ITC Colloquium

ITC Colloquium– Monica Gallegos-Garcia

Phillips and streamed: https://youtube.com/live/5Et9oAeMEr4

"Gaining insights into the formation of binary black hole mergers: Towards a new era of binary evolution"

The detections of binary black hole mergers through gravitational waves have revolutionized astronomy. Today, most theoretical models of their formation rely on a set of tools developed more than 20 years ago. Although these codes have been instrumental for our general understanding of merging compact objects, most rely on analytical fits of single-star evolutionary tracks and parameterized models for interactive phases of binary evolution. Simultaneously, we are experiencing a rise in the number of merger detections, and with the advent of next-generation instruments, this number will increase 1000-fold, revealing a larger, more diverse population. In this talk I will show how using detailed, state-of-the-art MESA simulations and physically-motivated models can affect the orbital period evolution of binary systems, the predicted formation paths of merging binary black holes, and consequently their merger rates. I will also describe how exploring key electromagnetically-observed binary systems allows us to more comprehensively study the formation histories of gravitational wave sources.