (GW) signals requires a model of the source population distribution. In previous searches using the PyCBC framework,…
The LIGO Scientific, Virgo and KAGRA Collaborations recently released the third gravitational wave transient catalog or GWTC-3, significantly expanding the number of gravitational wave (GW) signals. To address the -- still uncertain --…
The formation of astrophysical and primordial black holes influences the distribution of dark matter surrounding them. Black holes are thus expected to carry a dark matter `dress' whose properties depend on their formation mechanism and on…
We present a search for merging compact binary gravitational-wave sources that produce a signal appearing solely or primarily in a single detector. Past analyses have heavily relied on coincidence between multiple detectors to reduce…
Fermi-Gamma-ray Burst Monitor observed a 1 s long gamma-ray signal (GW150914-GBM) starting 0.4 s after the first gravitational wave detection from the binary black hole merger GW150914. GW150914-GBM is consistent with a short gamma-ray…
We use semi-analytic models implemented in the Millennium Simulation to analyze the merging histories of dark matter haloes and of the galaxies that reside in them. We assume that supermassive black holes only exist in galaxies that have…
The observation of gravitational-wave signals from merging black-hole binaries enables direct measurement of the properties of the black holes. An individual observation allows measurement of the black-hole masses, but only limited…
Binary black hole mergers are analyzed using concepts from introductory physics. Drawing upon Newtonian mechanics, dimensional considerations, and analogies between gravitational and electromagnetic waves, we are able to explain the…
The recent detection of gravitational waves indicates that stellar-mass black hole binaries are likely to be a key population of sources for forthcoming observations. With future upgrades, ground-based detectors could detect merging black…
We present a new technique for observationally identifying galaxy mergers spectroscopically rather than through host galaxy imaging. Our technique exploits the dynamics of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) powering active galactic nuclei…
The origin, environment, and evolution of stellar-mass black hole binaries are still a mystery. One of the proposed binary formation mechanisms is manifest in dynamical interactions between multiple black holes. A resulting framework of…
The LIGO/Virgo detections of gravitational waves from merging black holes of $\simeq$ 30 solar mass suggest progenitor stars of low metallicity (Z/Z$_{\odot} \lesssim 0.3$). In this talk I will provide constrains on where the progenitors of…
As the sensitivity of current and future gravitational-wave detectors improves, it will become possible to measure the evolution of the binary black hole merger rate with redshift. Here, we combine detailed fits to state-of-the-art…
Recent detections of gravitational waves from mergers of neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs) in the low and high-end mass gap regimes pose a puzzle to standard stellar and binary evolution theory. Mass-gap mergers may originate from…
One proposed formation channel for stellar mass black holes (BHs) is through hierarchical mergers of smaller BHs. Repeated mergers between comparable mass BHs leave an imprint on the spin of the resulting BH, since the final BH spin is…
The catalog of gravitational-wave events is growing, and so are our hopes of constraining the underlying astrophysics of stellar-mass black-hole mergers by inferring the distributions of, e.g., masses and spins. While conventional analyses…
We study the contribution of binary black hole (BH-BH) mergers from the first, metal-free stars in the Universe (Pop III) to gravitational wave detection rates. Our study combines initial conditions for the formation of Pop III stars based…
The connection between the binary black hole (BBH) mergers observed by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) and their stellar progenitors remains uncertain. Specifically, the fraction $\epsilon$ of stellar mass that ends up in BBH mergers and the delay…
Using the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis code BPASS, we have calculated the rates, timescales and mass distributions for binary black hole mergers as a function of metallicity. We consider these in the context of the recently…