Date:
Tue, 06/11/201812:30-13:30
Title: Merging Black Holes of Any Size and Hierarchy
Abstract: The recent discovery of gravitational waves has opened new horizons for physics. Current and upcoming missions, such as LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, and LISA, promise to shed light on black holes of every size, from stellar mass sizes (SBH) up to supermassive black holes which reside in galactic nuclei. The astrophysical origin of these mergers is among the most puzzling open questions of our time. Possibilities include isolated binary evolution through a common envelope phase, gas-assisted mergers, dynamically assembled binaries in dense stellar systems such as globular clusters or galactic nuclei. By mainly using N-body simulations, I will discuss how the rich dynamics in galactic nuclei and star clusters catalyzes SBH mergers in binary and triple systems, and make prediction on their merger rate through cosmic time.
Abstract: The recent discovery of gravitational waves has opened new horizons for physics. Current and upcoming missions, such as LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, and LISA, promise to shed light on black holes of every size, from stellar mass sizes (SBH) up to supermassive black holes which reside in galactic nuclei. The astrophysical origin of these mergers is among the most puzzling open questions of our time. Possibilities include isolated binary evolution through a common envelope phase, gas-assisted mergers, dynamically assembled binaries in dense stellar systems such as globular clusters or galactic nuclei. By mainly using N-body simulations, I will discuss how the rich dynamics in galactic nuclei and star clusters catalyzes SBH mergers in binary and triple systems, and make prediction on their merger rate through cosmic time.