Special ACRU seminar

Date & Time: Monday, January 20,  12:00-1:00pm

Venue: STEC. H1-block

Dr. Ilya Mandel (University of Birmingham, UK)

GW astrophysics of compact binaries

Abstract:

The first direct detections of gravitational waves from mergers of black holes and neutron stars by ground-based interferometric detectors LIGO and Virgo are anticipated in the next few years. They will provide us with a new probe on the Universe and enable us to explore compact-binary astrophysics and strong-field general relativity. In this talk, I review the current knowledge of the coalescence rates and parameter distributions of merging neutron-star and black-hole binaries and the data-analysis challenges associated with finding their signatures in noisy data. I report on ongoing efforts to develop a framework for converting gravitational-wave observations into improved constraints on astrophysical parameters and tests of general relativity, and discuss future developments necessary to the success of gravitational-wave astronomy.