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SUMMARY:Decoding the Gravitational-Wave Biographies of Binary Black Holes 
 - Isobel Romero-Shaw (DAMTP)
DTSTART:20240223T113000Z
DTEND:20240223T123000Z
UID:TALK210472@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Steven Brereton
DESCRIPTION:With the fourth observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detector
  network ongoing\, the number of detections of gravitational waves from bi
 nary black hole mergers is rapidly reaching into the hundreds. However\, d
 espite this wealth of detections\, it is still unclear how black holes bec
 ome bound into tight binaries that merge within the age of the Universe.  
 Binaries that form and merge in isolation are predicted to have different 
 parameters than those that form under the influence of dynamical interacti
 ons with other objects. \nTraditionally\, we have looked to the masses and
  spins of these binaries to teach us about their formation. However\, argu
 ably the most robust indication of dynamical evolution is orbital eccentri
 city: while isolated binaries will have essentially circular orbits at det
 ection\, a fraction of dynamically-formed binaries should have measurably 
 non-zero eccentricity. Gravitational waves from eccentric binaries have hi
 storically been challenging to detect and analyse. Yet in the last few yea
 rs\, a handful of the signals reported by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaborati
 on\, including that from the unusually massive binary GW190521\, have been
  claimed by multiple groups to contain tantalising hints of orbital eccent
 ricity. In this talk\, I will demonstrate how evidence of eccentricity in 
 gravitational-wave signals can be decoded and harnessed to reveal details 
 of a binary’s history\, and even to probe the identities of external inf
 luences to its evolution. I will also discuss what we can learn about our 
 population of binary black holes when we combine observations of their mas
 ses\, spins\, and eccentricity.\n
LOCATION:Ryle Large Meeting Room\, Kavli Building and via Zoom
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