ITC Special Seminar - Kyle Kremer (Northwestern)

Date: 

Tuesday, May 22, 2018, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Pratt
How Black Holes Shape Globular Clusters
 

Recent numerical simulations and observational indications have suggested that globular clusters (GCs) may contain large populations of stellar-mass black holes (BHs). This has important implications to gravitational wave astronomy, as GCs are understood to be efficient factories of merging BH-BH binaries. In this talk, I will examine ways BH populations influence the dynamical evolution and observable properties of GCs. In particular, I will present full-scale models of three Milky Way GCs known to contain stellar-mass BH candidates (NGC 3201, M10, and M22) and examine the total number of BHs retained in these clusters today. Additionally, I will explore the dynamical formation of gravitational wave sources in GCs that may be detectable by LISA.